Long-term medical treatment for Parkinson’s disease

The authors of this paper view Parkinson’s disease (PD) as a clinically defined progressive syndrome of resting limb tremor, bradykinesia, muscle rigidity, and a shuffling unsteady gait that responds well to dopaminergic medications. Parkinson’s disease is a not a single entity, but rather a syndrome with diverse causes, with both genetic and environmental risk factors [1••]. The clinician’s concern is to rule out other entities, especially those having another specific treatment, and to give PD patients the best short- and long-term benefit, with the least possible unwanted side effects.