Treatparkinson.com

Parkinson’s treatment will vary from person to person and it may change as the disease progresses. Although, currently there is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease (PD), there are treatments available that can relieve many of the symptoms associated with PD which results from a lack of dopamine. PD treatments can be categorized as below.
1. Drug Treatment (use of medication)
- Neuroprotective treatment: This parkinsons treatment is used to halt PD or delay its onset. However, this treatment is largely theoretical and based on the belief that parts of the brain that degenerate in PD can be protected. Drugs that have been studied as neuroprotective agents include selegeline, rasagiline and coenzyme Q10 and riluzole. This treatment is more suitable during the early stages of PD, but existing research evidence is insufficient for these drugs to be strongly recommended as neuroprotective therapy.
- Symptomatic treatment: This parkinsons treatment is employed to treat the symptoms of PD rather than trying to halt its progression. Use of Levodopa (L-Dopa) is commonly prescribed. Levopoda is converted to dopamine thus activating dopamine receptors and allowing for normal functioning of the brain’s movement control centers. Levodopa may be given in combination with an enzyme inhibitor called carbidopa which prevents levodopa from converting to dopamine before it reaches the brain. Drugs like entacapone and tolcapone are used as L-dopa extenders as they increase the duration of L-dopa treatment effect. Dopamine agonists which are synthetic agents are also used for PD treatment and include bromocriptine, pramipexole (Mirapex), ropinirole, etc. Amantadine also has also been found to treat certain symptoms of PD such as fatigue, tremor and bradykinesia.
2. Non-Drug Treatment: This parkinson’s disease treatment Includes speech therapy, exercise and physical therapy and emotional and psychological support.
3. Surgical Treatment: In PD some areas of the brain become less active which in turn leads to excessive excitability of other areas. In this parkinson’s disease treatment, targeted resection and ablation of these areas has shown benefit. High frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) of certain areas of the brain by devices called brain pacemakers can cause suppression of uncontrolled excitability and is being used in the treatment of PD.
4. Gene Therapy: Gene therapy studies for PD are currently being conducted and have shown early promising results that need to further investigation. With the help of certain viruses, genes coding for functions lacking in the brain are introduced into targeted areas. The new genetic material gets incorporated into the recipient’s brain cells and is able to alter, subtract or add to the functions previously present.
5. Differentiated cell and Stem cell therapy: Transplantation of embryonic neural tissue producing dopamine has yielded conflicting results. Early laboratory research has shown that human embryonic stem cells can differentiate into dopamine secreting brain cells. However, more research is required for parkinson’s treatment to ensure that the transplanted cells have a sufficient long life post-implantation, and do not grow into a tumor or tissue that disturbs other neural pathways.