Over The Counter Drugs For Parkinson’s Disease

Aspirin Use And Pd Risk

One of the 6 studies that examined the risk of PD in relation to aspirin use reported only stratified results,6 which we combined into a single summary estimate. Pooling this estimate with the other 5 studies79,24,25 yielded an effect estimate of 1.08 . Some heterogeneity was observed in these results . Duration-response analyses produced similar results for both short-term use and long-term use but were limited by the number of studies 9,25 that permitted such stratification. Intensity-response analyses also yielded similar results for nonregular use and regular use . Analyses stratified by sex found an increased risk of PD associated with aspirin use among men but not women . No substantial heterogeneity was observed in sex-stratified analyses.

Figure 4 Relative risks from studies of aspirin use and effect on Parkinson disease

Adding the results of the 2 studies that defined NSAID exposure as combination of aspirin or nonaspirin NSAIDs22,23 did not substantially change the effect estimate or the amount of heterogeneity . Sensitivity analyses omitting 1 study at a time from the original analysis found the primary results to be robust.

Carbidopa/levodopa Must Be Taken On An Empty Stomach

Levodopa is a large neutral amino acid that crosses the blood-brain barrier via a molecular transporter, which selectively binds all amino acids from that class. Obviously, digestion of dietary proteins liberates amino acids into the circulation, and these compete with levodopa for transport across the blood-brain barrier. This transport system is easily saturated, and administration of carbidopa/levodopa with meals substantially reduces efficacy. To ensure that levodopa passage across the blood-brain barrier is not compromised, patients should be advised to take their carbidopa/levodopa doses an hour or more before, and 2 or more hours after eating.

Pharmacists may dispense carbidopa/levodopa with labeling stating, Take with meals, which obviously is incorrect. However, for patients who experience nausea, it is acceptable to take carbidopa/levodopa with dry bread, soda crackers, a banana portion, or some other nonprotein product.

Stay Safe With Your Medicines

Read all labels carefully.

• Tell all your health care providers about all the medicines and supplements you take.
• Know all the medicines and foods youâre allergic to.
• Review any side effects your medicines can cause. Most reactions will happen when you start taking something, but thatâs not always the case. Some reactions may be delayed or may happen when you add a drug to your treatment. Call your doctor right away about anything unusual.
• Use one pharmacy if possible. Try to fill all your prescriptions at the same location, so the pharmacist can watch for drugs that might interact with each other.
• You can use online tools to see if any of your medicines wonât work well together.

You have the right and responsibility to know what medications your doctor prescribes. The more you know about them and how they work, the easier it will be for you to control your symptoms. You and your doctor can work together to create and change a medication plan. Make sure that you understand and share the same treatment goals. Talk about what you should expect from medications so that you can know if your treatment plan is working.

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Parkinsons Disease Medications To Avoid

Doctors avoid prescribing certain medications to Parkinsons disease patients for various reasons. Before deciding on a treatment plan, your doctor will assess your general health and consider any allergies or intolerances you might have. He or she will judge the best course of treatment based on your age, health status, medical history and existing medications. However, there are some drugs which most doctors will avoid. These include:

• Trihexyphenidyl and benztropine

People with Parkinsons disease have lower levels of dopamine. This is the chemical that, among other things, controls movement through electrical signals in the brain. Most medications, therefore, work to increase the levels of dopamine in the brain or mimic its effects so that patients experience fewer symptoms.

Unlike dopamine agonists, trihexyphenidyl and benztropine work by restoring the balance of dopamine and acetylcholine in the brain, which can be helpful for controlling tremors and involuntary movements. However, the long-term side-effects of these medications can be severe, particularly in older patients. Doctors rarely prescribe trihexyphenidyl and benztropine today, so these are Parkinson’s disease medications to avoid.

• Some cold remedies, such as decongestants

Some over-the-counter cold and flu medications can interact with Parkinsons disease medications. You should always check with your doctor or pharmacist about which OTC medications are safe to use.

