Prodromale Marker der Parkinson-Krankheit

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the elderly. It is characterised by the cardinal symptoms akinesia, rigidity and rest tremor. Besides these motor symptoms there are also non-motor signs like depression, hyposmia, autonomic dysfunction and specific sleep disorders. Many PD patients suffer from non-motor symptoms before the time of the neurological diagnosis. This prodromal phase can vary in duration. According to existing studies the highest sensitivity as prodromal marker is reached by hyposmia followed by autonomic dysfunction (constipation). Except for REM sleep behaviour disorder, the specificities for all current clinical markers are low. So-called biomarkers that predict the manifestation of motor symptoms of PD are not yet established in clinical routine. New markers or the combination of different markers may allow a better prognostic statement and, especially, may be helpful in the identification of appropriate patients for disease-modifying therapeutical studies.