OBJECTIVE Only one previous follow-up study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and parkinsonism in Papua, Indonesia has been carried out since a survey undertaken in 1962-1981 by Gajdusek and colleagues. Therefore, to clarify the clinical epidemiology of ALS and parkinsonism in the southern coastal region of Papua, the clinical characteristics and prevalence of the diseases in this region w...

We investigated a large family with levodopa-responsive, Lewy body parkinsonism in which the disease segregates as an apparent autosomal dominant trait. After performing a genome screen, we identified a chromosome 4p haplotype that segregates with the disease. However, this haplotype also occurs in individuals in the pedigree who do not have clinical Lewy body parkinsonism but rather suffer fro...

A study was conducted on 66 psychiatric inpatients who took major tranquilizers for periods of four to 16 years. The frequency of signs of Parkinsonism and the effects of orphenadrine on these were studied in a double-blind crossover method. Sixty-one per cent of the patients showed signs of Parkinsonism. Female patients and those with organic brain pathology more frequently exhibited Parkinson...

Genetic evidence from recessively inherited Parkinson's disease has indicated a clear causative role for mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson's disease. This role has long been discussed based on findings that toxic inhibition of mitochondrial respiratory complex I caused parkinsonism and that tissues of patients with Parkinson's disease show complex I deficiency. Disorders of mitochondrial D...