Continous Levodopa Therapy for Parkinson's Disease
Friday, October 5, 2007
Since many years, Doctors have wondered whether direct supply of levodopa and carbidopa to the intestines would give optimal effect. They have found out that the patients undergoing continuous levodopa therapy experienced a "heightened therapeutic effect, including a reduction in motor fluctuations.
Now , the medication called duodopa, administered into an area of the small intestine called the duodenum, is still in clinical trial in the United States. Using a small patient-controlled pump, the drug is continuously delivered through a tube that ends in the upper small intestine where it is rapidly absorbed. Some patients use a tube that travels through the nose, throat, and stomach, while others have the tube inserted surgically through the abdominal wall. Patients load the pump with a gel that contains levodopa and carbidopa. This delivery system ensures a more even supply and uptake compared with the conventional tablet treatment.
Duodopa administered as continuous levodopa therapy has shown remarkable results in people with advanced Parkinson's disease. Among the most optimistic reports, some people who were previously bedridden were able to walk again and use ability they had lost.
Hopefully this therapy makes its way through clinical trials quickly for people in the United States. It appears to have considerable potential to help people with Parkinson's disease. It has also been in practice in India by many neurophysicians. The response has been quite variable.
thanks... this has been tried in my dad's case.. and he has had.. good improvement