I never could grasp the concept of stages in Parkinson’s Disease. With the symptoms of Parkinson’s varying so much from patient to patient, I couldn’t determine what stage of Parkinson’s I was at and even if I did know, how did this impact how long I would live and how well or poorly I would function until I die.
Finally, someone addresses this important topic in the following article. I highly recommend it.
Staging is Not Important in Evaluating Parkinson's Disease
By Joseph H. Friedman, MD, author of Making the Connection Between Brain and Behavior: Coping with Parkinson's Disease
From: APDA Newsletter Spring 2011
To read article, click on the following:
http://apdaparkinson.org/data/NewsLetterUpload/2011_Spring_News.pdf (article is on page 1, 6, and 7 of newsletter)
Comments on article on staging:
I would like to add that it is especially not relevant for DBS patients because it heavily relies on gait and balance, and DBS might not be very helpful with this issues.
Olga Klepitskaya, MD, Department of Neurology
University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center
Comments