Investigational pharmacological treatments for Parkinson’s disease

Effective therapy for Parkinson’s disease (PD) has existed for 40 years. Currently, levodopa, the precursor to dopamine, remains the most consistently effective medication. Most other pharmacologic treatments, such as dopamine agonists, augment and replace the endogenous dopamine loss that causes PD symptoms. Other treatments such as anticholinergic medications and amantadine often help symptoms through nondopaminergic mechanisms. Numerous other medications such as antidepressants and antipsychotics are used to treat specific symptoms in PD.