Cases of Parkinsonism from Covid-19: What to Make of It?
Scientists called it the third silent wave, but there are a few things to consider.
To date, there have been three published case reports of Covid-19 patients developing parkinsonism — the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). PD impairs a person's movement coordination. They show trembling hands, legs, or jaw, stiff limbs, slow movement with sudden halts, and poor balance. Now, what might parkinsonism have to do with SARS-CoV-2 or Covid-19?
Parkinsonism cases following Covid-19
Let’s hear from Patrik Brundin, professor and director at the Center for Neurodegenerative Science in Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan, a world-leading expert with over 350 publications on PD.
His new paper, titled “Is COVID-19 a perfect storm for Parkinson’s disease?”, was published in Trends in Neurosciences last month. Herein he and co-workers detailed three case reports of patients developing parkinsonism within 2–5 weeks of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Two of them, a 35-year female and 45-year male, responded to the standard dopaminergic treatment for PD and recovered. One of them, a 58-year man, healed spontaneously. Importantly, all cases showed reduced nigrostriatal system (that…
