Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Symposium 2

Problem of alternative medicine in Parkinson's disease

Ken-ichi Fujimoto, M.D., Ph.D.1)

1)Department of Neurology, Jichi Medical University

I asked about the usage of alternative medicine to 300 outpatients with Parkinson's disease. 163 patients (54.3%) had experience with health appliance and 128 patients (42.7%) had experience with supplements. There is no health appliance or supplement whose efficacy for Parkinson's disease is approved publicly. Most of the patients understood it but some patients who purchased the goods believed to be effective in Parkinson's disease. In addition some patients feel affected because the purchase price is abnormally high. Continuous usage rate is generally high in supplements, relatively high in massage machine, but significantly low in equipment to move the body, such as muscle training equipment of various types or exercise bike. It seems important to inform this fact to Parkinson's disease patients.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (621K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 53: 1056|1058, 2013)
key words: Parkinson's disease, alternative medicine, supplement, health appliance, electric potential treatment instrument

(Received: 30-May-13)