Parkinson's Disease Guide for the Newly Diagnosed: Understanding the Disease, Managing Your Symptoms, and Navigating Treatment

Learn about a few beneficial sections from the book:

Patient Advocacy Tips and FAQs

One of the most important things you can do as a PD patient is advocate for yourself and your care. This means asking your physician(s) the right questions and getting satisfactory answers. Some of these questions might include:

• How sure are you about my diagnosis (and do I have any other neurological problems)?
• Are there any new treatment options that I should be aware of?
• Based on my history and neurological exam, do I need brain imaging to be sure of my diagnosis?

Experimental Treatments

Parkinson’s disease is unique in the vast number of clinical trials undertaken over the past 60 years seeking better treatments. Among these are treatments that have been tested to learn whether they could halt progression or even cure the disease.

Current clinical trials are testing therapies that attempt to improve upon current levodopa products by increasing potency and extending the duration of efficacy (like the dopaminergic agonists discussed earlier in this chapter).

Newer Techniques for Treating Parkinson's disease

Both pallidotomy and thalamotomy (see definitions on page 60) are only rarely carried out today because of the widespread use of deep brain stimulation. The electrical stimulation settings in deep brain stimulation can be adjusted in the outpatient clinic to improve symptom control and to avoid possible side effects. In contrast, pallidotomy and thalamotomy lead to permanent lesions in the brain.