Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive disease: the cause is still unknown. The symptoms can range from tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, postural instability and autonomic dysfunction to cognitive disturbances. The pathophysiological mechanism for most of these symptoms is the degeneration of the nigrostriatal tract, leading to a shortage of dopamine in the striatum. Levodopa given orally, can be an effective drug for most of these symptoms, but not all symptoms respond equally. In addition, the progression of the disease continues in spite of levodopa treatment. Longterm levodopa treatment can lead to considerable side-effects. In the early phases of the disease amantadine and anti-cholinergics are to be preferred above levodopa. However, anticholinergics do have a reputation of side-effects with regard to cognitive function, since acetylcholine is an important neurotransmitter for systems involved in memory functions.

, , ,
Erasmus University Rotterdam
A. Staal
hdl.handle.net/1765/50782
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Hovestadt, A. (1990, December 19). Parkinson's disease: cognition, pulmonary function and muscle strength. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/50782