Parkinson’s disease Medications

Many symptoms of Parkinson’s result from a loss of brain cells that produce teh neurotransmitter dopamine. For this reason, several medications for Parkinson’s disease either raise the level of dopamine in the brain or mimic its effects. Meanwhile,other medications help control nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s or target other neurotransmitters to mitigate symptoms.

Drugs That Increase Dopamine

Levodopa, the precursor to dopamine, can be an effective treatment for more advanced cases of Parkinson’s disease. it’s often combined with carbidopa to reduce side effects and to increase the amount of levodopa available to brain cells. While levodopa can temporarily help replace some of the lost dopamine in the brain, carbidopa helps improve the uptake of levodopa by preventing it from being activated into dopamine before it reaches the brain.

Carbidopa-levodopa is available as an oral medication under the brand names Crexont, Rytary, and Sinemet. It’s also available as an infusion under the brand names Duopa and Vyalev.

Drugs That Mimic Dopamine

A number of medications mimic dopamine in the brain to address Parkinson’s symptoms,including:

• apomorphine (Apokyn,Kynmobi)
• pramipexole (Mirapex)
• ropinirole (Requip)
• rotigotine (Neupro)

MAO-B Inhibitors

These medications inhibit the enzyme monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B),which breaks down dopamine in the brain.