Recording, Resources + Notes from Orthostatic Hypotension in PD, MSA, and LBD Webinar

Brain Support Network and Stanford University co-hosted a webinar last Monday, September 18th about orthostatic hypotension (OH) in Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), and Lewy Body Dementia (LBD).

 

 


RECORDING

We’ve posted the webinar recording here

 


SURVEY

If you listen to the webinar recording, please take LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES to answer six questions on our survey here.

 


RESOURCES

For additional information on the topics addressed during the webinar, see:

Orthostatic hypotension

Parkinson’s

Make an appointment with Dr. Santini at the Stanford Movement Disorders Center – 650-723-6469

Multiple System Atrophy

Lewy Body Dementia

 


 

NOTES

Our terrific volunteer, Denise Dagan, took notes from the webinar.

Webinar
Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) in Parkinson’s, Multiple System Atrophy, and Lewy Body Dementia

Speaker:  Veronica Santini, MD, movement disorders specialist, Stanford University
Host: Candy Welch, former MSA caregiver, Brain Support Network
September 18, 2017

 

SANTINI’S PRESENTATION

Topics for this webinar are:
* Describe symptoms associated with orthostatic hypotension (OH) in
– Parkinson’s Disease (PD)
– Multiple System Atrophy (MSA)
– Lewy Body Dementia (LBD)
* List the conservative and medication interventions used for treatment

Normal Blood Pressure Response to Gravitational Change
Gravitational Change = changing from lying or sitting to standing, even climbing stairs.  Gravity pulls blood into the legs and belly (up to 1 liter, or more).  That means less blood goes to the heart, resulting in up to 20% less blood leaving the heart and consequent blood pressure decrease.  Normally sensors in the neck see less blood pressure and sends signals to close blood vessels, increasing blood pressure.  Important organs get nutrients and oxygen.

In OH the sensors are not working properly (baroreceptor reflex is dysfunctional), so blood vessels don’t close.  They stay open and blood pressure drops, causing symptoms.

Common symptoms include:  lightheadedness, dizziness, almost passing out, weakness, fatigue, visual blurring, headaches.

Less common are:  buckling legs, walking difficulties, confusion, slowed thinking, shortness of breath, imbalance, jerking movements, neck pain/“coat hanger headache”, chest pain

Rare symptoms include:  stroke-like symptoms, weakness or numbness, abnormal cramping/dystonia.

Evaluation of OH includes:
– History of autonomic symptoms
– “Orthostatic” blood pressure (BP) = measure BP in both laying and standing postures.  OH is defined as a drop of the systolic >20 or diastolic >10
– Neurological examination
– Autonomic testing can be helpful in distinguishing PD/DLB from MSA

Approach to Treatment of OH:
Conservative therapy first, then adding Medications and, if necessary, Combination therapies (both conservative and medications, even a combination of medications)

Goals of Treatment:
1. Prevent loss of consciousness (this leads to falls and potential injury)
2. Prevent close calls (almost losing consciousness and)
3. Identify and prevent symptoms of OH (leg weakness, falls, somnolence, confusion)
4. Improve fatigue, exercise tollerance and cognition

Actions to Avoid:
– Standing motionless
– Standing too quickly
– Working with arms above shoulders
– Hot environments (anything that leads to sweating)
– High altitude
– Hot baths
– Fever
– Dehydration !!!
– Vigorous exercise
– Fast or heavy breathing
– Large meals
– Alcohol
– Straining with urination or defecation
– Coughing spells

Conservative Management:
– Water ingestion (60oz/day!)
– Salt tabs, dietary salt (chips, pretzels, nuts, deli meats, soups, tomato juice)
– Head of bed elevation 10-20 degrees/4” or 10cm (reduces postural change extremes, and urination)
– Physical maneuvers that raise orthostatic blood pressure (standing calf exertion, raise one leg on a step, knee bends, single knee kneel)
– Cooling vests, leg sleeves, binders around the abdomen after eating to prevent blood rushing to gut for digestion

Medications:
Fludrocortisone (Florinef)
Mineralocorticoid, a-1 agonist = woirks by expanding blood vessel volumes
Dose 0.1-0.5mg/daily
Should be used carefully due to rise of volume overload, electrolyte abnormalities
Additional side effects: headache, swelling, weight gain, high blood pressure lying flat.

Midrodrine
Peripheral z1 agonist = Works by squeezing blood vessels
Dose 5-10mg 3x daily
Common side effects: pupil dilation, goose flesh, tingling, itching
Can also cause high blood pressures when lying flat.

Droxidopa (Northera) (Newest FDA-approved Rx)
Norepinephrine (NE) pro-drug but the exact mechanism of action is unknown.
Studies have shown low standing NE
Dose 100-600mg 3x daily
Common side effects: headaches, dizziness, nausea, blurry vision, high blood pressure
Can also cause high blood pressures when lying flat.

