RT Journal
A1 ASK-UPMARK E
T1 HYperthyroidism and parkinsonism
JF A.M.A. Archives of Internal Medicine
JO A.M.A. Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 1959
FD May 1
VO 103
IS 5
SP 818
OP 819
DO 10.1001/archinte.1959.00270050140022
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1959.00270050140022
AB The correlations between hyperthyroidism and Parkinsonism have been excellently covered in a recent paper in this journal.1 The following observations may serve as a modest complement.Firstly, there is a syndrome, mostly encountered in young women, which at the surface is extremely suggestive of hyperthyroidism: they have exophthalmus, anxiety, restlessness, tachycardia, and tremor. The real cause of this syndrome is encephalitis, and it is, as a matter of fact, rather easy to distinguish the syndrome from hyperthyroidism: 1. The tremor is rather more coarse than in hyperthyroidism. 2. The basal metabolic rate is decreased, say to -20% or -30%. 3. There is a pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid. I have personally observed this syndrome repeatedly and more often than not have these patients been interpreted by the general practitioner as hyperthyroidism. Why the syndrome is especially apt to occur in young women I cannot say.Secondly, the time-honored belief in