my dad had this illness and it was misdiagnosed as parkinson's for a very long time. below is the best explanation i have read about nigrostiaratal degeneration: striatonigral degeneration (snd) is sporadic middle-aged on set degenerative disease of the nervous system which etiology is unknown. it is usually misdiagnosed as parkinsonism mainly because snd is often present early on with parkinson's disease (pd) symptoms and patients receive some relief from levodopa and dopamine agonists as well as the other medications to treat pd. there are some symptoms that differentiate the two these are: early onset falls severe dysarthria (characteristically slurred and difficult to understand speech) severe dysphonia excessive snoring hyper reflexia and extensor tendon response pet scans and spect scans may show little change in dopamine levels. degenerative changes are seen in putamen region of the brain. medicines include sinemet dopamine agonists eldepryl symmetrel pain medications and medications to treat other symptoms that may arise. this answer was originially given by dr. uzair mbbs fcps (r) general surgery. years of experience in emergency medicine.
what is nigrostriatal degeneration as it relates to parkinson's disease?