Dr. Siddharth Kharkar, MBBS, MD Neurology (ABPN, USA), MHSRemember: Levodopa’s best friends are: Entacapone & Amantadine. The medications discussed here (the MAO-B inhibitors) are also supposedly “friends of levodopa/dopamine”. Except, two of them, like the older brothers Karamazov, these medications are somewhat useful but full of flaws. These medications probably belong to an older generation. I use them very sparingly, if at all. … Read more
Anticholinergics: Trihexyphenidyl, Benztropine. Brandnames in India: Pacitane, Parkin etc… How do these medications work? Dopamine has an enemy in the brain, called Acetylcholine. Acetylcholine actually is a good chemical with a lot of beneficial effects, but one of the things it does is to reverse some of the actions of Dopamine. These medications are anticholinergic. … Read more
(Brand names in India: Pramipex, Pramipex ER, Ropark, Ropark XL) How do dopamine agonists work? These chemicals are imitators. They look just like Dopamine itself. They attach themselves to the same sites that Dopamine usually attaches itself. Therefore, they produce similar effects in the brain as Dopamine and relieve the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Use/Advantages: … Read more
(Brand names in India: Syncapone, Entacom plus) How do Entacapone & Tolcapone act? Entcapone is a friend of levodopa. It prevents the breakdown of levodopa by inhibiting an enzyme called COMT. The name of the enzyme is not important, what is important is that entacapone protects levodopa. Therefore, it makes the levodopa stay longer in the … Read more
(Brand names: Sinemet, Syndopa, Syndopa plus, Syndopa CR, Tidomet etc) Levodopa is the MOST POWERFUL, POSSIBLY BEST medication for Parkinson’s disease. If Parkinson’s was a jungle, Levodopa would be an Elephant. It is the Optimus Prime of Transformers, the Mount Everest of mountains… I could go on… How does levodopa work? In a very simple … Read more
Diseases which look like Parkinson’s disease, but have additional features are called “Parkinson’s Plus” syndromes. You can read more about Parkinson’s Plus Syndromes here. Multiple System atrophy (MSA) is a Parkinson’s Plus syndrome. In MSA, a component of our nervous system called the “Autonomic Nervous System” is also affected. This causes problems in body functions … Read more
India Today Magazine - 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Outlook India Magazine - 2021, 2023
Ex-Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, USA
