Common Treatments For Parkinson’s Disease

What Are The Surgical Treatments For Parkinsons Disease

Most patients with Parkinsons disease can maintain a good quality of life with medications. However, as the disease worsens, medications may no longer be effective in some patients. In these patients, the effectiveness of medications becomes unpredictable reducing symptoms during on periods and no longer controlling symptoms during off periods, which usually occur when the medication is wearing off and just before the next dose is to be taken. Sometimes these variations can be managed with changes in medications. However, sometimes they cant. Based on the type and severity of your symptoms, the failure of adjustments in your medications, the decline in your quality of life and your overall health, your doctor may discuss some of the available surgical options.

Controlled Release Madopar And Sinemet

Controlled release preparations have the letters CR or HBS after the drug name.

These let the levodopa enter your body slowly instead of all at once. They can increase the time between doses.

They may be used when the dose of standard levodopa starts to wear off and the person taking it no longer feels the treatment is effective.

Controlled release options can sometimes reduce involuntary movements .

Some Disadvantages Of Comt Inhibitors

These drugs can increase the side effects caused by levodopa, notably dyskinesias , nausea and vomiting.

If these side effects increase after starting the drug, people should raise the issue with their healthcare professional, as reducing the levodopa dose can often help.

COMT inhibtors will discolour urine making it a reddish-brown colour. Some people also experience diarrhoea which may occur some months after commencing the medication.

Be aware that other drugs for Parkinsons or other conditions can affect the action of COMT inhibitors. The combination of apomorphine and entacapone needs careful supervision.

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Diagnosis Of Parkinsons Disease

The movement disorder specialists at Mount Sinai are expert in diagnosing and treating Parkinsons disease. There is no one test that diagnoses Parkinsons disease. Instead, we conduct a comprehensive history of symptoms and a detailed neurologic examination. After we confirm the diagnosis, we develop a comprehensive treatment plan, personalized to your needs.

Our neurosychologists and neuropsychiatrists evaluate patients who are being considered for certain medications or treatments , provide support and counseling, and oversee treatments and strategies for dealing with mood, memory, or other challenges.

What Is The Outlook For Persons With Parkinsons Disease

Although there is no cure or absolute evidence of ways to prevent Parkinsons disease, scientists are working hard to learn more about the disease and find innovative ways to better manage it, prevent it from progressing and ultimately curing it.

Currently, you and your healthcare teams efforts are focused on medical management of your symptoms along with general health and lifestyle improvement recommendations . By identifying individual symptoms and adjusting the course of action based on changes in symptoms, most people with Parkinsons disease can live fulfilling lives.

The future is hopeful. Some of the research underway includes:

• Using stem cells to produce new neurons, which would produce dopamine.
• Producing a dopamine-producing enzyme that is delivered to a gene in the brain that controls movement.
• Using a naturally occurring human protein glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor, GDNF to protect dopamine-releasing nerve cells.

Many other investigations are underway too. Much has been learned, much progress has been made and additional discoveries are likely to come.

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Are There Limitations To The Hoehn And Yahr Scale

One of the main limitations of the Hoehn and Yahr scale is that it focuses solely on motor symptoms. While Parkinsons primarily affects movement functions, it can have other symptoms such as sleep changes and restless leg syndrome, or cognitive changes such as mood changes, fatigue, loss of smell, and micrographia . Some patients with Parkinsons disease may also experience hallucinations or delusions.

To account for non-motor symptoms of Parkinsons disease, there is another rating scale known as the Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale . Neurologists developed the UPDRS in 1987 as a gold standard for monitoring the response to medications used to decrease the signs and symptoms of Parkinsons disease. The scale contains four parts:

• Part I: Mentation, Behavior, MoodThe first part scores intellectual impairment, thought disorder, depression, and motivation/initiative.

• Part II: Activities of Daily LivingThe second part scores activities such as hygiene, dressing, walking, tremor, and sensory complaints.

• Part III: Motor ExaminationThe third part scores speech, facial expression, tremor at rest, hand movements, and other motor functions.

• Part IV: Complications of Therapy The final part scores whether and how often the patient experiences symptoms such as painful dyskinesias, dystonia , nausea, vomiting, or sleep disturbances.

