Therapeutic Prospects for Parkinson Disease

Dopaminergic therapies such as levodopa have provided benefit for millions of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and revolutionized the treatment of this disorder. However patients continue to experience disability despite the best of modern treatment. Dopaminergic and surgical therapies are associated with potentially serious side effects. Non-motor and non-dopaminergic features such as freezing, falling, and dementia are not adequately controlled with available medications and represent the major source of disability for advanced patients. And, the disease continues to relentlessly progress. Major therapeutic unmet needs include a dopaminergic therapy that is not associated with serious side effects, a therapy that addresses the non-motor and non-dopaminergic features of the disease, and a disease-modifying therapy that slows or stops disease progression. This review will consider current attempts to address these issues and the obstacles that must be overcome in order to develop more effective therapies for PD. Ann Neurol 2013;74:337-347