CNS - Antiparkinsonians

Hi everyone. The topic of today is very interesting for me and related to the career I study. I am taking a subject called ‘’Pharmacology of Systems l’’ and in this course I have learned about different types of drugs, one of them ‘’antiparkinsonians’’.

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative illness characterized by an alteration of physical movement. Why does this disease occur?   What has been studied are the neurochemical changes that occur in the brain and it has been found that patients suffering from this disease do not have the colouration of the ''substance nigra'' in the brain because this area has abundant dopaminergic neurons, that is, these people suffer the death of this type of neurons.

Therefore in this disease the dopaminergic control of the loco motor function is lost. A destruction of these neurons is produced and the control they exert is lost, and as a consequence of this loss the gabaergic neuron also loses control over the movement. This is why therapies focus on increasing dopamine or decreasing cholinergic stimulation.

Some symptoms of people with Parkinson’s are: problems walking, trembling hands, hypotension, excessive salivation when talking and increased sweating.

The drug most used in this disease is the ‘’Levodopa’’, which is transformed into dopamine in the brain to increase its concentration in the synaptic space and can act on dopamine receptors, it is also a safe drug since it has few adverse effects.

It is important to know that in Chile, the prevalence of this disease is only 0,3% of the population.