Is Surgery An Option

If medicine doesnât work well enough, your doctor may suggest deep brain stimulation . In DBS, your doctor implants electrodes deep in the brain. A device connected to them delivers electrical pulses. Those pulses can help control the tremors caused by Parkinson’s.

In the past, doctors sometimes used other operations to damage the brain in ways to help with movement symptoms. But they rarely use those surgeries now.

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Common Treatments For Parkinsons Disease

Parkinsons disease is a long-term degenerative disease which affects the central nervous system. To date, there is no cure for the condition, but there are medications and therapies available to address some of the symptoms and improve quality of life for patients.

Here are eight of the main drugs and therapies used in the treatment of Parkinsons disease according to the Mayo Clinic:

1. Carbidopa-levodopa

Levodopa is a naturally occurring chemical which can enter the brain and be converted to dopamine. When combined with carbidopa, the levodopa is prevented from converting into dopamine before it enters the brain. The is one of the most effective treatments for Parkinsons although, after long-term use, the effects start to fluctuate.

Some people may experience side effects such as nausea, feeling lightheaded, and making sudden involuntary movements.

2. Carbidopa-levodopa infusion

In 2015, the FDA approved Duopa, which is a combination of carbidopa and levodopa in a gel form which is administered via a feeding tube into the small intestine. Duopa is generally given to patients with advanced Parkinsons disease whose response to carbidopa-levodopa fluctuates. The drug is infused continuously so the levels remain constant.

The risks associated with Duopa are infections at the site of the feeding tube and the tube falling out.

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3. Dopamine agonists

4. MAO-B inhibitors

5. Catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors

Looking Out For Side Effects If You’re A Carer

If youre a carer of someone with Parkinsons, medication side effects can be difficult and tiring to cope with.

It may be that the person having side effects such as hallucinations and delusions or impulsive and compulsive behaviour does not realise they are experiencing them.

Its important to seek help from your specialist as soon as you can.

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Who Does Parkinsons Disease Affect

• PD typically affects older adults. Most people are diagnosed in their 60s.
• Young-Onset Parkinsons disease occurs in people younger than 50 and accounts for about 4% of people living with PD. Although symptoms are similar, people with Young-Onset PD often face different financial, family and employment concerns.
• On average, men are 1.5 times more likely to have PD than women. This is not the case for Black men and women, who are at similar risk for PD.
• Many studies find that Black and African Americans are less likely to be diagnosed with PD than white people. This may be due to the underrepresentation of Black patients in the healthcare system overall, underdiagnosis and delays in PD diagnosis for Black and African Americans, or genetic differences.
• There are approximately 110,000 veterans with PD who are seen through the Veterans Health Administration.

Effect Of Neurosurgical Treatments On Language

Surgical treatments of PD, similar to drug treatments, are symptomatic rather than curative. Early ablative interventions were associated with considerable cognitive morbidity, but more recent unilateral ablative interventions, regardless of whether they are targeting the thalamus, subthalamic nucleus , or globus pallidus , appear considerably safer. The most common compromise after modern unilateral pallidotomy occurs in verbal fluency.

Deep brain stimulation involves unilateral or bilateral implantation of electrodes and the application of high-frequency electrical stimulation from an implanted pulse generator to thalamus, GPi, or STN. Unilateral and bilateral thalamic and GPi DBS are cognitively safe, although declines in verbal fluency are possible. As in pallidotomy and GPi DBS, verbal fluency decrements appear to be the most commonly reported changes after STN DBS. Although motor speech changes may contribute to altered fluency, it appears that switching among categories rather than clustering is altered, indicating a possible executive cognitive basis for the deficit.

K.A. Jellinger, in, 2010

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Levodopa: The Most Effective Drug For Treating Parkinsons

Levodopa, also known as L-DOPA, has long been, and continues to be, the most effective drug in treating Parkinsons disease symptoms. Most people with Parkinsons disease will take this drug at some point. There are side effects that can occur with Levodopa including nausea, fatigue and orthostatic hypotension. Often these side effects can be successfully treated so that Levodopa can be tolerated better. In addition, as the disease progresses and the brain has less ability to produce and process dopamine, dyskinesias, or involuntary movements can develop from Levodopa.

