Skip to main content

Antiparkinson agents

Antiparkinson agents

Antiparkinson agents aim to replace dopamine either by drugs that release dopamine or those that mimic the action of dopamine. Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of movement that occurs due to dopamine deficiency in the basal ganglia. Antiparkinson agents attempt to replace dopamine and treat or halt the symptoms such as tremor, hypokinesia, and so on.

Anticholinergic antiparkinson agents


Anticholinergic antiparkinson agents or acetylcholine antagonists block the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors and cholinergic nerve activity. 
Activation of muscarinic receptors has an excitatory effect, opposite to that of dopaminergic activation, so suppression of the effects of acetylcholine compensates for a lack of dopamine in Parkinson's disease. 
Acetylcholine and dopamine have to be carefully balanced for proper body movement. Anticholinergic agents create a better balance between acetylcholine and dopamine. Anticholinergic agents are used to treat patients with Parkinson's disease who have tremor.

diphenhydramine
benztropine

Dopaminergic antiparkinsonism agents


Dopaminergic antiparkinsonism agents aim to replace dopamine or prevent the degradation of dopamine. Antiparkinson drugs that aim to replace dopamine in the central nervous system, either release dopamine or mimic the action of dopamine. 

Drugs that replace dopamine are generally given with peripherally acting dopa carboxylase inhibitors, to prevent the metabolism of levodopa to dopamine peripherally. Dopamine receptor agonists bind to dopamine receptors and mimic the action of dopamine. 

Selective monoamine oxidase (MAO-B) inhibitors bind to the enzyme MAO-B and prevent dopamine from being broken down. 
Antiparkinson agents are used to treat Parkinson's disease, which is a degenerative disorder of movement that occurs due to dopamine deficiency in the brain, particularly in the basal ganglia.

bromocriptine
selegiline
cabergoline












Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Anorexiants

What are Anorexiants? Anorexiants are drugs that act on the brain to suppress appetite. They have a stimulant effect on the hypothalamic and limbic regions, which control satiety. Anorexiants are used as therapy for obesity. Phendimetrazine Phendimetrazine is a sympathomimetic amine, which is similar to an amphetamine. It is also known as an "anorectic" or "anorexigenic" drug. Phendimetrazine stimulates the central nervous system (nerves and brain), which increases your heart rate and blood pressure and decreases your appetite. Phendimetrazine is used as a short-term supplement to diet and exercise in the treatment of obesity.   Phendimetrazine may cause blurred vision or impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be alert and able to see clearly. Phendimetrazine may be habit-forming and should be used only by the person it was prescribed for. Keep the medication in a secure place where others cannot get t...

Anticonvulsants

What are Anticonvulsants? Anticonvulsants (antiepileptics or AEDs) helps to normalise the way nerve impulses travel along the nerve cells which helps prevent or treat seizures. When the brain is working normally the nerve cells talk to each other using controlled electrical signals from one nerve cell to another. This tells the body to do everything it needs or wants to do. During a seizure there is a change in the level of nerve cell electrical signals from a normal level to an excessive or abnormal amount of nerve signals. This increased nerve activity is responsible for the signs and symptoms of a seizure. What causes the change is nerve impulses can be the result of an injury to part of the brain, stroke, brain tumor, genetic causes, metabolic problems or toxicity issues. Anticonvulsants can also be used to treat nerve pain and bipolar disorder. How they work? Anticonvulsants keep the nerve cell impulses to a normal level so they don’t become excessive and uncontrolled, w...

Anxiolytics, sedatives, and hypnotics

Anxiolytics, sedatives, and hypnotics Anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics are medicines that work on the central nervous system to relieve anxiety, aid sleep, or have a calming effect. The benzodiazepines are the main class of drugs that fit into this category . Although there are more than twenty benzodiazepine derivatives, only certain ones have been approved to treat anxiety (eg, alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam, and lorazepam ), sleeplessness (insomnia) (eg, estazolam, flurazepam, quazepam, temazepam and triazolam), or panic disorder (eg, alprazolam). Barbiturates are an older class of medicine that used to be used for these indications as well; however, barbiturates have a narrow therapeutic index (window of effectiveness before toxicity occurs), and are more likely to cause respiratory depression, coma and death, and are very rarely used nowadays. The main issue with use of benzodiazepines is dependence. Benzodiazepines differ in their propensity to cause sedation and in th...