Paula,

At first I was inclined to agree on the scarce amount of research on PD and women, but we do have a champion in Dr. Lisa Shulman. She is the first to come out and say that PD and pregnancy do not mix plus she has looked at estrogen. I have written to thank her and would love to get her input on this thyroid stuff, but feel I need more to go on. Honestly, I think the reason we do not see more on this is because PD "the commodity" is marketed as an old person's malady, so menstruation or childbirth doesn't count.

Funny you bring up Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). It responds to dopa agonist therapy. It is of course also of mysterious and sporadic origin, so it is naturally a potentially informative new neighbor on the block of dopa-centric movement disorders. Even more fascinating is that some brazen new researcher is hypothesizing that the secret to it all lies in the connection between dopamine and thyroid hormone. The researchers also do not overlook the fact it afflicts mainly women and pregnancy for some reason exacerbates it (in fact I will def write to these guys). They also name potential deficiencies in a key enzyme involved in normal dopamine production also known as CYP450

Imbalance between thyroid hormones and the dopaminergic system might be central to the pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome: a hypothesis.


Medical hypothesis. To discuss the theory that thyroid hormones, when not counterbalanced by dopaminergic agonists, may precipitate the signs and symptoms underpinning Restless Legs Syndrome. The main cause of Restless Legs Syndrome might be an imbalance between the dopaminergic agonists system and thyroid hormones.

Might we say that the thyroid for some, may precipitate the signs and symptoms underpinning Parkinson's Disease? Look at our experiences. When I presented with a tremor some eight years ago, my thyroid TSH level was off the chart high (7 with 5.5 as highest norm)- I don't recall my GP telling me this and just ran across the lab report. I was overtly hypothyroid.

I think this is an interesting hypothesis when applied to PD as frankly we have documented cases of longstanding, untreated thyroidism manifesting as Parkinsonism. In some cases the Parkinson's symptoms resolved when thyroid medicine was started. In cases of hyperthyroidism, we see the same only more evidence of it. I am not saying there is a simple cause-effect here, but it has to be more than coincidence that unregulated thyroid hormone symptoms look a lot like PD.

Maybe these guys are not saying not much of anything, but their reference list alone is worth scanning. I think the whole publication is laudable for even including a special area for speculative "what if" thinking.

Any other thoughts on this?

Meant to add that I am not officially diagnosed with any thyroid condition but believe I am hypothyroid. Also children...not pregnant earlier in life though it was tried- pregnant for the first time ever at age 41! I sometimes wonder if levodopa therapy stimulated my hormones - I was pregnant within a few months of starting the drug!

N

Laura