A potential case of remission of Parkinson's disease

We present the case of a 78-year-old male who, 16 years ago, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) by a neurologist. He initially presented with left-hand tremor, stooped posture, shuffling gait, and frequent falls, which eventually progressed to bilateral motor symptoms after 3 years. Since 2012, his symptoms and signs have almost completely remitted, and he has been off all pharmacotherapy for that time. The accuracy of the initial PD diagnosis is supported by an appropriate clinical presentation, history of positive response to Sinemet, and an abnormal SPECT DaT scan; thus this case suggests the possibility of remission of symptoms in some patients. We propose that the patient's long history of meditation practice may have been one contributing factor of this improvement as meditation has been shown to release dopamine in the striatum.