arkinson’s disease Brain scans also can be made to rule out other diseases whose symptoms relate toParkinson’s disease. Symptoms usually affect one side of the body more than the otherside. There are always two primary symptoms present when a diagnosis of Parkinson’sdisease is made.If the disease progresses beyond just the minor symptoms, drug treatment may besuggested. Drug therapy for Parkinson’s disease typically provides relief for ten tofifteen years or more. The most commonly prescribed medication is L-dopa (also calledlevodopa) which helps replenish some of the lost dopamine in the brain. Sinamet, acombination of levodopa and carbidopa, is the drug most doctors use to treat Parkinson’sdisease. Recent clinical studies have suggested that the class of drugs called “dopamineagonist” should be used prior to levodopa except in patients with mental problems orhallucinations. In those older than seventy-five, dopamine agonists should be usedcautiously because of an added risk of hallucination. Other drugs are also used and new drugs are constantly being tested. It iscommon for multiple drugs to be prescribed because many of them work well together tocontrol symptoms and reduce side effects.Many of the drugs used to treat Parkinson’s disease become less effective overtime so doctors will often try different combinations of drugs as the disease progresses. People with Parkinson’s respond differently to drugs so they may need to work with theirdoctor to find the drug or combination of drugs that works best for them. It may takeseveral weeks or months before a drug begins to work. Many Parkinson’s drugs can alsowear off in between doses during the day so people with Parkinson’s disease need to payclose attention to the times they take their medication and to plan their activitiescarefully.Side effects of medications can also be a problem. For some medications the ...