Doctors advise against lying down when using all of these so you don’t raise blood pressure too high. Never take them before bedtime so blood pressure doesn’t go to high while sleeping.

Non FDA-approved Pharmacology:
Pyridostigmine (Mestinon)
Improves standing BP in patients w/OH
Does not increase BP when lying down
Effective alone or w/Midrodrine
Side effects: diarrhea, salivation, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps, twitching\

Yohimbine
a-2 adrenorectptor antagonist = increases norepinephrine and BP
Side effects: confusion, increase in heart rate, headache, or tremor
Medication interactions
Regulation of supplements


 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS  (all answers are by Dr. Santini, unless indicated)

Q:  What can caregivers do to help?

A:  Be the squeaky wheel by reminding your family member to keep hydrated, eat salty foods (even it that means the two of you eat different meals), help them check blood pressure throughout the day.  Also, give your doctor a symptom report so he/she has a full picture of challenges at home.  Doctors can’t fix what they don’t know about.  Sometimes patients get used to having low BP, so they don’t report changes to their doctor.  Caregivers can be more objective in how things used to be before BP issues arose, like seeing increased falls, more sleepiness, etc.  Caregivers need the right amount of support, as well.  Sometimes, the doctor can arrange for a nursing assistant to come into the home to do BP checks, or provide other services.  Just let your neurologist know if you are feeling the least bit overwhelmed.

Q:  How do you keep someone safe with OH without confining them to a wheelchair?

A:  Doctors should make sure the patient’s BP is good enough to have a full and active life.  It is a step-wise process, so be patient, but patients and their families or caregivers should be persistent.  Make sure all aspects of the patient’s health influencing BP is investigated, the big picture is formed and all therapies possible are attempted.

Candy:  We had a tilting wheelchair for my husband, who had MSA, so when he was feeling faint they could tilt the chair back making it easier for the body to maintain blood pressure, and preventing him from feeling awful or passing out.

Dr. Santini:  Neurologists are often able to write a letter to your insurance company recommending such a chair so that it is covered by insurance.  They are very expensive, but insurance did pay for Candy’s husband’s tilting wheelchair.

Q:  How does blood pressure affect brain function?

A:  There are several philosophies, but it is thought the blood carrying oxygen and nutrients doesn’t get to certain parts of the brain when BP is low.  The most upper parts of the brain affect both thinking and leg function.  Lack of oxygen and nutrients to these parts of the brain can cause all the symptoms mentioned; visual blurring, headaches, neck pain, dizziness, etc.

Q:  Are there any new blood pressure (BP) treatments?

A:  Yes, the newest is Northera.  Anecdotal evidence shows it to be quite effective.  But, the old ones are tried and true and new ones can be significantly more expensive.

Q: How do BP medications interact with Parkinson’s medications?

A:   There are several issues here.  Parkinson’s disease and atypical parkinsonian syndromes, like Lewy Body Dementia and Multiple System Atrophy cause problems with orthostatic hypotension.  So, the disease itself causes OH problems.  Almost every medicine doctors have to treat parkinsonian syndromes also drop blood pressure, unfortunately.  Patients should understand they need not suffer.  Let your physician boost your BP with some meds, then get your PD symptoms under control with other meds.  It is more meds, but if it improves your quality of life because you can move better and you can think and not be dizzy, etc. it’s probably worth it.  I frequently see patients who are not taking enough carbidopa-levodopa because it lowers BP.  I boost the BP, then add enough carbidopa-levodopa to improve mobility.  It’s a trade-off, but I feel quality of life is the most important thing while the patient is well enough in other ways to be active without feeling dizzy.

Q:   Can beta blockers help?

A:   With beta blockers you have to be careful. Beta blockers are often used for tremor control. We use those that don’t affect BP too much. They can be helpful for people who have very elevated heart rates.  Usually, the best treatment is to use the BP boosting agents. Oftentimes, in the absence of Northera, which can sometimes cause an increased heart rate, if you treat BP, heart rate can come down.

Q: What foods and supplements are best for OH?  Anything to be avoided?

A: It’s more how often you’re eating and how much you’re eating.  The bigger the meal, the more your BP can drop afterward.  If you are susceptible to BP drops after meals, an abdominal binder can be helpful.  Put it on about 10 minutes before a meal and keep it on for an hour afterward.  I recommend several small meals throughout the day, rather than three big meals. As far as what meals are best, we know some people have more difficulty with digestion of gluten or lactose.  Try going gluten free first for a couple weeks to see if it makes a difference for you.  If not, return the gluten and try going lactose free for a couple weeks.  It’s a good test to see if you are one of those with these digestive issues.

