BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, atypical parkinsonian syndromes, and multiple sclerosis are progressive neurologic disorders that cumulatively afflict a large number of people. Effective end-of-life palliative care depends upon an understanding of the clinical aspects of each of these disorders. OBJECTIVES: The authors review the unique and overlapping aspects of each of these disorders with an emphasis upon the clinical management of symptoms. DESIGN: The authors review current management and the supporting literature. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians have many effective therapeutic options to choose from when managing the symptoms produced by these disorders.
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Elman et al. (2007) studied this question.
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