Parkinson’s Disease: Update on Medication Management

• Parkinson’s disease is reviewed to provide an understanding of the pharmacologic therapies used to treat motor and nonmotor symptoms.
• Levadopa and carbidopa are the gold standard of treatment; doses, side effects, and formulations are discussed.
• The different classes of medications used to treat Parkinson’s disease, and those used to mitigate side effects of treatment and Parkinsonism, are reviewed.
• An overview of deep brain stimulation is provided, which is often used in the advanced stages of the disease to decrease medication doses.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Its estimated prevalence is 1 million individuals in the United States, with approximately 60,000 people newly diagnosed in the US every year. The incidence and diagnosis of PD will increase in the next decades as our population ages. Nurse practitioners will need to be familiar with the presentation and progression and pharmacologic treatment of PD. This disease has a broad range of motor and nonmotor manifestations. The present article reviews medication treatment for both motor and nonmotor symptoms of PD.