The past, the present and the future in the management of Parkinson's disease an overview

Abstract

PD is a neurodegenerative disease resulting in the DAergic neurons loss leading to DA depletion that manifest as motor symptoms of rigidity, bradykinesia and resting tremor. The management of the disease varies between patients and depends on the age of onset, the severity and the response to pharmacological therapy. In this overview many options have been viewed from the old anticholinergic until the experimental gene therapy. Replacing DA, activating DA receptors directly, trying to restore the imbalance in the basal ganglia circuit by antagonizing receptors of adenosine or glutamate are examples of the possible therapeutic strategies which are currently used. Gene therapy might offer a more promising alternative to pharmacological therapy in the future however efforts are still undergoing to prove its safety and provide a stable mode of delivery avoiding the adverse side effects.