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Roughneck16 t1_j9rv0ev wrote

What do current treatments consist of?

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pace_gen t1_j9ry1mv wrote

Levodopa is the most commonly prescribed drug for Parkinson's. It is absorbed in the intestine and the brain converts it to dopamine, which is the brain chemical that powers normal movement but decreases in Parkinson's disease (PD).

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Please_Log_In t1_j9skj7l wrote

Big Pharma always recommends medicalization over lifestyle changes: their priority is profits

EDIT: i'm not denying the need for medication, in many cases it's the best way to treat symptoms.

I'm just cynical about medicalization in general.

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vomex45 t1_j9sm63e wrote

Parkinson's is not the sort of thing that can be fixed with lifestyle changes. "Big Pharma" making Carbidopa/Levodopa is the sole reason my dad has been even remotely functional for the last 15 years.

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Beyond-Time t1_j9sn1vm wrote

There is truth for your statement, but the is the wrong thread. There is no lifestyle change that will fix Parkinson's. Perhaps you're a bit account, who knows

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pace_gen t1_j9tk378 wrote

My dad and grandfather both had Parkinson's. The medicine came a long way between them. We were happy pharmaceutical companies took the medicines to the next level.

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Kasspa t1_j9ucp8n wrote

You do know what Parkinsons is right? Do you think Michael J Fox could just change his lifestyle, and things would get better for him?

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Honigwesen t1_j9ske1v wrote

There are none.

Levodopa and the rest are just treating the symptoms. There's nothing to stop progress or even reverse it.

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Wolfm31573r t1_j9srs5k wrote

True, L-DOPA only treats the symptoms. If the dopaminergic neurons are already dead at the later stages of the disease, the only way to treat the disease instead of the symptoms would be by dopaminergic neuron transplantation. That stuff its still quite far. At the earlier stages some drugs that can modify the proteostasis in the cells could be usefull, but they are still in development, and even in optimistic scenarios it would take half a decade for them to be available as a treatment.

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vomex45 t1_j9sn9el wrote

There is a number of dugs that can be used in conjunction with each other, namely Levodopa along with others like Carbidopa. Some are prescribed to increase the effectiveness of L-dopa and some are for fighting momentary flare-ups of symptoms, often called "off" times.

There is also a deep brain stimulation operation that can be an option but typically only around 10-15% patients become good candidates for it and less get the operation.

Both these avenues are only strategies to treat symptoms and do not alter the course of the disease. Patients that live long enough will eventually become dependant on the drugs to have any level of functionality at all.

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nearfar47 t1_j9ssxpf wrote

Actually DBS is close to being a standard of care, esp in younger people.

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InTheEndEntropyWins t1_j9t2h8r wrote

Sleep, diet and exercise.

Linking into this study, when you sleep you brain removes waste products. Exercise increases blood flow, also removing waste products. So that might partly be the mechanism for how they help.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/parkinsons-disease/fighting-parkinson-disease-with-exercise-and-diet

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lifeisalime11 t1_j9um42b wrote

Man, this sleep/diet/exercise stuff seems super important for… literally everything

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