Parkinson's Disease Treatment

There is no standard treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Treatment for every individual with Parkinson's is based on his/ her severity of symptoms. If you have Parkinson’s disease, there are no treatment options available that can slow, reverse or stop the disease’s progression. But a wide range of medications have been formulated to helps patients ease their symptoms.

What are the Treatment Options?

The management of Parkinson's disease has evolved over the last ten years with the introduction of new medications. Medications are the mainstay of treatment, but lifestyle modifications like getting rest and exercise are critical to the treatment plan. Medicinal treatment is available to manage the symptoms although none of them is capable enough to reverse the effects of the disease. People with Parkinson's are advised to take a variety of medications at different doses and at different times of the day to reduce symptoms. Keeping track of your medications can be a challenging task nut understanding your medications and sticking to the prescribed dosing regimen will provide the greatest benefits from the medicine and help you to avoid a period of missed doses. Your health care specialist will help you determine the best treatment plan that can help to reduce your symptoms.

How to Manage Parkinson’s Disease with Medications?

Most of the patients with Parkinson's disease eventually need to take medication to manage their motor symptoms. Several classes of drugs are available and can be viewed here. Enormous progress has been made in Parkinson's treatment. The advancement in the therapeutics gives rise to many promising therapies for Parkinson’s. Levodopa remains the most effects for controlling the condition, yet it is associated with a variety of complications. Carbidopa/levodopa may be used with other classes of medications including anticholinergic agents, dopamine agonists, MAO inhibitors, and COMT inhibitors. Treatment is based on patients and adjusted over time based on the severity of symptoms and side effects.

Since, in most cases, Parkinson's symptoms are caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain, many drugs aimed to either temporarily restore dopamine levels or mimicking the action of dopamine in the brain. These types of medications belong to a class of medications known as dopaminergic medications. Such medications help reduce muscle rigidity, improve speed and coordination of movement and reducing tremor.

Caution needs to be taken while taking Parkinson’s drugs as these may interact with certain foods, beverages, other prescription, medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Anyone following Parkinson treatment should take to their health care provider about potential drug interactions. Medications are a part of the treatment plan for battling Parkinson’s disease. Speak to your health care professional to know more about the available medications, don’t forget taking rest and exercise.

Is there a need for Supportive Therapies?

Several therapies including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, diet advice and some other lifestyle modifications can make a living with Parkinson’s easier and help you deal with the disease symptoms daily. Your local health care professional will be able to advise and helps. Take help for care and support you need to manage Parkinson’s symptoms.

Physiotherapy- A physiotherapist can help you get rid of muscle stiffness, joint pain through movement and exercise therapy. This therapy aims to make the movement more comfortable and improve your body’s flexibility.  It also helps to improve fitness levels and ability to walk and manage things for yourself.

Occupational therapy- This therapy can help you in performing daily activities like dressing yourself or getting to the local grocery shops. An occupational therapist ensures your independence for as long as possible.

Speech and language therapy- Parkinson’s patients with swallowing difficulties and problems with their speech can benefit from speech and language therapy. A therapist will help them teach speaking and swallowing exercises to improve these problems.

Dietary changes- For some people, dietary changes can help improve some of the disease’s symptoms. Increasing fibre intake, salt in your diet, eating small, frequent meals can help avoid problems with low blood pressure when you stand up quickly. You may consult a dietician to get the diet advice and may benefit from changing your diet.