Q: What do you do if you have both OH and hypertension?

A: This is by far the most challenging of the group.  You have to decide on goals of care. Most commonly, people have hypertension, or high blood pressure, when they are lying flat. In that case you should avoid that flat position during the day.  At night we sometimes give a short-acting high blood pressure medicine, something like captopril, clonodine, etc.  It is more challenging when people have wide swings in BP.  It is extremely common in MSA and advanced PD.  Even standing or sitting people will have very high blood pressures, with systolic in the 180s of 190s.  Others will have extremely low blood pressures standing, with systolic in the 70s of 80s and they are passing out.  One thing doctors will do is ask patients to take their BP before they take the BP boosting medicine.  Then, the doctor will advise against taking the BP boosting meds when BP is already high, but to take it later in the day.  Sometimes, a person will need to avoid everything causing high BP.  Sometimes not treating high BP is the best option, even though that would normally not be recommended.  You have to treat which is causing the most symptoms and affecting quality of life.

Q: Can salt tablets help?

A: Yes, if you don’t like eating salt.  Talk with your doctor.  Taking a 1 gram tablet of salt in a tablet works better for some people than having salty meals.

Q: Can OH cause shortness of breath?

A: Yes!  It’s a common symptom because the upper lungs aren’t seeing as much blood as they usually do when BP is normal.  Gravity is pulling the blood down and those upper lung fields feel like they’re not breathing so people feel short of breath.

Q: Why does BP drop with exercise?

A: Sometimes it will raise, sometimes it will drop.  You may notice basketball players wearing sleeves on their ankles and legs.  Those are compression sleeves to help adjust BP.  When we exercise, the blood vessels open up so all the blood flow can get to those muscles that are working so hard.  The problem is that in OH we don’t have those extra reflexes to boost the BP back up.  Sometimes vigorous exercise can drop BP in people who have OH.  Those leg and arm sleeves can be very helpful in that case.

Q: Can OH lead to sudden death?

A:   It is a more rare circumstance.  It can certainly lead to heard dysfunction, and that could lead to sudden death.  We know that in autonomic dysfunction people can also have arrhythmias, and that can lead to sudden death.  If not exactly OH, sometimes it’s the autonomic failure that involves the heart that can lead to sudden death.

Q: Is OH more severe in MSA than in PD or LBD?  Is treatment of OH different with these three diseases?

A: Treatment tends to be similar but you have to be ready as the patient, caregiver, and healthcare provider to accept more OH in MSA. OH is typically more severe in MSA than in PD or LBD.  Sometimes very advanced PD or LBD (10+ years) may have severe BP swings, but MSA is more severe because OH occurs early in the disease course.  BP swings/OH is one of the most prominent symptoms people have in the entire MSA disease course.  Treatment goals in MSA may be different from PD and LBD as more accepting of BP swings.

These questions were sent in during the webinar:

Q: Someone has MSA w/OH but also supine hypotension (low blood pressure lying down).

A: This is easiest to treat because you just need to boost BP in all positions (lying down, sitting, and standing).  I would be concerned something else is going on and would recommend autonomic testing to determine that.

Q: Someone has primary autonomic failure (PAF) with possible MSA.  Does OH occur in PAF?

A: Oh, yes!  This whole category of PAF is a difficult one.  There is a current study looking at the natural history of primary autonomic failure.  Based on that research they are finding some of these patients eventually meet qualifications for an PD or MSA diagnosis.  Some people just have PAF, but not significant PD symptoms or progressive parkinsonism.  The main symptoms these patients have is OH and they really suffer from that.

Candy: This is how my husband was diagnosed with MSA.  First, doctors diagnosed PAF.

Q: Northera doesn’t help.  Should I stop and restart it?

A: No.  Sounds like you need to adjust the dosage.  Tell your doctor.  Sometimes, you just need to call or email, rather than make an appointment to see the doctor, for a medication adjustment.  Sometimes, they may ask you to come in in order to understand the problem.  If I had a patient report this to me and the patient was at the max dosage of 600mg/daily, I would cover all the bases with the patient.  I would reassess everything, confirming that the patient is drinking enough water, eating enough salt, wearing compression stockings. Does this patient tolerate Florinef and, if so, can we retry it?   Are you on an effective dose of Florinef or Midodrine, would adding pyridostigmine help the situation? When things get really tough, I sometimes temporarily reduces the anti-Parkinson’s medications (carbidopa-levodopa or dopamine agonist).  Sometimes reducing the PD meds isn’t what’s necessary, but increasing carbidopa can reduce side effects of levodopa, sometimes.  It’s worth looking at.

Q: Can coconut oil help OH?

A: Harmful? probably not, unless you have high cholesterol.  Ask your doctor if you should or should not be eating coconut oil, based on your health numbers.  There is no evidence that it helps.  It’s just the new magic for everything.

