Parkinson's disease Treatments

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Parkinson's disease - Treatments

• There is no cure for Parkinsons at this time as
  we havent found a way to stop the damage to
  nerve cells from occurring. But there are many
  ways, including drug therapy, to help control
  symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
• The most common types of drugs are described
  below

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Levodopa

• Earliest treatment discovered for Parkinsons
  disease.
• It is turned into dopamine in the brain to
  supplement the cells that are producing less.
• Often given in combination with an other drug,
  carbidopa, which helps more L-dopa get to the
  brain.

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Dopamine agonists

• Works by copying the effect of Dopamine in
  carrying messages from nerve cell to nerve cell
  in the brain.
• Dopamine agonists help improve control of various
  body movements, which begin to slow or become
  irregular in early PD.

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Other Drugs

• A doctor may add entacapone, selegiline, or a
  dopamine agonist to L-dopa therapy when L-dopa
  becomes less effective in controlling symptoms of
  PD. Entacapone helps get more L-dopa to brain
  cells so that more dopamine can be produced
  selegiline helps existing dopamine work longer.
• Amantadine can be used when symptoms of PD are
  very mild. It also can be combined with L-dopa.
  Amantadine helps release dopamine and other
  neurotransmitters in the brain to relieve
  symptoms of PD.
• Anticholinergics also can be used to treat mild
  symptoms of PD, or they can be combined with
  L-dopa. Anticholinergic drugs block a
  neurotransmitter that affects dopamine so that
  more dopamine is available in the brain.

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Other treatments

• Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) . This is a surgical
  procedure used to treat the symptoms of PD. Only
  for patients whose symptoms cannot be controlled
  with medication.
• DBS uses a surgically implanted medical device
  called a neurostimulator to deliver electrical
  stimulation to targeted areas in the brain that
  control movement, blocking the abnormal nerve
  signals that cause tremor and PD symptoms.
• The DBS system consists of a lead, an extension,
  and a neurostimulator. Once the system is in
  place, electrical impulses are sent from the
  neurostimulator up along the extension wire and
  the lead and into the brain. These impulses
  interfere with and block the electrical signals
  that cause PD symptoms.

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Other treatments

• Pallidotomy permanently destroys the overactive
  globus pallidus(acts like a brake and slows or
  diminishes bodily movement) to lessen the
  symptoms of PD.
• Thalamotomy destroys part of the thalamus to
  block the abnormal brain activity from reaching
  the muscles and causing tremor. Used only to
  control tremors so not generally recommended as a
  treatment for PD.