How does Parkinson's affect body weight?

How does Parkinson's affect body weight?

Neal Hermanowicz (Director of the Movement Disorders Program) gives expert video advice on: How is dexterity affected by Parkinson's?; How does Parksinson's affect the skin?; How does Parkinson's affect body weight? and more...

Maintence of weight is a problem that occurs with Parkinsons disease. People tend to lose weight without even trying. It doesn't neccessarily correlate to the severity of the disease but people can drop 20, 30, 50 pounds in the course of a year or two without even trying. The source of this is not entirely clear. It may be due to changes in sense of appetite. It may be related to the difficulty with swallowing that people are less likely to eat and drink food and water. But people can lose weight. Also, as people are sedentary they tend to have a reduction of muscle mass as well which is associated with weight loss.