Psychiatria pre prax 6/2003

Treatment of psychiatric complications in patients with Parkinson’s disease

A proper medical care of the patients with the Parkinson´s disease requires an interdisciplinary attitude by both neurologists and psychiatrists. We describe the basic characteristics of the most common psychiatric symptoms in the Parkinson´s disease. They are not always recognized by the physicians, and even in the case of a correct diagnosis they may not be treated well. We must consider the patient´s age and somatic clinical state, the possible deleterious effect of the drug on motoric symptoms, and the risk of drug-drug interactions while choosing the proper psychotropic medication. We sum up the knowledge on the most suitable drugs for the treatment of psychiatric commorbidity of the Parkinson´s disease based on a search of the literature, and our clinical experience.

Keywords: Parkinson´s disease, psychiatric symptoms, psychotropic drugs, extrapyramidal adverse effects.