Q: Questioner feels faint while having a bowel movement. What can be done?

A: Either urinating or defecating activates the opposite side of the autonomic nervous system, lowering blood pressure.  People have passed out on the toilet.  Bathrooms are dangerous with hard surfaces to hit your head on when passing out.  The answer is to treat the constipation so there is no straining.  Don’t treat to the point of diarrhea because there can be straining with that, as well. Any of these may help:  Miralax, Senna, Cholase, or any stool softener. Another solution may be to put your feet onto a stool so knees are raised while on the toilet (Squatty Potty) can help defecation without straining.  Massage the lower belly while trying to poop can help move your bowel.  Best to poop after a hot meal and around the same time every day.

Q: What about SSRIs (antidepressants) for OH?

A: Yes, Prozac has been studied for use in OH. There is some research that it can help boost BP.

Q: Is Parkinson’s with OH more severe than PD without or a more rapidly progressing form of PD?

A:   Everybody who has PD has a different form of the disease. I have heard the strangest symptoms that a neurologist would consider ‘off medication’ symptoms, or those not normally attributed to PD, but happen to be attributed to that person with PD.  It’s very common for people with PD to have OH.  They are just a little unlucky because with OH you get a lot of symptoms.  Although you feel horrible and like you’re dying, sometimes, it doesn’t mean that your PD is more severe, just because you have those symptoms.  It means it’s something we need to treat and get your quality of life better.

Q: It seems OH research is focused on MSA. Do you feel that is true, and if so, why?

A: Yes, it is very true because patients w/MSA have OH symptoms early and severely in the disease course.  Researchers feel that if they can develop a treatment for OH in MSA, it will help those with PD.  I feel more studies should be done for OH in PD because improvements in OH improves cognition and physical activity for patients with PD.  Up to 30% of newly diagnosed PD patients have OH, so they would benefit from OH research.

Q: If I have severe OH, what kind of doctor should I see?

A: It depends on the specialty at different medical centers.  If you come to see a movement disorder specialist at Stanford, I have had specialized training in treating OH.  But, some movement disorder specialists prefer you see an autonomic specialist if you have OH. Other specialists who can treat OH include cardiologists or nephrologists.  You just have to find the specialist most comfortable in treating OH at the medical center where you are being treated.

Q: Is OH caused by a pathology in the brain?

A: People with MSA, LBD and PD have an abnormal buildup of the protein alpha-synuclein in certain brain cells.  These people can be affected by OH.  Other atypical parkinsonisms, like PSP, CBD, etc. that don’t have alpha-synuclein don’t have OH so we feel there is a connection between OH and alpha-synuclein.

Q: Does Stanford have an autonomic testing center?  Do you know where other autonomic testing centers are located in the US?  What is the benefit of having this testing?

A: Stanford has a very good autonomic testing center.  It is especially useful for people who have diabetes and PD, or in cases where symptoms seem more severe than what would be expected in PD so you would like to gather more information to determine if it is really MSA.  For these people, it may be a good idea to have autonomic testing. Stanford is probably best place for autonomic testing on the west coast.  Mayo Clinic in the midwest, and there are several places on the east coast are terrific, like Beth Israel.

Q: Some research shows that doctors see OH and automatically diagnose MSA.  What’s happening here?

A: I see people newly diagnosed with PD who have some OH and they have been misdiagnosed with MSA.  They actually have PD, but because PD medications lower BP, the medications can make their symptoms look more like MSA early in the course of their symptoms.  When there is a question as to whether someone has PD or MSA, autonomic testing should be done to differentiate between the two.  Seeing a movement disorder specialist rather than just a neurologist because they are specially trained to use set literature criteria that helps to differentiate between these conditions. The history of a person’s initial symptoms helps me figure out an accurate diagnosis.  Also, seeing how a person’s symptoms progress helps to determine an accurate diagnosis.

Q: What does autonomic testing look like?

A: The patient lays flat on a special bed.  There are several tests.  In one they infuse a medication that causes sweating to see how autonomic nervous system responds.  They may also have the patient do deep breathing to see if their heart rate and blood pressure responds correctly.  They also suddenly change the patient’s position from lying to standing (by tipping the table up quickly) to see how heart rate and blood pressure system responds. Depending on the body’s responses to all these different tests, they can determine if they are normal or abnormal.  If there are abnormal responses, it the problem coming from the brain or from the peripheral nervous system. That can be helpful in differentiating between disorders.

Q: What about Methotrexate?

A: That can be used if there is an immune component to the patient’s autonomic dysfunction.

