Initial UCC pilot survey results illustrates how hormonal stage may affect Parkinson’s symptoms in Women​
The UCC study is looking at whether symptoms differ between women who still have menstrual cycles and those who are postmenopausal. They gathered information from 426 women with Parkinson’s who completed an online survey as part of the pilot. ​They compared symptoms reported by 128 women who were still menstruating and 298 who are postmenopausal. ​Even though the total number of symptoms people experienced was similar between the two groups, they found that the types of symptoms experienced in the two groups were different.
Women who still have periods reported more problems with:
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Muscle stiffness and slowness
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Anxiety and low mood
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Pain and mood swings
Women who had gone through menopause were more likely to report:
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Balance issues
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Loss of smell
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Constipation
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What It Means:
Hormones may influence how Parkinson’s shows up in women. Understanding these differences could help tailor treatments and support to better meet women’s needs at different stages of life. The results and poster presentation are presented below.
This is the first research study of this nature. The next step of the study involves analysing the use of the My Moves Matter mobile digital app for women to log real world experiences of their symptoms in relation to their hormonal status. ​Future analyses of this data by the UCC research team will explore differences in medication use and symptom patterns longitudinally, in both Menstruating and Postmenopausal groups.
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My Moves Matter and the UCC research team would like to thank all those women who took part in the pilot trial. Without your participation we would not be able to influence the future care of women with PD.
Participant demographics
Symptoms showing significantly different
frequencies between Menstruation Status categories
