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Updated: Oct 18, 2026

Ole Isacson: Development of New Therapies for Parkinson's Disease
Published on: April 29, 2007
New drugs for the treatment of Parkinson's disease
1Department of Neurology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Abstract:
Since the introduction of levodopa to treat Parkinson's disease (PD), several new therapies have been directed at improving symptom control, which can decline after a few years of levodopa therapy. Dopaminergic agents can serve as adjuncts or as alternatives to levodopa. In addition, a new class of drugs, catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors, can extend the duration of levodopa action. Although surgical options such as pallidotomy offer improvement of parkinsonism beyond the realm of pharmacologic treatment, judicious administration of drugs in combination can generally solve most problems of PD.
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