 

Register Now! Sat, Oct 28, PSP/CBD Research Update and Family Conference

UPDATED (11-27-17):  This was a great conference!  See our complete conference webpage here:

www.brainsupportnetwork.org/conference-video-and-notes-pspcbd-research-update-and-practical-conference/

————————————-

Registration is now open!

Brain Support Network will host the:

PSP/CBD Research Update and Family Conference
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Crowne Plaza Foster City (San Francisco Bay Area)
8am Continental breakfast/check-in
9am Speakers begin
5pm Conclusion

Cost: $55 per person until October 7; $65 until October 27
No registration at the door
Non-refundable

Register now:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pspcbd-research-update-family-conference-tickets-37146069895

This conference is for families coping with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD).   Professionals and anyone in the community are also welcome to attend.

The conference will be run from 8am to 5pm. The morning will feature international researchers in town for a major conference on PSPCBD, and tau. The afternoon will feature Bay Area clinicians (from UCSF and Stanford), healthcare professionals, and those on the PSP/CBD journey.

See the great speaker line-up on the agenda.

In recent days, several people have asked how this conference is different from the CurePSP conference on October 26-27.  That CurePSP conference is for international researchers. All of the talks at the CurePSP conference will be at a very high-level.  (I don’t know of any laypeople who can understand even 20% of those talks.)

It seemed like a great opportunity to ask those international researchers to stay in town through Saturday noon to give shorter and easier-to-understand talks to laypeople. That’s what we’ve done!  We’ve worked with CurePSP to know who was speaking at their conference.

Our main planning partner is Dr. Adam Boxer and the team at the UCSF Memory & Aging Center. UCSF is the lead institution for PSP and CBD clinical trials. We are lucky to have them in our backyard!

Space is limited so register now:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pspcbd-research-update-family-conference-tickets-37146069895

If the $55 ticket is a hardship for you, we do have a small number of scholarships available. Please contact us.

We are looking for sponsorship for videorecording ($2K) the conference.  Can you help us sponsor this so more people can benefit from the great conference?  Contact us.

We are also looking for an all-day volunteer:  (contact us)

  • digital photographer. (Requires someone with a digital camera, photography skills, interest in roaming around the ballroom and foyer the whole day, and good with people.)

We’ve opened up exhibitor registration here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pspcbd-research-update-family-conference-exhibitor-registration-tickets-38393356563

Soon, we’ll be opening up registration for:  (contact us)

  • RNs, LVNs, LMFTs, and LCSWs who want CEUs.  Six CEUs are being offered through the Alzheimer’s Association.

Stay tuned.

Click here for a flyer to print and share.

Robin

Recording + Notes from “Diagnosing PSP” Webinar, August 2017

Brain Support Network and Stanford University co-hosted a webinar on Wednesday, August 30th about diagnosing Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

———————–

RECORDING

We’ve posted the webinar recording here —

www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1hBA9epCX8&list=PLrukR7WKf08QnjkBL9_-nTv0Kb2a9Y0o4&t=3s&index=2

It’s the speaker’s presentation (about 30 minutes).

———————–

RESOURCES

For additional information on the topics addressed during the webinar, see:

PSP Education, by Brain Support Network

———————–

NOTES

Our terrific volunteer, Denise Dagan, took notes from the webinar.

Webinar
Diagnosing Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

Speaker: Kathleen Poston, MD, movement disorders specialist, Stanford University
Host: Robin Riddle, CEO, Brain Support Network
August 30, 2017

PRESENTATION

We are focusing on the diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy today, and particularly paying attention to why the new diagnostic criteria was developed, how it can be applied in a clinical setting both from the perspective of clinicians and the patient and patient’s family.

 

Why have there been revisions in the clinical diagnostic criteria?

PSP can be a very difficult disorder to properly diagnose. The more classic of the PSP syndromes, called Richardson Syndrome, is one of the easier versions of PSP to diagnose.

In several studies, only about 63% of people diagnosed with PSP, who donated their brains for scientific research, actually had PSP confirmed by autopsy.

That’s a pretty low number especially for clinical trials because when you are studying a treatment for PSP you only want to recruit people who have PSP. If it turns out only 63% of the people enrolled in your study actually have PSP, your results are askew. The results are showing you your treatment only works on about half the people in your study which doesn’t look very effective. When, in fact, it may be working very well on every person who has PSP but you can’t see it because there are so many people enrolled who don’t have PSP.

 

What is misdiagnosed at PSP?

Dr. Poston showed a slide showing a Venn diagram of the types of disorders commonly misdiagnosed as PSP from a study of 181 patients who’s brain underwent autopsy, including one circle labeled as the 63% who actually had PSP.

