Terri Reinhart - PARKINSONS

I believe one of the biggest challenges we face with Parkinson's is the management of our therapies. The medical world tends to rely heavily on prescription drugs and surgical procedures such as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) to help us control our symptoms. I do not feel qualified to write about DBS surgery as I will not consider this treatment. This was a decision made after much thought, research, and discussions with family and friends. I am sure others will speak on this topic. While I am incredibly grateful for medications which make it possible for me to continue walking and functioning as normally as possible, they also create other issues. Drugs do not have side effects, they have effects, and we need to pay attention to all the effects of the drugs we are taking. In Parkinson's disease, this can be very challenging as so often we are taking 6 or 7 different drugs in our attempt to manage our health. Questions need to be asked:  Are we being prescribed another drug because of our Parkinson's or is it given to us to help us cope with the effects of another drug?  Are all these drugs necessary? Are there other ways to treat the symptoms with exercise, diet, or lifestyle changes? It is often said, it takes a cocktail of drugs to treat Parkinson's.  This cocktail can include a dopamine agonist, Selegiline (as a neuroprotective), Comtan (makes Sinemet more effective), Provigil (prevent daytime sleepiness), a drug to help sleep at night, and an anti-anxiety drug as well a...
Source: PHRMA - Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Source Type: news