Advantages And Disadvantages Of L-Dopa

This prevents the excessive activity of dopamine. Side effects sleepiness, dizziness, headache, dry mouth, weight gain, weakness or loss of strength, stomach upsets such as constipation, increased appetite, abnormal dreams and nightmares, faster than normal heartbeat, a drop in blood pressure, shortness of breath, blurred vision, uncontrolled movements, problems with speech, irritability, fever.

The World Health Organization projects that, by 2040, neurodegenerative diseases will become more common than cancer (Cashell, 2014). Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is widely listed as the second most common neurodegenerative disease (Wuong, 2012; Gillies et al., 2014; Cashell, 2014; Walker, Davidson, & Gray, 2012). This disease, usually characterized by a tremor, but featuring systemic effects, has been diagnosed in one to two percent of people over age 65 (Casey, 2013). Parkinson’s disease is incurable; the goal of the healthcare team is to help the patient to maintain function, independence and quality of life (Miertová et al., 2014; Magennis, Lynch, & Corry, 2014). In the discussion that follows, current understanding of the causes and treatment of PD will be summarized, along with examples of nursing interventions.

In the past twenty years, many drugs have been developed to treat the disease. Although the cause of Parkinson's disease is still unknown, scientists have been developing methods of treatment and therapy. The idea is to replace dopamine in the brain, which is accomplished, to some extent, with the administration of L-Dopa. In conjunction with other drugs, L- Dopa "inhibits the enzymes that break down L-dopa in the liver, thus making a greater part of it available to the brain" (5). This treatment is very successful, but it only hinders the disease for a time and it is by no means a cure. That leaves us with stem-cells and the role they play in treatment of Parkinson's disease.

“Genetic engineering and drug development can cure and therapies of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, so embryonic stem cells in not the only way to treat patients” (McLean 3). People witness the development of cancer treatments with the enhancement of more effective drugs. Also, nanotechnology allows scientists to deliver drugs only to the cancerous cells, so that the nearby healthy cells remain unaffected. Genetic engineering provides prospect in curing Parkinson’s disease which causes loss of body control. “Scientists develop Parkinson’s disease in laboratory mice to and genetically engineer their nerve cells to make them become light sensitive. When these nerve cells are exposed to light, then nerve impulses travel along them and the mice are again able to move their bodies” (McLean 4). People speculate that this discovery can be used to cure Parkinson’s in humans. Critics of embryonic stem cell research believe that people don’t need to pursuing embryonic stem cell research will be negated by promising advances in drug development and genetic

After attaining the seminar about new treatment L-Dopa and seeing astounding results on Lowe (patient) awakening completely from his catatonic state by using L-Dopa, Dr. Sayer believed that drug might help others as well. He ran trial for his own group. Later, they found out that this treatment is just a temporary triumph. The situation

The last type of medication is Carbidopa/Levodopa. These are the most common medications used to treat Parkinson’s disease and are combined to get the effects from both pills. “Sinemet is the brand name (Carbidopa/Levodopa is the generic). Levodopa is absorbed and goes to the brain where it is converted to dopamine. Carbidopa is combined with the Levodopa to lessen the side effects of Levodopa and increases how long the Levodopa keeps on working within the brain” (Luitjens). Sinemet comes in several different dosages and can also be used as a regular tablet or an extended release tablet. These extended release tablets usually have less side effects and the severity of them has dissipated. Because the medicine is not all released at the same time, the body has more time to absorb the medicine, instead of all at once with the regular tablets. Most patients will take both types throughout the course of their diagnoses. The regular release tablet will help when the patient's blood levels drop, due to the extended release tablets. On average the regular tablets are taken by patients every three to six hours, but some may take up to eight a day depending on their conditions. Most doctors will not prescribe this medication until

There are many treatments out there now like medication, therapy, surgery, and clinical trials. All these treatments are aimed to increase the level of dopamine in the system. There are many different medications out there that are used for PD patients. These are Carbidopa-levodopa, Carbidopa-levodopa Infusions, Dopamine agonists, MAO-B Inhibitors, Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Inhibitors, Anticholinergics, and Amantadine. There are many pros and cons to these medications the side effects that come with each of these medication makes it worth taking but having to find other medications to go along with the side effects of the original meds you are taking. Carbidopa-levodopa is the most effective medication out there for PD patients. A