The biggest group of misdiagnosed disorders is “Parkinsonism,” which is a collection of disorders which includes Parkinson’s disease (PD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and a broader parkinsonism, which in these autopsy cases means the clinician thought it was some form of parkinsonism but couldn’t definitively say it was either Parkinson’s disease or Dementia with Lewy Bodies versus some other parkinsonism disorder.
This group is 13% of cases misdiagnosed as PSP during life, but found to have Parkinsonism on autopsy.

The other commonly misdiagnosed disorders were less frequent:
corticobasal degenerative disease, which is also frequently confused with PSP = 2%
frontotemporal degeneration = 3%
Alzheimer’s disease = 4%

 

What are the clinical features of PSP:

Motor:
* Parkinsonism, a syndrome defined by axial rigidity (rigidity in the neck and trunk), postural instability (poor balance), bradykinesia (slowness of movement and facial expression muscles), reduced blink

* Supranuclear gaze palsy (SGP) – This is the feature that most accurately helps diagnose PSP. When we quickly look up, down, right, or left it is called a saccadic eye movement. When we move our eyes slowly, it is called called a smooth pursuit. These movements are controlled by the cortex of the brain, above the nucleus that controls the eye muscles (supranuclear). That is the part of the eye movement that is most impacted by PSP. Patients, at first, have trouble with the saccadic movements, and eventually have trouble looking up or down at all, even with smooth pursuit. This is in contrast to a gaze movement below the level of the nucleus (infra nuclear) in which you move the head in one plane can the eyes move around and the eyes are not affected.

* Dysphagia/dysarthria – speech and swallowing difficulties

Cognitive Profile:
* Executive dysfunction – cognitive profile / thinking challenges

Behavior:
* Apathy, obsessive/compulsive behaviors, lack of inhibition

When these cognitive and behavior dysfunctions are present, it can make it difficult to distinguish PSP from other types of memory problems, like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Frontemporal Dementia (FTD). When there’s more of a motor component to presenting symptoms, it becomes difficult to distinguish PSP from Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonisms.

 

The original diagnostic criteria was developed in 1996. They were based on a series of autopsy cases for people who had been followed throughout their life and were found at autopsy to have PSP in their brains. When they looked back at the clinical symptoms to see what clinical symptoms distinguished PSP from other disorders they came up with:
– Gradually progressive (to distinguish from stroke, which causes sudden changes)
– Presenting symptoms over the age of 40
– Vertical supranuclear gaze palsy
– Postural instability with a propensity to fall within the first year of symptoms

There are a lot of other supporting features but those tended to differentiate PSP from other disorders, but were unspecific, like rigidity in the neck and trunk, tendency to fall backward, poor response to levodopa, and some cognitive symptoms. These supporting features didn’t do a good job of distinguishing people who had PSP from other disorders, and what was used in the study of 181 people thought to have PSP in which only 63% actually had PSP on autopsy.

What has been identified since is that most patients would have the classic parts of PSP (supranuclear gaze palsy, and tendency to fall) early on and can be properly diagnosed within 1-3 years. But a lot of patients didn’t have those particular features early on in the disorder. Over time those symptoms tend to emerge into the classic Richardson syndrome, but it can be so many years (6 or 7 years) before those symptoms present and getting the right diagnosis. In fact, people have actually died before presenting the classic Richardson syndrome symptoms of PSP.

This is frustrating for patients, their families, and clinicians trying to only enroll people who actually have PSP in their clinical trial studies.

 

Dr. Poston showed a slide at time stamp 14:52 showing the accuracy of a PSP diagnosis, depending on early symptom presentation.
1. PSP Richardson syndrome – supranuclear gaze palsy & early falls = very likely properly diagnosed with PSP
2. PSP-P Parkinsonism symptoms – slowness, stiffness, subtle eye movement abnormalities, no early falls = less than 1/2 the time accurately diagnosed with PSP
3. PSP Primary Freezing of Gait – difficulty initiating walking early on. Not part of the classic Richardson Syndrome. Very difficult to diagnose, but more accurately diagnosed with PSP than those below.

These four disorders are a very small percentage of people with PSP, but they do exist and it is important to understand that. That is part of the logic behind the somewhat complex nature of the new diagnostic criteria. Because they are a small percentage, we will focus on the first three.
4. Cortobasal syndrome
5. Nonfluid Primary Progressive Aphasia
6. Behavior variant FTD
7. Cerebellar ataxia

 

PSP- RS / PSP Richardson Syndrome is the most common clinical variant. People presenting these symptoms are most likely to actually have PSP pathology on autopsy.
* Unexplained falls, Unsteady gait, Bradykinesia (slowness of movement)
* Personality changes (apathy, disinhibition)
* Cognitive slowing, Executive dysfunction (difficulty problem solving and organizing your day)
* Slow, spastic, and hypophonic speech, Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)
* Impaired eye movement (slow vertical saccades, apraxia eyelid opening)
* Vertical supranuclear gaze palsy, but onset is variable, for example:
— Might not present for 3-4 years after disease onset
— May present early on as decreased velocity, amplitude of vertical > horizontal saccadic (can’t look all the way up or all the way down)
— May present as decreased or absent optokinetic nystagmus. There are some easy to use apps to test OKN in your doctor’s office.

