Muscle weakness in parkinson's disease

Isokinetic strength of knee extension and flexion was measured in patients with Parkinson's disease, to clarify whether muscle weakness is inherent to the disease. To counteract normal variation among subjects, we selected patients with symptoms completely or largely confined to one side and compared sides for each patient. The affected side was weaker than the other in both slow and fast movements very early in the disease. In more advanced disease, the difference between sides diminished at the slow speed but remained significant at the faster speed. These observations suggest that weakness is inherent to Parkinson's disease and influenced by movement speed. We compared isokinetic muscle strength between initial and subsequent measurements in patients who could repeat the same testing later. Patients were divided into two groups according to changes in clinical condition between the times of the first and the subsequent measurements. Although isokinetic muscle strength is likely to depend on movement velocity in the early stages of Parkinson's disease, it may be influenced by bradykinesia, as the disease progresses. Speed-force correlation seen in these patients may give clues to the understanding of the pathophysiology of bradykinesia.

パーキンソン病

筋力

等運動性収縮

本文データは山口大学医学会の許諾に基づきCiNiiから複製したものである