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Parkinsons diseaseParkinson's disease is a debilitating and progressive disorder in which the chemicals that facilitate electrical transmission between nerve cells are depleted. It was the first disease to be treated by drugs that replace deficient neurotransmitters. Symptoms usually begin in middle to later life with trembling of the lips and hands, loss of facial expression, and muscular rigidity. As it progresses it may bring on body tremors, particularly in muscles at rest. Movements become slow and difficult; walking degrades to a shuffle. After many years physical incapacity may occur. Dementia occurs in at least 50% of the patients; depression is also common.
When drugs such as levodopa (L-Dopa) are taken orally, many of the worst symptoms are lessened. New drugs such as pramipexole (Mirapex) and ropinirole (Requip) can delay the need for levodopa. Apomorphine (Apokyn) is used treat episodes of reduced mobility in patients with advanced Parkinson's that responds less effectively to levodopa. Future approaches to treatment include a focus on early detection and slowing progression of the disease. Encouraging results have been reported from surgical insertion of a pacemakerlike device deep in the brain to suppress uncontrolled movements, but surgical transplantation of fetal dopamine-producing cells failed to show significant benefits in a controlled study. Traditional surgery can alleviate some tremors, and physical therapy may help mobility.
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- l-dopa
L-dopa, drug used to alleviate some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, particularly trembling, rigidity, and slow movements; the drug is also called levodopa. Parkinson's disease results ...
- fetal tissue implant
Fetal tissue implant or fetal cell therapy, implantation of tissue from a fetus into a patient. In experimental procedures, fetal brain tissue has been implanted in the brains of patients with...
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Reserpine, alkaloid isolated from the root of the snakeroot plant (Rauwolfia serpentina), a small evergreen climbing shrub of the dogbane family native to the Indian subcontinent. Known in Ind...
- catecholamine
Catecholamine, any of several compounds occurring naturally in the body that serve as hormones or as neurotransmitters in the sympathetic nervous system. The catecholamines include such compou...
- Bourke-White, Margaret
Bourke-White, Margaret, 1904–71, American photo-journalist, b. New York City. One of the original staff photographers at Fortune, Life, and Time magazines, Bourke-White was noted for her cover...
- Carlsson, Arvid
Carlsson, Arvid, 1923–, Swedish pharmacologist, grad. Univ. of Lund, Sweden, (M.D., Ph.D., 1951). Carlsson was a professor at the Univ. of Lund (1951–59) and at the Univ. of Gothenburg, Sweden...
- neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitter, chemical that transmits information across the junction (synapse) that separates one nerve cell (neuron) from another nerve cell or a muscle. Neurotransmitters are stored in ...
- dementia
Dementia [Lat.,=being out of the mind], progressive deterioration of intellectual faculties resulting in apathy, confusion, and stupor. In the 17th cent. the term was synonymous with insanity,...
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Paralysis or palsy, complete loss or impairment of the ability to use voluntary muscles, usually as the result of a disorder of the nervous system. The nervous tissue that is injured may be in...
- phenothiazine
Phenothiazine, any one of a class of drugs used to control mental disorders. Phenothiazines, along with other antipsychotic, or neuroleptic, drugs are used for such disorders as schizophrenia,...