 

PSP-P / PSP-Parkinsonism is the one that has the most difficulty distinguishing between PSP and Parkinson’s disease or PSP and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. This subtype of PSP was identified in the last 10 years by an autopsy study done in the UK where they looked at a bunch of patients who had donated their brain and had PSP on autopsy but did not have a diagnosis of PSP during their life. A lot of those patients had features very similar to classic Parkinson’s disease, particularly early on.

We always thought PSP should be very symmetric without a lot of tremor, but these folks had a lot of asymmetry and a lot of tremor and a good many of them had an early, good response to Levodopa. As years progressed this response went away and the asymmetry became symmetric, but early on it really resembled classic Parkinson’s disease and this made us realize that early on some patients are early to distinguish.

It was uncommon for these people with PSP Parkinsonism to develop the classic Levodopa-induced dyskinesias, they didn’t have the autonomic dysfunction (blood pressure drops common in Parkinson’s), or hallucinations common in Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and that’s really important in distinguishing PSP from DLB. DLB is a variant of Parkinson’s disease where the visual hallucinations are a distinguishing feature. Asking whether visual hallucinations are present is key in distinguishing PSP from DLB.

(Slide summary)
PSP-P Parkinsonism. People presenting these symptoms are less than 1/2 the time accurately diagnosed with PSP.
* Early features of PD
* Asymmetric onset tremor, Bradykinesia, Rigidity, Moderate initial response to Levodopa
* Resembles idiopathic Parkinson’s disease
* Levodopa-induced dyskinesias, autonomic dysfunction, and visual hallucination are less common in patients with PSP-P (compared to the patients with PD)

 

PSP-PGF / PSP Primary Gait Freezing – very tough to diagnose but important to recognize it is a variant of PSP as almost all patients have PSP pathology at autopsy.
* Pure Akinesia with Gait Freezing – primarily have difficult initiating walking, feet really stick to the floor
* Isolated gait disorder (5-6) years before development of other PSP-RS
* Progressive gait disturbance with start hesitation
* Subsequent freezing of gait
* Sometimes difficulties with initiating or completing speech or writing
* Without tremor, rigidity, dementia, or eye problems during first 5 years

 

The new 2017 diagnostic criteria:
* Sporadic occurrence (to distinguish from stroke)
* Age 40 or older at onset
* Gradual progression of PSP-related symptom
* Core Features:
— Oculomotor dysfunction
— Postural instability
— Akinesia
— Cognitive dysfunction

What does Probably PSP mean?
We cannot say someone definitely has PSP without autopsy finding. It is not possible at this point, based on clinical exam, brain imaging, or blood test to say someone definitely has PSP. Research is underway.

Highly specific: If someone meets probable PSP criteria, there is a very high chance that the underlying pathological diagnosis will be PSP. These are the people we are most certain about.

Good for use in clinical trials where you only want to enroll people who have the real underlying pathology.

But not very sensitive for PSP. Most people who have PSP pathology will not fully meet the Probable Criteria. Means that if you don’t have Probable PSP based on criteria, there’s still a really good chance you have PSP.

 

Slide at time stamp 26:10 showing the diagnostic levels of certainty when certain symptoms are present early on. In all cases, the oculomotor dysfunction must be present or it would be too hard to distinguish from PD or DLB.
To be diagnosed with Probable PSP-RS (Richardson Syndrome) you must have:
1. Either a vertical supranuclear gaze palsy or slow velocity of vertical saccades AND
2. Either repeated unprovoked falls within 3 years or a tendency to fall on the pull-test within 3 years.

To be diagnosed with Probable PSP-P (Parkinsonism) you must have:
1. Either a vertical supranuclear gaze palsy or slow velocity of vertical saccades AND
2. Parkinsonism, akinetic-rigid, predominantly axial, and levodopa resistant or Parkinsonism, with tremor and/or asymmetric and/or levodopa responsive.

To be diagnosed with Probable PSP-PGF (Gait Freezing) you must have:
1. Either a vertical supranuclear gaze palsy or slow velocity of vertical saccades AND
2. Progressive gait freezing within 3 years

 

Dr. Poston showed a slide at time stamp 29:30 showing imaging scans that are helpful in diagnosis when they appear. Similar to the eye movement abnormalities, when doctors see these they are very helpful in making a diagnosis. Unfortunately, most patients do not present so clearly on imaging. The lack of these distinguishing scan features does not mean you do not have PSP, it just means this tool didn’t present any compelling evidence for a PSP diagnosis. Clinical observation will have to suffice.
* The hummingbird sign shows thinning of the midbrain, which is classic to PSP
* The morning glory sign or mickey mouse ears, also shows thinning of the midbrain.

