Understanding Parkinson's Disease and its Treatment

dopaminergic neurons in the Substantial nigra are affected in Parkinson's disease/nParkinson's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative condition without a cure/nThe approved treatment for Parkinson's involves giving patients L-Dopa, the precursor to dopamine/nThe current therapy only works in about 20% of people and eventually stops working/nThe cause of Parkinson's is still unknown/nParkinson's is characterized by tremors and unstable gait/nLowered dopamine levels usually result in an elevation of prolactin, but Parkinson's patients typically don't have high levels of prolactin/nParkinson's can eventually lead to dementia in later stages