R B Postuma

..19). Nevertheless, it remains to be evaluated whether PINK1 variations contribute to the risk of common late onset sporadic PD...

..Several potential early diagnostic markers of PD have been proposed, but they have generally not been tested in presymptomatic PD. The authors hypothesized that these markers may be abnormal in idiopathic RBD...

..Levodopa initiation caused a small elevation in homocysteine. Vitamin therapy, but not entacapone, resulted in a decrease in homocysteine compared to placebo...

..These findings suggest that the pathophysiology of RBD and nonmotor manifestations of PD, particularly autonomic dysfunction, are linked...

..However, it is unclear whether the association of RBD in PD has implications for motor manifestations of the disease...

..We found no evidence of systematic seasonal variation in PD incidence by birth date, or of clustering of birth dates during influenza pandemic years in PD patients...

..We found no evidence for seasonal fluctuation in the UPDRS scores, suggesting that, although considerable day-to-day variation may exist in PD, there is little monthly or seasonal variation...

..Recent studies showing a slowing of waking EEG in iRBD suggest that iRBD is associated with cognitive impairment...

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..Simple quantitative motor measures may be capable of reliably detecting parkinsonism, even before a clinical diagnosis can be made by experienced movement disorders neurologists...

..Obtaining an accurate picture of this risk is essential for counseling patients and for development of potential neuroprotective therapies...

..Since polysomnography is performed in all patients with idiopathic RBD at diagnosis, there is an opportunity to analyze if baseline sleep variables predict eventual neurodegenerative disease...

..This provides an unprecedented opportunity to test potential predictive markers before clinical disease onset. The results of marker testing in idiopathic RBD with its implications for disease prediction will be detailed...

..Since risk factors have not been defined, we initiated a multicenter case-control study to assess environmental and lifestyle risk factors for REM sleep behavior disorder...

..To assess the relationship between the presence of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and the cognitive profile of nondemented patients with Parkinson disease (PD)...

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..The indistinguishability of dementia and PD in all ancillary measures suggests a single unitary "RBD-then-neurodegeneration" process, the clinical presentation of which depends upon selective neuronal vulnerability...

..These results suggest that both nigrostriatal dopamine depletion and intracortical dopamine deficiency may play a role in cognitive deficits in PD, depending on the involvement of the striatum in the task at hand...

..After encountering a case of restless legs syndrome that dramatically worsened with domperidone, we assessed whether Parkinson's patients may have exacerbation of restless legs with domperidone...

..Recently a 30-item screening Non Motor Symptoms Questionnaire was developed. Although some psychometric properties have been evaluated, sensitivity and specificity of the questionnaire have not been systematically assessed...

..If RLS prevalence is truly increased by neuropathy, this has important implications for RLS pathophysiology...

..Pathological changes in the anterior olfactory nucleus and olfactory loss occur very early in the course of PD and DLB. The aim of the study was to assess olfactory function in a large group of idiopathic RBD patients...

..At present, no controlled prospective studies have evaluated this phenomenon, although they are ongoing...

..RBD might be a stage in the development of neurodegenerative disorders and increased awareness of this could lead to substantial advances in knowledge of mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders...

..When these agents are prescribed to patients with neurodegenerative disorders or narcolepsy who are at risk of developing RBD, systematic follow-up may be warranted to detect the emergence of RBD symptoms...

..Recent studies have pointed to previously unrecognised causes, particularly non-ketotic hyperosmolar hyperglycaemia and complications of HIV infection, that may account for a substantial proportion of cases of hemiballism...