title: Non-motor symptoms in early Parkinson's disease: a 2-year follow-up study on previously untreated patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-motor symptoms are very common among patients with Parkinson's disease since the earliest stage, but little is known about their progression and their relationship with dopaminergic replacement therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied non-motor symptoms before and after 2 years from dopaminergic therapy introduction in ninety-one newly diagnosed previously untreated PD patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, nearly all patients (97.8%) referred at least one non-motor symptom. At follow-up, only few non-motor symptoms significantly changed. Particularly, depression and concentration became less frequent, while weight change significantly increased after introduction of dopamine agonists.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We reported for the first time a 2-year prospective study on non-motor symptoms before and after starting therapy in newly diagnosed PD patients. Even if non-motor symptoms are very frequent in early stage, they tend to remain stable during the early phase of disease, being only few non-motor symptoms affected from dopaminergic therapy and, specifically, by the use of dopamine agonists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Science, University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erro
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Picillo
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vitale
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amboni
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moccia
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: Autilia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cozzolino
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Rosa
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Michele
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Pellecchia
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barone
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D003863:Depression / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000150:complications; D018450:Disease Progression; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D018491:Dopamine Agonists