parkinsonism /pär″kənsəniz′əm/ [James Parkinson] , a neurological disorder characterized by tremor, muscle rigidity, hypokinesia, a slow shuffling gait, and difficulty in chewing, swallowing, and speaking and caused by various lesions in the extrapyramidal motor system. Signs and symptoms of parkinsonism resemble those of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease and may develop during or after acute encephalitis and in syphilis, malaria, poliomyelitis, and carbon monoxide poisoning. Parkinsonism may occur in patients treated with antipsychotic drugs. Also called shaking palsy. See also Parkinson’s disease.
