How is Parkinson’s Disease Currently Treated?

Treatment of Parkinson’s disease is not available until now. However, medications may help in controlling the symptoms and that too in a dramatic way. In some of the cases, the doctors may recommend for surgery depending solely on the condition of a specific patient. In addition, doctors may recommend for bringing changes in the individual lifestyle, especially they suggest for ongoing aerobic exercises.

Moreover, in few cases, therapists perform physical therapy (PT) to focus on stretching and body balance of an individual. Other than this, in case a person deals with speech problems, one should schedule an appointment with a speech-language pathologist to bring improvements in speech problems.

Currently medications are used primarily to treat Parkinson’s disease.

Medications are helpful in managing various problems related to tremor, movement and walking. These medicines substitute or increase the dopamine level i.e. a specific signaling type of chemical or neurotransmitter present in the brain of humans. Doctors usually recommend for the following types of medications-

Levodopa is one of the effective medicines available to treat Parkinson’s disease. It is a natural type of chemical and passes into one’s brain to convert into dopamine. Levodopa comes in combination with carbidopa, such as Sinemet or Rytray to provide protection from the premature conversion to dopamine at the outer part of one’s brain. This helps in avoiding or reducing nausea and other related side effects.

Food and Drug Administration of the United States have approved a medicinal drug named Duopa for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. This medicine is a combination of levodopa and carbidopa. However, doctors administer this medicine by using a feeding tube to deliver the medicine in the form of a gel directly into the patient’s small intestine.

Duopa constitutes the best medicine for all patients dealing with advanced Parkinson’s disease and those, who still respond to traditional Carbidopa-Levodopa, but involve various fluctuations associated with their responses. As infusion of Duopa takes place continuously in the human body, blood levels of both of the mentioned drugs always remain constant. Patients of Parkinson’s disease have to undergo with a small surgical procedure for the placement of tubes.

Dopamine agonists are somewhat different from other medications composed of levodopa. Such medicines mimic the effects of dopamine in the human brain. Positive aspect of about these medicines for Parkinson’s disease is that they last for a long time and while using them in combination with levodopa, they smoothen on and off levodopa effects.

MAO-B Inhibitors are available in the form of rasagiline or selegiline medicines. These are helpful for Parkinson’s disease patient’s in preventing the dopamine breakdown in human brain by simply inhibiting the enzyme called monoamine oxidaxe B, abbreviated as MAO-B. This enzyme is helpful in metabolizing dopamine present in human brain.

Entacapone or Comtan constitutes the primary medication associated with the category of Catechol-O-methyltransferase Inhibitors. This medicine for treating Parkinson’s disease prolongs the levodopa effect in a mild way by simply blocking any enzyme helpful in breaking down the dopamine in brain. In rare cases, doctors may even recommend for another type of COMT inhibitor named Tolcapone or Tasmar.

Since many years, doctors prefer anticholinergics medications to control the problem of tremor related to Parkinson’s disease. Today, you will find a large number of anticholinergic medicines, such as trihexyphenidyl and Cogentin or benztropine.

Doctors prescribe amantadine medicine to give short-term relief to various initial stage and mild Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Even doctors recommend this medicine in combination with carbidopa-levodopa therapy during the further stages of the Parkinson’s disease to provide control to various involuntary movements induced because of the regular intake of carbidopa-levodopa.

In DBS i.e. Deep Brain Simulation surgery, doctors/surgeons implant necessary electrodes in the specific parts of human brain. Later on, they connect electrodes to a generator implanted in the chest of the patient nearby his/her collarbone. In this way, generator sends electrical pulses to the human brain and thereby, reduces symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease.

Also Read:

• Parkinson’s Disease: Causes, Symptoms, Investigations, Treatment
• What Happens To Someone With Parkinson’s Disease?
• What Are The Early Signs Of Parkinson’s Disease?
• What Are The Five Stages Of Parkinson’s Disease?
• Why do People With Parkinson’s Lose Weight?
• How Long Does It Take For Parkinson’s Disease To Progress?