{"id":256825,"date":"2025-11-02T04:16:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T04:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/256825\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T04:16:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T04:16:25","slug":"many-parkinsons-patients-use-supplements-few-tell-their-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/256825\/","title":{"rendered":"Many Parkinson’s patients use supplements; few tell their doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than half of people with Parkinson\u2019s disease<\/a> take nutritional supplements, a study found. Yet fewer than half discuss them with their doctors.<\/p>\n

Almost one in three Parkinson\u2019s patients use other forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) alongside their standard treatment, the study found. Both practices are more common among women.<\/p>\n

The study, from Lithuania, found that while 67.3% of patients who used CAM therapies such as massage or yoga discussed their use with their doctors, while 47.1% of those taking nutritional supplements did the same. \u201cNevertheless, the latter has a greater potential for interaction with conventional treatments,\u201d the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

The findings underscore the \u201cneed to expand the education of general practitioners, neurologists, and [Parkinson\u2019s] patients about the indications, effects, and possible side effects of nutritional supplements and other CAM methods, thus raising awareness and encouraging better communication regarding these measures,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

The study, \u201cUse of nutritional supplements and other complementary medicine methods among patients with Parkinson\u2019s disease in Lithuania<\/a>,\u201d was published in Frontiers in Neurology.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Risk of interaction<\/p>\n

CAM refers to a broad group of health practices and products that fall outside standard medical care but are used alongside or in place of conventional treatments. These include mind-body therapies such as yoga, massage, and art therapy, as well as biologically based approaches like nutritional supplements \u2014 including vitamins, minerals, herbal extracts, and other natural products.<\/p>\n

Because the use of such approaches, particularly nutritional supplements, \u201cmay influence the motor<\/a> and non-motor<\/a> symptoms of [Parkinson\u2019s] by interacting with prescribed medication\u201d and altering their effects, it is important to evaluate how often such approaches are used, the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

The team surveyed people with Parkinson\u2019s about their use of nutritional supplements and CAM methods over the past year. The survey, conducted in 2022 at the Parkinson\u2019s Disease Center of Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos, also gathered information on participants\u2019 demographics, disease history, and whether they discussed these practices with healthcare professionals.<\/p>\n

Of the 206 questionnaires distributed, 169 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Participants had a median age of 66, and just over half were women (52.1%). Most lived in urban areas (70.4%), about one-third were employed (31.4%), and 60.4% had a college or university education.<\/p>\n

Most participants had lived with Parkinson\u2019s disease for about four years, and more than half (62.1%) had mild symptoms affecting both sides of the body without significant balance issues or loss of independence. On average, they were taking two Parkinson\u2019s treatments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some 62.7% reported taking nutritional supplements in the past year, most often vitamin D, fish oil, or magnesium. About one in four (26.4%) said they used them specifically for Parkinson\u2019s. About 30.8% said they had used other forms of CAM, most commonly massage, movement-based therapies, or art and music therapy.<\/p>\n

No significant differences in age, disease duration, education, employment, or medication use were found between supplement users and non-users. Women, however, were more likely than men to use both nutritional supplements (70.5% vs. 54.3%) and other CAM methods (38.6% vs. 22.2%).<\/p>\n

Among CAM users, 67.3% discussed their use with their doctors.\u00a0Fewer than half of supplement users (47.1%) discussed their use with a general practitioner or neurologist. Many said they began taking supplements on their own (38.7%) or based on advice from family and friends (21.7%).<\/p>\n

The researchers suggested the difference \u201ccould be because CAM practices are often considered as more significant interventions for [disease] managing\u201d and typically involve \u201cprofessional guidance, leading patients to seek validation or advice from their clinicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn contrast, nutritional supplements are readily available over-the-counter and are often marketed as safe or routine, which may diminished patients\u2019 perceived need to disclose their use of these supplements,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

However, the team cautioned, \u201cthere is no scientifically based evidence regarding their efficacy and benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers also noted that limited communication about supplement and CAM use may stem from a lack of knowledge among both doctors and patients regarding how these methods work, their potential side effects, and interactions with standard Parkinson\u2019s medications.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a clear need to enhance education for physicians and patients about these treatments, including their benefits and potential risks,\u201d and \u201cto discuss the existing evidence for nutritional supplements and other CAM methods with a patient,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than half of people with Parkinson\u2019s disease take nutritional supplements, a study found. Yet fewer than half…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":{"0":"post-256825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}