How can the autonomic system be impaired during moderate phase Parkinson's?

How can the autonomic system be impaired during moderate phase Parkinson's?

Neal Hermanowicz (Director of the Movement Disorders Program) gives expert video advice on: How does moderate phase Parkinsons affect dexterity?; How does moderate phase Parkinsons affect body motion?; What are the sexual effects of moderate Parkinson's? and more...

The autonomic nervous system controls many of our routine functions of our body that we don't think about. Things like adjustment of our blood pressure and our pulse, things like production of saliva or sweating, and also bladder and bowel function. Unfortunately, this is also affected in Parkinsons disease, so that people with Parkinsons disease pretty commonly have bladder dysfunction; they have urgency and frequency of urination. And that torments them; that's a very troubling symptom. Constipation, unfortunately, is a very common finding in Parkinsons disease as well. Some people have difficulty with excessive sweating, particularly at nighttime. They may have drenching sweats that causes them to have to change their pyjamas or their sheets once or more during the course of the night. This is sometimes related to the medications not working long enough, and there's some literature supporting the idea that additional medication or extending the duration of medication will help alleviate the sweating.