Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

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Abstract
Parkinson's disease (idiopathic parkinsonism or paralysis agitans) is characterized clinically by progressive tremor, bradykinesia, and rigidity and pathologically by degeneration of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway, decreases in the striatal concentration of dopamine, and the presence of laminated inclusions (Lewy bodies) in neurons of the substantia nigra. The cause (or causes) of Parkinson's disease is not known, and the pathophysiology is poorly understood. However, there is a considerable body of knowledge concerning the disturbances of synaptic function. Degeneration of the nigrostriatal pathway leads to the depletion of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Since dopamine does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier, the major . . .