Parkinson’s Disease: Progress and Promises

Abstract

Neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by progressive and irreversible loss of neurons from specific regions of brain. Loss of neurons form structures of basal ganglia results in loss of control of movement and finally ending with a chronic condition called Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson's disease is not only among the most common neurodegenerative disorders, it is also one of the most famed neurological illnesses with several celebrity figures suffering from Parkinson's disease. Over the past few decades there has been steady increase in the understanding of disease pathophysiology and clinical course, with advances in management choices including new drug therapies, surgical treatment options and growing hopes in neurotransplantation and gene therapy. Although much has been understood about Pathophysiology of PD, levodopa is still considered as the most effective treatment in PD. Unfortunately beside levodopa, several of drugs used in PD have shown inefficacy in long term use, reduction in survival rate and several other side effects. Thus partial failure of existing drugs has always prompted researchers to look beyond existing drugs and discover new molecular targets. The objective of this review is to highlight the clinical complexities, pathophysiology, various existing therapies, and their role in shedding light in the mechanisms responsible for nigrostriatal cell death and highlight the progress in identification of future targets that can be worked upon.