EAN 2026 | When menopause and Parkinson’s symptoms overlap: guidance for earlier recognition
Katarina Rukavina, MD, PhD, Movement Disorders Hospital, Beelitz, Germany, shares guidance for differentiating between symptoms of menopause and Parkinson’s disease when they overlap. Dr Rukavina explains that PD in prodromal phases can mimic menopause symptoms, which can lead to delayed diagnosis. This interview took place at the 12th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) in Geneva, Switzerland.
These works are owned by Magdalen Medical Publishing (MMP) and are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All rights are reserved.
Transcript
This is a very important gap in women’s health, in women’s brain health. The problem is that Parkinson’s and also many other diseases in its prodromal stages, meaning when symptoms are there but not yet those that are characteristic for the respective disease. The symptoms are unspecific so in the prodromal stage Parkinson may present with a range of symptoms such as cognitive issues, sleep issues, different pain syndromes, depression or anxiety, constipation, for example...
This is a very important gap in women’s health, in women’s brain health. The problem is that Parkinson’s and also many other diseases in its prodromal stages, meaning when symptoms are there but not yet those that are characteristic for the respective disease. The symptoms are unspecific so in the prodromal stage Parkinson may present with a range of symptoms such as cognitive issues, sleep issues, different pain syndromes, depression or anxiety, constipation, for example. And all of those symptoms also occur in menopause. So there is a really huge problem to recognize that those symptoms are not necessarily explained solely through menopause. And we know from the studies that this actually in clinical practice leads to a delay in the diagnosis in women with Parkinson’s disease and women with Parkinson’s disease get referred to movement disorders specialists later than men so I would like to use this opportunity to spread the message also to our colleagues, gynecologists and obstetricians, that we really need to work as a team to care for our patients as a team. And I would like them to be more sensitized to neurological symptoms. And if they do notice even smaller signs of slowness or maybe very slight tremor or rigidity then they should without delay refer patients to neurologists.
This transcript is AI-generated. While we strive for accuracy, please verify this copy with the video.
Read more...
