Digestive disorders in Parkinson's disease: dysphagia and sialorrhea

The non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease are a frequent and often under-diagnosed disorder. Two of the most significant non-motor symptoms are perhaps dysphagia and sialorrhea (which are relatively common in advanced stages of the disease) owing to their important functional repercussions and to the associated comorbidity. In recent years, different evaluation scales have been developed for clinical use and in screening the aforementioned symptoms. Of the different therapeutic options available, botulinum toxin represents the preferred treatment for sialorrhea. In contrast, speech therapy and an optimisation of the antiparkinsonian therapy are generally useful measures to treat dysphagia, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy being reserved for patients suffering from Parkinson who have severe dysphagia.