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.
Wolfm31573r t1_j9srs5k wrote
Reply to comment by Honigwesen in Researchers have found that a Parkinson’s-linked mutation in a gene called Endophilin A1 blocks the process by which the body and the brain recycle cell waste. Without the process, autophagy, toxic debris builds up and neurons die. This discovery could change the focus of Parkinson's treatments. by QldBrainInst
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.