• Anti-nausea medications

Study Of Otc Supplements Shows Some Have Very High Levels Of Levodopa Which Can Lead To Paranoia

A team of researchers from the Cambridge Health Alliance and the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy has found that over-the-counter supplements that are advertised as containing extracts from Mucuna pruriens, a type of bean that contains levodopa, sometimes contain high levels of levodopa. In their paper published in the journal JAMA Neurology, the group describes testing the levels of levodopa in several Mucuna pruriensbased supplements.

Levodopa is a type of amino acid that is commonly found in plants and animals. In humans, it serves as a precursor to several types of neurotransmitters, one of which is dopamine. In 1969, researchers discovered that giving L-DOPA to patients with Parkinson’s disease could reduce their symptoms therefore, it is widely used today.

Prior research has also found that many patients with Parkinson’s disease believe that higher doses of L-DOPA will further improve their condition, but doctors do not agree. Still, some people with the disease buy over-the-counter supplements containing Mucuna pruriens extracts because research has shown the beans contain L-DOPA. In addition to overriding established medical advice, taking such supplements can have negative effects on patients, such as the development of paranoia.

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Carbidopa/levodopa: Most Efficacious And A Good First Choice

The advent of carbidopa/levodopa nearly 4 decades ago was associated with substantially increased longevity, documented in multiple studies of PD cohorts,6 and presumably due to mobilizing akinetic patients. This drug remains the most efficacious treatment. Although new PD drugs are sometimes advocated for initial treatment, they are much more expensive and, for seniors with PD, have few advantages over carbidopa/levodopa.

The oral dopamine agonists pramipexole and ropinirole are the primary alternatives to carbidopa/levodopa as initial treatment. They are efficacious but substantially less so than levodopa.7,8 Moreover, they have troublesome adverse effects, including sedation/sleep attacks9 and pathological behaviors,10 plus an approximately 3-fold risk of hallucinations, compared to carbidopa/levodopa.7,8 Uncommonly, PD patients sometimes experience massive lower limb edema provoked by agonists.7,8 The primary argument for starting therapy with these agonists is to reduce dyskinesia and motor fluctuation risks in early PD . However, during the early years of PD in seniors, dyskinesias and motor fluctuations are not very frequent and usually are unimportant problems.11–13 Of course, the opposite is true in very young people with PD disease onset before age 40 years is nearly always associated with at least some dyskinesias by 5 years of levodopa treatment.14 However, PD onset before age 40 years is extremely uncommon.

Acetaminophen Use And Pd Risk

One study suggested a small potential protective effect of acetaminophen on PD,6 whereas another reported a small adverse effect.9 Combining these studies yielded an effect estimate of 1.06 . Stratified, dose-response, and sensitivity analyses were not possible given the availability of data from only 2 studies.

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Dopamine Replenishment Remains The Key To Symptomatic Treatment

Parkinson disease has long been synonymous with cerebral dopamine depletion, and dopamine replenishment remains the fundamental substrate for medical treatment. Both motor and nonmotor symptoms reflect loss of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system, and these symptoms often respond dramatically to dopamine restoration. However, it is now well-recognized that PD involves much more than loss of dopamine. Other neurotransmitter systems are not only affected late in PD but also early, preceding PD motor symptoms. Early symptoms such as rapid eye movement sleep behavior, olfactory loss, anxiety, or dysautonomia may develop 20 or more years before recognizable PD.4 The temporal course of PD, spanning decades, has been formalized in the Braak staging scheme.5

Although PD is now understood to be much more than a dopamine deficiency state, most of the therapeutic gains are achieved through restoring brain dopamine neurotransmission. Understanding how best to accomplish this is key to managing PD.

Names Of Parkinsons Drugs

Drugs for Parkinsons can be divided into three categories.

On our website, we have listed drugs in the following order to help you see each category clearly.

