Non-motor symptoms
Autonomic dysfunction (constipation, orthostatic hypotension), pain, fatigue, hyposmia and other non-movement symptoms.
In this category
State of the art
No update yet for Non-motor symptoms. An update is a standalone state-of-the-art for the topic — what someone with Parkinson's needs to know about where this approach stands today.
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Parkinson’s disease: tai chi may help manage symptoms – new research
The study assessed autonomic function — including urinary and bowel control — over 3.5 years and found that tai chi practitioners showed better outcomes on these measures than controls, with fewer complications such as hallucinations and restless leg syndrome, broadening the evidence base for tai chi beyond motor benefits alone. -
Safety and efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation in Parkinson’s disease Constipation
Across the 11 studies reviewed, constipation was the one outcome that improved consistently after FMT — standing out against otherwise heterogeneous results for motor and other non-motor symptoms. This makes constipation relief the most robust signal from the FMT evidence base to date, though standardised, larger trials are still needed before FMT can be recommended for this purpose. -
Una tecnología para tratar el párkinson elimina el dolor a Inma, paciente con la "enfermedad del suicidio": "Es un cambio descomunal" - La Opinión de Málaga Pain
This news report highlights the use of non-invasive focused ultrasound (HIFU) as a potential option for severe, treatment-resistant neuropathic pain — a symptom that significantly affects quality of life in Parkinson's and is frequently undertreated. The evidence here is a single patient case at one Spanish hospital, so no efficacy conclusions can be drawn, but it points to an emerging interest in applying HIFU to central and neuropathic pain targets beyond tremor. -
Vyalev eases motor, nonmotor symptoms in advanced Parkinson’s Pain
The ROSSINI study found that Vyalev significantly reduced pain scores in advanced Parkinson's patients after six months, one of the few real-world datasets to document a nonmotor benefit of continuous subcutaneous levodopa infusion on pain specifically. -
Tolerability and efficacy of full-body head-up tilt sleeping in Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy Orthostatic hypotension
This 20-person randomised trial (the Heads-Up trial) is the first prospective study to test graduated head-up tilt sleeping (HUTS) specifically in PD and MSA patients who have both orthostatic hypotension and supine hypertension simultaneously — the hardest-to-treat blood-pressure pattern. At bed angles of 6°–12°, HUTS improved the blood-pressure drop on standing and normalised the 24-hour pressure profile without adding medication; 6° was fully tolerated, while 18° was only sustained by 60% of participants. -
Parkinson's Disease.
The review emphasizes that non-motor features—including loss of smell (hyposmia), constipation, depression, and autonomic dysfunction—are often premonitory, appearing years before diagnosis. Identifying these symptoms early is increasingly important for research and may eventually trigger preventive treatment in at-risk individuals.