The actors that portray EL patients with progressive states of the disease do an excellent job of simulating what is similar to catatonic behaviour. In particular, Robert de Niro as Leonard Lowe seems to portray the progression from awakening to L-dopa side effects to return to the progressive EL state well. When he is first given L-dopa in the film, he shows a gradual increase in physical and cognitive ability to what appears to be a normal state. Later, his behaviour is consistent with the side effects associated with

Johnson at the John Hopkins School for Medicine took ten men and five women who had been smoking cigarettes for many years and have failed to quit and gave them psilocybin, the psychoactive substance found in a certain type of mushroom. 6 months after taking the mushrooms, 80% of the subjects had quit smoking while 30% of the people reported it as being one of the most important and beneficial experiences they ever had (JHU). In addition to psilocybins ability to help with curing addiction, a study published by the Journal of the Royal Society Interface showed its beneficial effects on people who suffer from depression. M.R.I scans were done on people with depression while under the influence of psilocybin. Parts of the brain that are believed to be responsible for overactivity in those who are depressed were shown to have slown down while other parts of the brain responsible for the release of endorphins were more active. Thus, allowing for the personal evaluation of one's own subconscious mind to work out their issues and look at their disorder while in a positive mindset, helping to improve overall happiness and

For many 50 year olds, tasks such as writing or walking can be easily preformed without much attention. In fact, the term “task” seems to stress that there is a greater level of effort than is truly exerted in order for the average person to perform these actions. However, for a patient of Parkinson’s Disease who is diagnosed on average at the age of 50, these every day activities take a great deal of time, attention, and effort to be preformed (Huston). With the growth of research about this disease, a variety of treatment options ranging from medication to surgery are currently available to patients who suffer from the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease.

Almost a million Americans have Parkinson’s disease, a common neurological degenerative disease that causes loss in motor functions. Costing up to 25 Billion dollars a year in the US alone, there are on average about 60,000 individuals that are diagnosed each year. However, with many cases going undetected, the number is expected to rise, as the 21st century progresses. Scientists and doctors are pulling together many resources to slow the progression of this devastating disorder; and now it is known (although there is not cure), that there are certain genes that correspond with the Parkinson’s disorder. Although many have claimed that these genes show an accurate pre diagnosis of the disease, there has been much debate on whether the testing

About 10 million people in the world are affected by parkinson's. Parkinson's is caused by a depletion of dopamine producing neurons in the brain. The only current treatments are medicine and electrical implants in the brain and cause severe effects after time and fail to present disease progression. There have been studies that show embryonic stem cells improve motor function in studies done on animals. But until recently this procedure has shown to be unsafe and risky, because the risk of tumors. In the new studies researchers used mice modeled to parkinson's and were separated into 3 groups. The first group didn't get the stem cell implant, the second group did receive a stem cell implant but they were not treated with mitomycin C. Finally

In vivo: Preladenant could potentiate L-Dopa-induced contralateral rotations and attenuate the cataleptic effects in rats. Preladenant also inhibited behavioral sensitization induced by L-Dopa. In addition, preladenant showed antidepressant-like activities in the mouse and rat forced swim test. These findings thus demonstrated that preladenant might be able to provide further therapeutic benefits of PD and depression treatment [1].

The small sample size within this experiment does not allow for sufficient generalizations among individuals in the population. As was mentioned within the limitations of the study (Neiloufar Family et al., 2016), a more consistent time interval between injection and task onset should be incorporated to control for “peak” drug effects and performance within that time frame. An overall more structured time schedule for this type of experiment could be beneficial in gaining a more accurate time log of the effects of the drug. Neuroimaging equipment, such as an

In the figure above, the proposed mechanism of dopamine (DA) as a placebo mediator is illustrated. After a placebo has been provided to a patient, DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are activated, which leads to the release of DA in the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens, NAcc) and in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Consequently, the PFC activates disease-specific mechanisms, such as opioids for placebo analgesia, dopamine for motor improvement in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and perhaps serotonin (5-HT), which relieves depressive symptoms.