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Treatment Options for Parkinson's Disease

Current treatments for Parkinson's can help patients manage symptoms and stay active longer and improve the quality of their life. Treatment options usually include medication, surgery, a rehabilitation program or possible clinical research trails.

The first step in treatment is accurately giving your doctor your list of symptoms, and then the next step is making the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Your doctor may refer you to a neurologist who is experienced in movement disorders and neurological disorder. You may also visit a movement disorder center. At the center you will have access to a rehabilitation facility that is involved in research studies.

Anti-parkinsonian medication that you will receive will depend on your degree of movement impairment, the degree of cognitive impairment, your ability to tolerate the medication, and what your doctor feels is best for your overall general health and for your stage of progression in your disease. No two patients will have the same treatment plan because no two patients will have the exact same Parkinson's symptoms or intensity of symptom. There are many factors that are considered when making medication decisions.

Surgery for Parkinson's includes thalamotomy, pallidotomy or it may include the placement of deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices. Not all patients are suitable for surgery so the decision should not be made without careful consideration.

Rehabilitation therapy can improve the quality of Parkinson patients lives. At the rehabilitation center programs of physical therapy and occupational therapy can help people with Parkinson's to learn how to move with greater ease out of bed, or out of a chair or car. These therapists can help you to find devices to help you with daily activities such as shower grab bars, shower stools, and elevated toilet seats. Occupational therapist help you in finding new ways to make daily tasks easier such as buttoning clothing, cooking, and organizing your home, or getting around at home or work, even helping you to feed yourself with more control.

Clinical research trials are very special programs that test new medications or devices to determine if they are safe and effective against different diseases or conditions and there are clinical research trials being conducted to test new medications and devices for Parkinson's disease. When patients are accepted into a clinical trial program they are usually given a full service of diagnostic, medical, surgical, and rehabilitative services as a part of the trial. Clinical trials are necessary in order to improve the lives of individuals with Parkinson's. The trials are carefully planned studies that are carefully monitored by physicians and statisticians. The new drugs or devices that are being tested have the potential to help many people in the future because of the ability of people with Parkinson's to participate in trials today. Because those who participate in these clinical trials receive quality medical care and monitoring of their disease, they do better in the course of their own disease and are not harmed even if they receive a placebo rather than the drug or device being tested. Those who participate in these trials feel better about the fact that they are doing something to control the course of their disease.