Clinical Study on Acupuncture Treatment for Parkinson's Non-motor Symptoms / 上海针灸杂志

ABSTRACT

Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder resulting from alpha-synuclein lesions, which affects about eight million patients over the world. PD is manifested in progressive motor and non-motor symptoms. With understanding of PD gradually deepened, motor symptoms mainly manifested in resting tremor are not the only manifestations of PD. Clinically many non-motor symptoms such as autonomic nervous symptoms, mental symptoms and paresthesia are also the important manifestations of PD and can appear earlier than motor symptoms. The effect of the non-motor symptoms on the patients' life is often not less than that of the motor symptoms. Clinically the changeable non-motor symptoms are far more complex and more difficult to treat than the motor symptoms. Conventional anti-PD drugs such as levodopa have little effect on the non-motor symptoms. Present clinical studies have showed that acupuncture has a certain therapeutic effect on the non-motor symptoms of PD. This provides important help for expanding the way to treat PD.