Parkinsonian Drugs in China

Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by continuous neuronal loss in the substantia nigra. During the past decade, there has been a remarkable progress in our understanding of the pathogenesis of PD, which has been translated into searching for therapy against PD. The therapeutic approaches include relieving PD symptoms such as levodopa replacement therapy and neuroprotective therapy aiming to protect dopaminergic neurons and modify the disease course. In addition, several kinds of traditional Chinese herbs also showed effectiveness in delaying disease progression both in vivo and vitro. Furthermore, the Chinese Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Society has published three versions of guidelines for the management of PD in China, in 2006, 2009, and 2014. Since then, the overall level of treatment for PD in China has been significantly improved. In this chapter, we will review the pharmacological treatment for PD in China as well as current neuroprotective therapy against this disease.With the new knowledge and understanding of the PD etiology, we believe that more and more new drugs aimed at both controlling symptoms and preventing PD and retarding the progression of the disease will come on the market soon.