Treatments of Parkinsons Disease

Treatments of Parkinson 's diseases

Parkinson 's disease is a neurological condition that affects the sufferer 's mobility and also the speech . It affects the central nervous system leading to a person 's inability to control body movement and also speech . It is a disease whose treatment does not intend to cure it but instead , aims at controlling its manifestation . There are various ways in which this can be done . It may involve the use of drugs , performance of surgery and also physical exercise is encouraged . It progresses gradually from the early

stages with mild symptoms to later stages with severe symptoms

The disease is as a result of lowered formation and action of dopamine which is produced by the dopaminergic neurons found in the brain . This then led to the formation of drugs that will either increase the formation or mimic the actions taken by dopamine in the brain . This was important because an increase in the levels of dopamine would lead to a reduction of the effects of the disease . All the drugs used to control the disease all include dopamine as their main active agent regardless of how it works . Depending on which class of drugs it belongs to , it may either mimic or produce dopamine

Among the earliest forms of treatments are the anticholinergics . These were used even before the introduction of levodopa which is the most widely used drug . The anticholinergics had very mild benefits when they were compared to the harmful side effects that followed its use . The side effects include having a dry mouth , urine retention which especially occurs among men , it also causes very severe constipation and nausea . There are some other side effects that occur that are more serious and are among the major reasons why the use of these drugs has become minimal . These include confusion memory loss and hallucination HYPERLINK "http /www .mayoclinic .com " http /www .mayoclinic .com

The realization that the benefits realized were much less than the side effects it causes has led to the reduction of its prescription . Since some anti-depressants and antihistamine diphenhydramine tend to have the almost the same effects as the anticholinergics , some doctors prescribe them to older people who are suffering from Parkinson 's disease . Once an individual realizes that they are having hallucinations and the other severe symptoms , it is adviced that the use of the drug be stopped immediately

Levodopa is drug that was introduced in 1967 and is currently the most commonly used drug . It is mostly addressed to as Sinemet and is used to help restore the control that one has over the muscles . It is referred to as a gold standard because it is introduced at the time when the symptoms are very mild at the onset of the disease . Once it gets into the body , it is converted inside the brain into dopamine . It therefore increases the level of dopamine that is found in the brain and counters the effects of the disease ( HYPERLINK "http /www...