Parkinson’s Disease: New Therapeutic Developments from L-DOPA to Digital Therapies

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex disease, whose picture of motor impairment constitutes only the emerged part of an iceberg; suffice it to say that clinical motor signs appear when there is a 60 to 80% reduction of dopamine in the striatum, as well as the loss of at least 50% of black matter cells. The disease is diagnosed when it is already practically advanced, which is why PD represents a constant challenge for the scientific community committed to understanding its many genetic and environmental causes as well as to identify viable therapeutic approaches that are increasingly effective and safe. This disease also represents a challenge for our social and health care system since it turns out to be absolutely necessary to find a balance between diagnostic and therapeutic appropriateness at all stages of the disease and the optimization of a diagnostic therapeutic pathway aimed at improving the quality of life for all patients with this disease. It is important to highlight the need for higher quality studies that assess the impact of modern diagnostic techniques on clinically relevant endpoints for the patient’s life: in this context, one of the most complex challenges is the possibility of better differentiating the subtypes of PD, which not only have different clinical presentation and prognosis, but also differ in the underlying mechanisms of the disease, requiring individualized therapeutic approaches. The availability of advanced techniques for the earliest possible diagnosis would make it possible to start treatment in the very early stages of the disease or even before the onset of symptoms.