 

Dr. Poston showed slides of PSP pathology under the microscope at autopsy at time stamp 30:33, and discussed:
* Neurofibrillary tangles or neuropil threads or both, in the basal ganglia and the brainstem.
* Microscopic features:
— Neuronal loss
— Gliosis
— Neurofibrillary tangles
— Neuropil threads
— Tufted astrocytes
— Oligodendroglial coiled bodies

 

“Feel Empowered while Caregiving” Webinar on Tuesday, Sep 19 2017

Feel Empowered while Caregiving by Janet Edmunson, M.Ed.

This announcement is from Janet Edmunson:

Join us for a FREE Webinar on Tuesday September 19, 2017: 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT

For family and professional caregiver.

Webinar will be approximately 30 minutes in length.

Register online today by clicking the link below.

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8859603393064370433

Webinar Description: Most of us feel powerless and seem to be just surviving our caregiving experience. But no matter what our situation is, we can still find more happiness and strength. In this webinar, we’ll explore how to actually feel empowered, instead of deflated. We’ll look at the choices and control we still have. We’ll explore how to get the appreciation we need as well as how to boost our own spirits. Join us to receive the infusion of energy you deserve for this caregiver journey.

About Janet: Janet has over 30 years’ experience in the health promotion field. She retired in May 2007 as Director of the Prevention & Wellness for a staff of 20 at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Since retirement, as President of JME Insights, she is a motivational speaker, consultant and trainer, having spoken to hundreds of groups across the U.S. While working full-time, Janet took care of her husband, Charles, during the five years he fought a movement disorder with dementia. Janet wrote about her experience in her book, Finding Meaning with Charles. Janet has a Master’s degree from Georgia State University. For more information about Janet, see her website at www.AffirmYourself.com.

Use of donated brain tissue in research

One of the key benefits of brain donation is that it enables donated tissue to be used for future research.  Families are understandably interested in knowing how their loved one’s donated brain has been used in research.

The Mayo Clinic Brain Bank does not update families on this.  With hundreds of brains in their brain bank, it would be impossible to keep all families with all diagnoses updated.

So we recommend to families what we do — look at PubMed (pubmed.gov).  PubMed is a US government-funded database of all published research articles around the world.

Conduct a search

Conduct a search in PubMed (pubmed.gov) along these lines:

XYZ (diagnosis) autopsy confirmed Mayo Dickson

XYZ is either the clinical diagnosis of your loved one or the neuropathologic (confirmed) diagnosis of your loved one.

If the neuropathologic diagnosis, it’s best if this is written in the same language as was in your family member’s neuropathology report from Mayo.  Some common neuropathologic diagnoses we see are:

* Alzheimer’s disease

* Lewy body disease  (which are some of the words used when the diagnosis is Parkinson’s Disease, PD Dementia, Lewy body dementia, or dementia with Lewy bodies)

* frontotemporal lobar degeneration (which are the words that might be used when referring to frontotemporal dementia, primary progressive aphasia, or semantic dementia)

* progressive supranuclear palsy

* corticobasal degeneration

* multiple system atrophy

* motor neuron disease

* argyrophilic grain disease

The words “autopsy confirmed” are included in the search as we are hoping to find only the research that includes donated brain tissue.

The words “Mayo” and “Dickson” are included in the search as this refers to Dr. Dennis Dickson, the neuropathologist at the Mayo Clinic.  If any research is published around the world utilizing brain tissue donated to the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Dickson will be given credit.

Search results usually go back many years.  You can refine the search by clicking on “Publication Date.”  Example:  let’s say your family member died in 2016.  You can select “1 year” to find articles published in the last year.

Look at the “Methods” section

Say that this refinement yields one article.  You can look — for free — at the abstract of the article.  Pay attention to the “Methods” section of the abstract.  This will provide a date range.  Example – “We assessed the distribution and severity of [some] pathology in [number] autopsy-confirmed XYZ [diagnosis] patients collected from YEAR to YEAR.”  Did your family member’s brain arrive at the Mayo Clinic Brain Bank during that timeframe?

You can perform this same search every so often.

Sign up for email alerts

What we at Brain Support Network do is sign up for email alerts whenever research is published using this search criteria.

It is very exciting when your loved one’s donated brain tissue has been used in research!

We at Brain Support Network will try to keep our blog site updated whenever we see research utilizing donated brain tissue that we’ve helped make arrangements for getting that tissue to Mayo’s researchers.

Thank you for donating your loved one’s brain!  You’ve helped us all by enabling research.

Robin