[Relationship between weight loss and dysphagia in patients with Parkinson's disease]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between weight loss and dysphagia in Parkinson's disease. We compared the height, body weight and the data of self-administered questionnaires concerning food intake and deglutition feelings in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease with normal controls. A structured interview was performed by nutritionists and nutrient intakes were calculated from the reported food intake over 5 days. Biochemical parameters were chosen from the chart. The subjects were 105 patients with Parkinson's disease, 34 males with a mean age of 67.7 +/- 8.6 years and 71 females with a mean age of 69.1 +/- 10.0 years (Hoehn-Yahr stage I6, II25, III51, IV20, V3). In addition, 47 family members were used as control subjects: 26 males, 70.6 +/- 7.6 years and 21 females, 64.9 +/- 7.7 years. Body mass index (BMI) in females with Parkinson's disease (20.2 +/- 3.5 kg/m2) was significantly lower (p < 0.005) than that in control females (23.0 +/- 3.0 kg/m2). There was no significant difference in BMI in males. The BMI was 21.9 +/- 3.0 kg/m2 in male patients with Parkinson's disease and 22.6 +/- 3.1 kg/m2 in controls. The occurrences of symptoms such as choking, cough, sputum, food in sputum, wet voice and pharyngeal discomfort following food intake in patients with Parkinson's disease vs. those in controls were 22% vs. 6%, 16% vs. 2%, 7% vs. 4%, 2% vs. 0%, 5% vs. 2% and 11% vs. 0%, respectively. Concerning symptoms such as choking, cough and pharyngeal discomfort, the occurrence was significantly more frequent in patients with Parkinson's disease than in controls (p < 0.05, p < 0.05, p < 0.05). We defined the dysphagic Parkinson patients as those who have at least one symptom of dysphagia such as choking, cough, sputum, food in sputum, wet voice and pharyngeal discomfort following food intake. The dysphagic subjects were present in 31% of Parkinson patients and in 7% of control subjects (p < 0.005), although half of the dysphagic Parkinson patients did not recognize it. No relationship between the occurrence of dysphagic symptoms and the Hoehn-Yahr stage was found. In patients with Parkinson's disease. BMI in the dysphagic group (19.1 +/- 3.6 kg/m2) was significantly lower than that in the non-dysphagic group (21.6 +/- 3.0 kg/m2) (p < 0.005). There was no relationship between BMI and the dose of levodopa. Patients in the dysphagic group showed significantly lower carbohydrate intake (186 +/- 49 g) than those in the non-dysphagic group (215 +/- 52 g) (p < 0.05). Biochemical nutritional parameters were lower in the dysphagic group than those in the non-dysphagic group; 6.6 +/- 0.7 g/dl vs. 6.9 +/- 0.4 g/dl (p < 0.005) in serum total protein, 3.8 +/- 0.5 g/dl vs. 4.1 +/- 0.4 g/dl (p < 0.01) in albumin and 173.4 +/- 33.0 mg/dl vs. 199.7 +/- 40.7 mg/dl (p < 0.05) in total cholesterol. These findings suggest that dysphagia, especially unrecognized dysphagia, plays a role in weight loss in Parkinson's disease.