Parkinson's disease camouflaging early signs of hypothyroidism.

Development of hypothyroidism in a patient with Parkinson's disease may be overlooked because the clinical manifestations of the two disorders are similar. In addition, drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease may mask the slight rise in thyrotropin level that is characteristic of the early stages of hypothyroidism. In this article, the authors discuss a case in which the diagnosis of hypothyroidism was delayed in a patient who had previously been diagnosed with signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease.