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Palliative Care for Parkinson’s Disease: Has the Time Come?

  • Movement Disorders (M Okun, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Although Parkinson’s disease (PD) is traditionally viewed as a movement disorder which affects quality of life, recent literature has revealed an increased mortality, a high burden of difficult-to-manage non-motor symptoms (e.g., pain, fatigue), high caregiver distress, and a high utilization of medical services especially in the last year of life. Current medical systems have yet to adequately respond to this mounting evidence through the adoption of palliative care practices and through the provision of palliative care services to both PD patients and to affected families. This holistic, interdisciplinary approach to practice would enhance care delivery, identify and address unmet needs, and avoid interventions and hospitalizations especially in the last months of life. As we approach an era of increased life expectancy, increasing comorbidities among patients, and escalating healthcare costs, physicians must be proactive in focusing on quality of life, reducing medical interventions, and respecting patient autonomy.

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Conflict of Interest

Janis M. Miyasaki has received a fellowship support grant from the American Brain Foundation and is proposing initiation of a palliative care program in neurologic illness to Alberta Health Services.

Benzi Kluger has received grants from the NIH, VAMC, Michael J. Fox Foundation, and the Colorado Clinical Translational Sciences Institute. Dr. Kluger has also received honoraria payments from the Davis Phinney Foundation and paid travel accommodations from the Parkinson’s Association of the Rockies.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Janis M. Miyasaki

  2. Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA

    Benzi Kluger

Authors
  1. Janis M. Miyasaki
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  2. Benzi Kluger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janis M. Miyasaki.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Movement Disorders

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Miyasaki, J.M., Kluger, B. Palliative Care for Parkinson’s Disease: Has the Time Come?. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 15, 26 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-015-0542-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-015-0542-4

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