Vitamin B<sub>12</sub> deficiency and Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with various clinical manifestations, its origin not always can be explained only by dopamine deficiency. Long-term treatment with levodopa (especially its intraduodenal administration), as well as clinical manifestations of polyneuropathy, cognitive deficits, postural disorders with freezing of gate, REM sleep behavioral disorders, are more often associated with vitamin B12 deficiency. Several reasons for this association and mechanisms of their development are discussed. Early detection of cobalamin deficiency in PD, especially in patients from high-risk groups, makes it possible to stop this pathological condition timely and prevent irreversible changes. Modern data on the use of high-dose (1000 μ g) oral vitamin B12 are presented, it has comparable clinical efficacy and significant advantages, compared with the parenteral form, in terms of the ease of use and the ability to avoid undesirable postinjection reactions.