Glossary
Glossary
U
Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS):
The UPDRS is the most commonly used to tool to rate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. This scale is intended to be used to follow the course of Parkinson’s disease in patients over a period of time. It is made up of three parts: (1) Mentation (the process of thinking), Behavior, and Mood; (2) Activities of Daily Living; and (3) Motor symptoms.
Affecting, pertaining to, or confined to one side only.
Unilateral:
Unverricht-Lundborg’s disease
(Baltic myoclonic epilepsy):
A form of progressive myoclonic encephalopathy (PME) characterized by the development of repeated seizures or episodes of uncontrolled electrical activity of the brain (epilepsy); sudden, “shock-like” muscle contractions that may be induced by voluntary movements or in response to certain external stimuli (action or reflex myoclonus); and eventual impairment of coordination, postural instability, and other associated findings (i.e., cerebellar ataxia). Although mental deterioration may also be associated with the disorder, it is typically milder than that seen with Lafora’s disease (another form of PME). Unverricht-Lundborg’s disease is thought to be inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. Symptom onset typically begins from about age 6 to 13. The disorder is slowly progressive; however, the degree of disease progression and disability may be extremely variable among affected family members.