Will there be a cure for PSP?

Currently there is no effective treatment for PSP, but some symptoms can be managed with medication or other interventions. PSP affects your movement, control of walking (gait) and balance, speech, swallowing, eye movements and vision, mood and behavior, and thinking.

Is the any cure for PSP?

There's currently no cure for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), but there are lots of things that can be done to help manage the symptoms. As PSP can affect many different areas of your health, you'll be cared for by a team of health and social care professionals working together.

How long can someone with PSP live?

PSP typically progresses to death in 5 to 7 years,¹ with Richardson syndrome having the fastest rate of progression.

Is PSP considered a terminal illness?

Although PSP isn't fatal, symptoms do continue to worsen and it can't be cured. Complications that result from worsening symptoms, such as pneumonia (from breathing in food particles while choking during eating), can be life threatening.

Do PSP patients feel pain?

Pain. Pain can be present as a direct result of PSP, or as part of any other conditions that you are experiencing.

PSP Back to Basics

How fast does PSP progress?

PSP typically begins in late middle age and worsens over time, with severe disability occurring within three to five years of onset. The disease can lead to serious complications such as pneumonia, choking, head injury, and fractures.

What happens in the final stage of PSP?

The final stages of PSP are usually dominated by an increasingly severe dysarthria and dysphagia. These features are usually described as being part of a pseudo-bulbar palsy, as brisk jaw and facial jerks may be present.

What famous people have progressive supranuclear palsy?

PSP is one of several progressive prime-of-life diseases that has claimed the lives of actors Robin Williams and Dudley Moore, and billionaire financier Richard Rainwater.

How rare is progressive supranuclear palsy?

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare brain disorder that causes dementia and problems with walking and balance. About 20,000 Americans — or one in every 100,000 people over age 60 — have PSP.

Does PSP run in families?

Most cases of progressive supranuclear palsy are sporadic, which means they occur in people with no history of the disorder in their family. However, some people with this disorder have had family members with related conditions, such as parkinsonism and a loss of intellectual functions (dementia).

What is the last stage of PSP disease?

As PSP progresses to an advanced stage, people with the condition normally begin to experience increasing difficulties controlling the muscles of their mouth, throat and tongue. Speech may become increasingly slow and slurred, making it harder to understand.

What triggers PSP?

What causes PSP? PSP occurs when brain cells in certain parts of the brain are damaged as a result of a build-up of a protein called tau. Tau occurs naturally in the brain and is usually broken down before it reaches high levels. In people with PSP, it isn't broken down properly and forms harmful clumps in brain cells.

How can I help someone with PSP?

Physical therapy and occupational therapy, to improve balance. Facial exercises, talking keyboards, gait and balance training also can help with many of the symptoms of progressive supranuclear palsy.

What are the 4 stages of PSP?

Is PSP a form of dementia?

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a frontotemporal dementia. It is characterised by difficulties with balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing. It is caused by progressive damage to the cells in the brain that control eye movements.

Does stress cause PSP?

PSP patients were found to be three times more likely to report high exposure to highly stressful events than controls. This suggests that these highly stressful events may have a role in the etiopathogenesis of PSP.

What actress has PSP?

Linda Ronstadt

PSP symptoms are more severe and progress quicker than Parkinson's symptoms, and PSP does not respond to Parkinson's medication. Ronstadt first revealed her diagnosis in 2013, and said one of the first symptoms she noticed was not being able to sing anymore.

Is progressive supranuclear palsy painful?

Pain was significantly more common and more severe in PD and MSA compared to PSP (P < 0.01). Pain locations were similar with limb pain being the most common followed by neck and back pain.

What disease does Bruce Willis have?

Willis, 67, has frontotemporal dementia. It's a rare condition that usually shows up earlier than other forms of dementia. Neurologist Nicholas Milano, M.D., specializes in treating patients with all types of dementia at the MUSC Health Memory Disorders Clinic. He explained what Willis is dealing with.

Do people with PSP sleep a lot?

Patients with PSP may have significant sleep pattern disruptions because the disease affects some neural circuitries that are involved in sleep processing. They may suffer from insomnia, including difficulties with falling and staying asleep.

What is the average age of onset for PSP?

According to some reports, PSP is estimated to affect as many as 5-17 in 100,000 people, but recent autopsy studies found PSP pathology in 2-6% of elderly people that had no diagnosis of PSP before death. The onset of this disorder occurs between 45 and 75 years of age, with the average age of onset at about 63 years.

What personality changes occur with PSP?

PSP patients typically have deficits in cognitive functioning, difficulties with most daily activities, and present with notable behavioral disturbances—particularly apathy, impulsivity, and irritability.

What activities can people with progressive supranuclear palsy do?

Structured exercises can improve strength, mobility, and balance in people living with PSP (9). Physical therapy (11) and physical activities, such as walking (12, 13), music-cued movement (14), dancing (15), and cycling (16), can also improve fitness, community ambulation, and social participation in parkinsonism.

How many stages are there in PSP?

Of the outcome milestones, 5 were stages of a new, provisional PSP staging system. The other 8 milestones comprised death and disabling levels of cognitive loss, gaze palsy, dysarthria, dysphagia, and gait/balance impairment.

Can you go blind with PSP?

Involuntary eye closure is common in PSP. It can be mild and irritating or severe with functional blindness.