Naturaltreatment For Parkinsons #6 Magnesium & Iodine:

Magnesium is vital for the health of the entire nervoussystem, especially the protective layer that surrounds the nerves . Magnesiumis also essential for the production of dopamine and helps protect dopaminergicneurons in the substantia nigra from degeneration. In addition to this, new evidence is showing that low levels of magnesium in the brain causes a build-up ofheavy metals a major factor in the development of Parkinsons, Alzheimers,epilepsy and MS. In a recent trial, 30 epileptics were given 450 mg ofmagnesium daily and this successfully controlled their seizures. Ifmagnesium can help epilepsy patients, it can certainly help Parkinsons sufferers. Worldrenowned magnesium expert and author, Dr Carolyn Dean, has both Parkinsons andAlzheimers disease in her top 55 health conditions caused by amagnesium deficiency list and says that magnesium is 100% essential for the preventionand treatment of both of these diseases Dr Carolyn Dean Interview

In regards to iodine, well-known researcher and author,Dr James Howenstein, says

Iodineis found in large quantities in the brain and the ciliary body of the eye. A lackof iodine may be involved in the production of Parkinson’s disease andglaucoma.

Inthe brain, iodine concentrates in the substantia nigra, an area of the brainthat has been associated with Parkinson’s disease.

David Brownstein M.D. 9

Best Sources of Magnesium and Iodine

-What Youll Need

1 cup of Magnesium Chloride Flakes

1 cup of Distilled Water

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Surgery For Parkinsons Disease

Based on the severity of the condition and the medical profile, the doctor may recommend surgery as one treatment option for Parkinson’s disease.

There are several types of surgery that may be performed that can help patients with Parkinson’s disease. Most of the treatments are aimed at helping the tremor or rigidity that comes with the disease. In some patients, surgery may decrease the amount of medication that is needed to control the symptoms.

There are three types of surgeries that may be performed for Parkinson’s disease, including the following:

It is important to remember that surgery may help with symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, but does not cure the disease or stop the progression of the disease.

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Postherpetic neuralgia, also known as PHN, is a painful health condition of recurring or persistent pain that affects your nerves and skin. Usually in the area of the body that has undergone an outbreak of herpes zoster, postherpetic neuralgia is commonly referred to as shingles. Shingles is caused by the …

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Natural Treatment For Parkinsons #1 Cannabis/medicalmarijuana:

Cannabis, aka medical marijuana, is an incredibletreatment for Parkinsons disease. You can have a Parkinsons patient shakingviolently and uncontrollably, and yet within 30-40 minutes of self-administering with some cannabis, their symptoms will almost completely disappear. Watch this short 2minute video from Parkinsons sufferer, Ian Frizell, who shows you what he waslike before self-medicating with cannabis and then again after. The change is truly astonishing!

Taylor French is another Parkinsons patient thatundergoes a remarkable transformation once he ingests what he calls nutritional vegetable extract . This guy has an advanced form ofParkinsons and is normally confined to a wheelchair with limited use of hisbody due to stiff and rigid muscles . But after ingestingsome cannabis hes able to walk, and incredibly, in his video he even getsinto his car and drives off down the road!

You can view it here

Elyse Del Francia also tells the story of her Parkinsonssuffering husband, and the time she decided to smother his morning pancakes withsome canabutter. She said

Within45 minutes of eating a pancake with marijuana on it, he stopped shaking. Thatwas my lightbulb moment. Thats when I knew that I was onto something thatwould relieve his pain and suffering, because its horrible, horrible, to haveParkinsons Disease and not have any relief. I feel that this is something thathelps so many people in so many ways with pain and suffering. 5

How Are The Different Stages Of Parkinsons Treated

Treatment for Parkinsons depends on the severity of the symptoms. In the early stages, prescription medication may be enough to treat more mild symptoms. A 2019 review published in the journal Biomolecules listed some of the main pharmacological treatments for motor and non-motor symptoms for each stage of Parkinsons disease.

