Parkinson's disease & rigidiy

[Marcello Spinella]

Agreed.  It seems that spasticity occurs with either flexors or
extensors, while Parkinsonian rigidity involves excess tone in both
flexors and extensors resulting from the basal ganglia lesion.  While
DOPA or a dopamine agonist corrects this inbalance in the striatum,
baclofen reduces tone by GABA receptors in the spinal grey.  While
baclofen would reduce tone in a Parkinsonian patient, there would still
be antagonistic tone in both flexors and extensors.

Renato Cocchi wrote:

> > From: Marcello Spinella <optimism32 at hotmail.com>
> > Organization: EarthLink Network, Inc.
> > Subject: Parkinson's disease and rigidity
> >
>
> > If Parkinson's disease involves rigidity, why isn't baclofen
> > effective to treat it?
>
>  Perhaps  because  Parkinson's rigidity is  a  dopamine-related
> symptom and  baclofen is a B-GABAergic agonist.
>  The  fact  that baclofen is an antispastic  is  insignificant:
> What  seems  the  same symptom can  be  produced  by  different
> breakdowns (eg. haemophilia).
>
>  Renato Cocchi MD