Parkinson's disease: emerging pharmacotherapy

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. The prevalence is increasing with age and averages approximately 0.3% in the entire population. The clinical picture is dominated by the cardinal motor symptoms such as tremor at rest, bradykinesia, muscular rigidity, stooped posture and postural instability. Psychiatric comorbidity is common, comprising dementia, depression, anxiety and psychosis. Although many drugs have been developed and introduced into the market to provide symptomatic treatment, there is still no cure for PD and not even solid evidence for disease-modifying strategies. In addition, motor complications in advanced stages of the disease, side effects of the dopaminergic therapy, and non-motor symptoms remain huge challenges during long-term therapy. Thus, new therapeutic agents are desperately needed. Here, we describe current therapies and possible future developments that we hope will contribute to sustaining quality of life in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease for many years.