• The class or type of drug, for example levodopa.
• The generic name, such as co-beneldopa, which will include the active ingredients of the drug. For example, co-beneldopa is a combination of levodopa and benserazide.
• The brand name. For example, Madopar is the name that the pharmaceutical company, Roche, uses to sell co-beneldopa.

Your specialist will decide whether to prescribe you branded or generic versions of your medication. It usually depends on which area of the country you are in or what is most common to prescribe in that area. Once there are no longer any legal rights to the brand name any company can make generic versions of a drug.

The active ingredient of a generic drug is always the same as the branded version and lots of people wont have any problems using the generic medication.

In the UK, a generic or branded medicine needs a licence and there is a strict process for this. This means that the quality of a generic or branded version of the same medicine will be the same, and they will also act in the same way.

If you find that you respond a bit differently to generic medication, discuss this with your specialist or Parkinsons nurse.

The brand name will usually be the most visible name on your packet of medication. The generic name is usually written in small print.

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Generic Vs Branded Drugs

Currently, there are multiple pharmaceutical companies that manufacture a generic formulation of carbidopa-levodopa, dopamine agonists, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and anticholinergics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires that generic drugs show a similar risk and benefit to the branded drug prior to market approval, but in rare cases this standard is not high enough.

A review supported by the Parkinsons Foundation reports evidence that if you are in more advanced stages of the disease, switching from branded drugs to generic, or from one generic to another, may have somewhat variable effects. The authors, including Parkinsons Foundation National Medical Advisor Michael S. Okun, MD, believe that the standards for approving generic drugs for PD may not be strict enough to demonstrate that the generic alternatives are equally effective.

Work with your doctor to develop a tailored treatment plan. Using generic drugs will likely provide a cost savings. Infrequently, a person living with PD may require brand medication.

If you make the switch, follow these tips:

• Report to your physician on the effectiveness of the drugs.
• Carefully keep a diary of any side effects.
• Record dose adjustments made by your physicians .
• Try to stay with a single drug manufacturer for your generic medications. You may need to ask your pharmacist to special order for you.

Remember: Your Doctor Knows Best

It is worth noting that, when it comes to treating Parkinson’s disease, your doctor always knows best. He or she may decide that the risk of side-effects is minimal or that the benefits of the medication will outweigh the negatives. If you disagree with your doctor’s decision, or you think there are Parkinson’s disease medications you’d like to avoid, don’t be afraid to get a second opinion. Parkinson’s is a progressive illness, so it’s important that you find a medical provider you can trust who will provide care and support for the long-haul.

Many patients have to try several Parkinson’s disease medications before they find a combination that works for them. However, your doctor will always start you on the medication with the least side-effects to see if it can control your Parkinson’s symptoms. Your medicine will be increased gradually over time, and other drug combinations will be tried if your symptoms progress or a medication stops working.

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Why Is This Medication Prescribed

The combination of levodopa and carbidopa is used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and Parkinson’s-like symptoms that may develop after encephalitis or injury to the nervous system caused by carbon monoxide poisoning or manganese poisoning. Parkinson’s symptoms, including tremors , stiffness, and slowness of movement, are caused by a lack of dopamine, a natural substance usually found in the brain. Levodopa is in a class of medications called central nervous system agents. It works by being converted to dopamine in the brain. Carbidopa is in a class of medications called decarboxylase inhibitors. It works by preventing levodopa from being broken down before it reaches the brain. This allows for a lower dose of levodopa, which causes less nausea and vomiting.

What Future Medications May Be Available For Parkinsons

There are numerous studies investigating new treatments for Parkinsons disease.

There has been new information about the role of autoimmunity and T-cells in the development of Parkinsons disease, possibly opening the door to a role for biologics.

Stem cells are also being investigated as a treatment option for Parkinsons disease.

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Treatment Not Necessarily Complicated

Physicians can easily be overwhelmed with the enormous PD literature, which may generate contradictory therapeutic recommendations. At the time of this writing, searching PubMed with the term Parkinsons disease treatment generated 32,289 articles confining the search to the most recent year generated 1825 articles. Moreover, there are multiple PD drugs, and commercial interests advocate for some of these, skewing the discussion.

