Understanding Cramping and Parkinson’s Disease

I recently woke up to a message from my dad. He wrote: "Mary Beth, you should look and see if there’s a correlation between cramping and Parkinson’s."

It seems that lately he’s been experiencing more cramping than usual. I’m not a clinician, and I can’t provide any expert advice on this topic. But I do find this symptom to be interesting. So, I did a little bit of digging.

Understanding dystonia

What my dad seems to be referring to is dystonia. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, dystonia is:

"... a disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that cause slow repetitive movements or abnormal postures. The movements may be painful, and some individuals with dystonia may have a tremor or other neurological symptoms. There are several different forms of dystonia that may affect only one muscle, groups of muscles, or muscles throughout the body. Some forms of dystonia are genetic but the cause for most cases is not known."¹

What is the link?

While dystonia and Parkinson’s are entirely different disorders, they do appear to be frequently linked. In fact, as many as 30 percent of people with Parkinson’s may also struggle with dystonia. So, it turns out that my dad isn’t the only Parkinson’s patient to suffer from cramping.²

Both dystonia and Parkinson’s are classified as movement disorders. Dystonia involves the involuntary contraction of your muscles, while Parkinson’s impacts the central nervous system, ultimately leading to changes in movements.

Researchers seem to think that dystonia occurs in in relation to dopamine replacements like levodopa. But there may also be a genetic factor that’s strewn among the mix. Dystonia is also commonly a symptom of early onset Parkinson’s disease.^2,3

How is it treated?

Similar to Parkinson’s, at this time there is no cure for dystonia. But there are a number of medications and strategies that can be used to treat the symptoms of this condition.

Some people have seen positive results from dystonia after undergoing deep brain stimulation, which my dad did a few years ago. But as is usually the case with Parkinson’s, most treatments simply delay the inevitable instead of stop it. Some people seek physical therapy, medications, and additional surgeries in order to treat or manage dystonia.¹

My dad shared that he regularly takes magnesium supplements, which seems to help him to manage some of the symptoms of dystonia.

Current research

Current research about dystonia is revolving around the cause of the condition in the hopes that we may better learn how to prevent it from occurring.

There are a number of different organizations that are currently targeting this condition like the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. One question that many researchers are asking is how do genetics impact the onset and development of dystonia?⁴

For the sake of my dad, and for others who seem to have a never-ending array of struggles, I hope that we’re better able to understand and treat this condition in the future.