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Medications Levodopa/carbidopa: A common medication that increases dopamine in the brain

  • Anticholinergics: Reduce involuntary muscle movement

Surgery

  • Deep brain stimulation: Can help with tremors and reduce the need for medications

  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound therapy: An option for some people

Physical therapy strength training, gait and balance training, hydrotherapy, and physical therapy that focuses on balancing and stretching.

Other therapies

  • Occupational therapy

  • Speech therapy

  • A healthy diet

  • Massage therapy

  • Yoga and tai chi

  • Acupuncture

  • Support groups

  • Exercise

The best combination of treatments depends on a person's age, symptoms, disease severity, and activity level. Disease progression

While there's no cure for Parkinson's, many people live long, full lives with the disease. Exercise can help improve brain function and slow disease progression.

Treatments for Parkinson's disease include medications, surgery, physical therapy, exercise, and other therapies.

What medications are used to treat Parkinson's symptoms?

Drug Therapies

  • Dopaminergic drugs (including levodopa) – a class of drugs with dopamine-like action used to treat symptoms of Parkinson's disease

  • Decarboxylase inhibitor – a drug that is used with levodopa to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease

  • Dopamine agonists – a class of drugs that binds to dopamine receptors and imitates the action of dopamine

  • Anticholinergics – a class of drugs that relaxes smooth muscle and is used primarily to treat tremor in Parkinson's disease

  • MAO-B inhibitors – a class of drugs used to treat all symptoms of Parkinson's disease. These drugs block an enzyme that breaks down dopamine, allowing it to be at the receptor longer

  • COMT inhibitors – a class of drugs that binds to dopamine receptors and imitates the action of dopamine

Although medications for Parkinson's disease can be used to improve motor function, they may lose their effectiveness over time, cause side effects, or both. Additionally, as the condition progresses, the medication levels required for motor function control may cause intolerable or undesirable side effects.

Ask the MD: Myths about Levodopa

Medications - What you need to know https://www.parkinson.ca/wp-content/uploads/Parkinsons-Medications-what-you-need-to-know.pdf

Medications to treat Parkinson's https://www.parkinson.ca/wp-content/uploads/Medications-to-Treat-Parkinsons-Disease.pdf

Surgeries available for Parkinson's disease in Canada include deep brain stimulation (DBS), levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG), thalamotomy, pallidotomy, and MRI-guided focused ultrasound.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS)is a surgical procedure that implants a neurostimulator and electrodes which sends electrical impulses to specified targets in the brain responsible for movement control.

levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) is a stable suspension of levodopa and carbidopa, and suitable for continuous delivery via percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube with a duodenal extension.

Thalamotomy is a surgical procedure performed by neurosurgeons, primarily indicated for conditions such as stroke, brain hemorrhage, and certain movement disorders like Parkinson's disease. It involves targeting the thalamus, a part of the brain that processes sensory information, to alleviate symptoms such as tremors. Focused ultrasound thalamotomy, which uses sound waves to treat essential tremor and Parkinson's symptoms. While effective, thalamotomy carries risks of serious side effects, which is why it is less commonly performed today

Pallidotomy is a neurosurgical procedure. It is used to treat Parkinson's disease and some other conditions, often as an alternative to deep brain simulation. It involves placing a tiny electrical probe in the globus pallidus, one of the basal ganglia of the brain, to damage it.

MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a noninvasive, incisionless procedure that uses highly focused sound waves as a form of energy to treat essential tremor and symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. This therapy uses precisely directed ultrasound to create heat, which ablates the specific area that causes the tremors.

Three Things to Know about Deep Brain Stimulation and Parkinson's