In truth, treating seniors with PD can be greatly simplified. Seniors, defined in this article as those older than 60 years, do not require complex polypharmacy during the early years of PD. Even later, a simple approach, reinforced by understanding of just a few drugs, may be best for the patient. Herein, a dozen basic principles, or tips, for treatment of seniors with PD are provided, which should facilitate primary care clinicians becoming effective PD providers.

Nonaspirin Nsaid Use And Pd Risk

The pooled estimate for the 7 studies that reported on the association between nonaspirin NSAIDs and PD was 0.85 . No heterogeneity was observed in these results . Analyses stratified by duration of use and intensity of use yielded results consistent with a dose-response relation . Analyses stratified by type of exposure yielded results consistent with expected greater nondifferential exposure misclassification among studies considering only prescription nonaspirin NSAID exposure .

Figure 3 Risk of Parkinson disease associated with nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use stratified by duration, intensity, and type of use

*Rx only and Rx and OTC denote whether exposure definition included prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use or both prescription and over-the-counter NSAID use. CI = confidence interval.

Five studies reported results for nonaspirin NSAID use by sex.6,7,9,25,26 Sex-stratified meta-analyses yielded similar results among men and women . Three studies reported results specifically for ibuprofen.6,8,9 The summary estimate for ibuprofen only was slightly stronger than the estimate for all nonaspirin NSAIDs. Given that data were available for only 3 studies, stratified and sensitivity analyses for ibuprofen use were not possible.

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Indirect Impact Of Covid

Disruptions to global health care systems

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly caused disruptions in health care systems which can have indirect effects on PD patients. Neurologists are essential in the circle of care for PD patients and it is important to think about how their impact from COVID-19 can have subsequent effects on patients. Like many health care providers, neurologists are at risk of exposure to COVID-19 patients and if infected, they will be restricted in their ability to provide care for PD patients. In some regions where there is a shortage of medical staff, some neurologists may also be forced to provide care for COVID-19 patients, which ultimately leads to less time spent caring for PD patients as well . In many medical communities, nonurgent surgical procedures have been postponed to prevent patients from being infected. Regarding PD patients, elective surgical procedures like deep brain stimulation have been delayed, as well as the initiation of LCIG and apomorphine pump . These delays create barriers for PD patients from accessing vital medications that can control their condition, which can possibly lead to worsened symptoms. Fortunately, there has been no report so far on the impact of the pandemic on global medication transport and supply chain issues for PD patients .

The transition to virtual PD patient care

Social distancing effects on PD patients mental health

Delays to novel PD drug therapies due to COVID-19

A Critical Reappraisal Of The Worst Drugs In Parkinsons Disease

What are the worst drugs for Parkinsons disease patients? Couldnt a simple list be assembled and disseminated to the Parkinson community? Recently Ed Steinmetz, an experienced neurologist in Ft. Meyers, FL pointed out to me, a list approach published in the Public Citizen Newsletter . The approach was to list every drug associated with a single confirmed or unconfirmed symptom of Parkinsons disease or parkinsonism. Parkinsons disease is defined as a neurodegenerative syndrome , whereas parkinsonism encompasses a wider net of drug induced and other potential causes. In parkinsonism symptoms are similar to Parkinsons disease, but patients do not have Parkinsons disease. Patients and family members confronted with a simple drug list approach may falsely conclude that most medicines are bad for Parkinsons disease, and that any medicine may cause parkinsonism. This concept is in general, incorrect. Although the approach is well-meaning, it is in need of a major revision, as Parkinsons disease and parkinsonism are too complex to summarize by simple lists. In this months column I will try to summarize the key information that patients and family members need to know about the worst pills, for Parkinsons disease and parkinsonism.

A Florida Parkinsons Treatment Blog by Michael S. Okun, M.D.

UF Center for Movement Disorders & Neurorestoration, Gainesville FL

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