Intraneural hypoxaemia is recognized as a pathogenic mechanism in diabetic neuropathy. A similar pathophysiological process may occur in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Autonomic neuropathy is not recognized in COPD. We compared 96 patients with hypoxaemic COPD to 22 age-matched control subjects to see whether autonomic dysfunction occurs in COPD and whether there was any correlat...

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction is common in Parkinson's disease (PD), affects 70% to 80% of patients, and causes significant morbidity and discomfort. Autonomic nervous system dysfunction symptoms in PD include sexual dysfunction, swallowing and gastrointestinal disorders, bowel and bladder abnormalities, sleep disturbances, and derangements of cardiovascular regulation, particularl...

The aims of the present study were to investigate the relationship between severe hypoglycaemia and autonomic dysfunction in diabetic children, and to assess the glycaemic response to an insulin infusion test. In a one year period, 12 of 69 diabetic patients (17%) experienced at least one severe episode of hypoglycaemia, defined as an event which required outside assistance. All patients underw...

Recent data suggest autonomic dysfunction in patients suffering dementia. This study evaluated autonomic modulation in dementia patients with and without autonomic involvement, employing ECG spectral analysis in the time-frequency domain (wavelet transform) in supine resting and head-up tilt (HUT) position. Thirty-six patients were prospectively evaluated at the Department of Neurology and Psyc...

BACKGROUND Obesity, physical inactivity, and altered estrogen levels play an important role in contributing to disease risk profile and autonomic dysfunction in healthy postmenopausal women. This study was conducted to test the correlation between autonomic dysfunction and dyslipidemia in healthy postmenopausal women. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was carried out on sixty healthy postmenop...

OBJECTIVE Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is the sequential failure of several organ systems after a trigger event, like sepsis or cardiogenic shock. Mortality rate is high, up to 70%. Autonomic dysfunction may substantially contribute to the development of MODS. Our study aimed to characterize a) the spectrum of autonomic dysfunction of critically ill MODS patients; b) whether auton...

BACKGROUND Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is common and its cause is unknown. AIM To study the prevalence of autonomic dysfunction in CFS, and to develop diagnostic criteria. DESIGN Cross-sectional study with independent derivation and validation phases. METHODS Symptoms of autonomic dysfunction were assessed using the Composite Autonomic Symptom Scale (COMPASS). Fatigue was assessed usin...