The main pharmacological treatments include medications such as l-dopa, a precursor to dopamine that crosses the blood-brain barrier to increase dopamine transmission, clonazepam or melatonin for REM sleep behavior disorder, and SSRIs or SNRIs for depression, which is a common non-motor symptom for Parkinsons. About 50% of people with Parkinsons experience depression.

L-dopa is the most effective and most prescribed medication for Parkinsons. Although it doesnt slow the progression of the disease or cure it, it can help control movement symptoms such as slow movement , rigidity, and tremors. However, one of the side effects of l-dopa is dyskinesia, strange, jerky movements that cant be controlled. You might decide to hold off on starting l-dopa if your symptoms are not getting in the way of your daily life.

Additional treatments for Parkinsons may include medications like dopamine agonists and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and non-pharmacological treatment like physical therapy and speech therapy.

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Side Effects Of Medication

All prescribed medication can have potential side effects, including those used to treat Parkinsons.

Many people find their Parkinsons medication works very well when they start taking it, but this may change over time and side effects can develop.

Some things you think are symptoms of Parkinsons may actually be side effects of medication.

Some peoples side effects will have a big impact on their lives and have to be kept under control along with the symptoms.

Early Signs Of Parkinsons Disease

Overview Parkinsons disease causes a slow decline of dopamine levels in the brain. This can lead to cognitive impairment and eventually death. Parkinsons disease is one of the most common severe diseases globally that affects men and women, most commonly between the late 50s to early 80s. Parkinsons disease is …

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Icipating In Clinical Trials

Clinical trials and their participants have revolutionized Parkinsons treatment, and have changed the lives dramatically of those affected. They have helped make available many new treatments in addition to improving the delivery methods of medications and new deep brain stimulation techniques.

Clinical trials are essential to the future of Parkinsons research, and APDA is committed to this vital effort.

What Medications Are Used To Treat Parkinsons Disease

Medications are the main treatment method for patients with Parkinsons disease. Your doctor will work closely with you to develop a treatment plan best suited for you based on the severity of your disease at the time of diagnosis, side effects of the drug class and success or failure of symptom control of the medications you try.

Medications combat Parkinsons disease by:

• Helping nerve cells in the brain make dopamine.
• Mimicking the effects of dopamine in the brain.
• Blocking an enzyme that breaks down dopamine in the brain.
• Reducing some specific symptoms of Parkinsons disease.

Levodopa: Levodopa is a main treatment for the slowness of movement, tremor, and stiffness symptoms of Parkinsons disease. Nerve cells use levodopa to make dopamine, which replenishes the low amount found in the brain of persons with Parkinsons disease. Levodopa is usually taken with carbidopa to allow more levodopa to reach the brain and to prevent or reduce the nausea and vomiting, low blood pressure and other side effects of levodopa. Sinemet® is available in an immediate release formula and a long-acting, controlled release formula. Rytary® is a newer version of levodopa/carbidopa that is a longer-acting capsule. The newest addition is Inbrija®, which is inhaled levodopa. It is used by people already taking regular carbidopa/levodopa for when they have off episodes .

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Learn More About Living Well With Pd

The first step to living well with Parkinsons is to understand the disease and its progression.

• The book Parkinsons Disease: Frequently Asked Questions highlights the most frequently asked questions the Parkinsons Foundation receives through its Helpline.
• In the video Denise and Bernard Coley, The Coleys discuss Denises PD diagnosis, their experience managing PD together, and their journey to becoming PD research advocates.
• In the My PD Story: Phil Gee, Phil shares how he became involved with the Parkinsons community after receiving his PD diagnosis and what motivates him as a Black man to reach underserved populations.
• In the video: What is Parkinsons Disease? James Beck, PhD, Parkinsons Foundation Chief Scientific Officer, defines Parkinsons, describes movement and non-movement symptoms and explains the importance of exercise for people with Parkinsons.
• The book Managing Parkinsons Mid-Stride: A Treatment Guide to Parkinsons is for people who are having more difficulty managing Parkinsons, and how to treat and cope with fluctuating symptoms.

If you have questions about PD or need help finding a specialist, call the Parkinsons Foundation Helpline at 1-800-4PD-INFO or visit Parkinson.org.

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For help finding a culturally sensitive doctor near you, try the Find a Doctor search tool on BlackDoctor.org.

References

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