Can Parkinson's be cured?
Not yet, but treatment can relieve the symptoms very effectively.
2 min
Parkinson’s disease cannot be cured, but there are medicines that can alleviate the symptoms and taking them can be life-changing.
Research to find a cure is ongoing, but it seems unlikely that a single universal cure will ever be identified. This is because the disease varies considerably among different people who are affected.
However, improvements to existing treatments as well as entirely new treatments are on the horizon:
- Additional drugs are being developed to replenish the chemical dopamine in the brain (low levels of dopamine cause the problems associated with movement in Parkinson’s disease).1,2
- Stem cell therapies are being tested to see if dying nerve cells in the brain can be replaced.3,4,5
- Drugs already used for other conditions are being tested to see if they offer any benefit to people with Parkinson’s disease.4,6
- Gene therapies are being examined to see if genetic causes of the disease can be cured.3,4,7
- Naturally occurring molecules called growth factors are being investigated to see if they will slow or reverse the degeneration of nerve cells affected by Parkinson’s disease.4,6,8
1. Tambasco N et al.. Levodopa in Parkinson's disease: current status and future developments. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2018;16:1239-52. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6187751/pdf/CN-16-1239.pdf [Accessed October 2023]
2. Svenningsson P et al. Safety and tolerability of IRL790 in Parkinson’s disease with levodopa-induced dyskinesia—a phase 1b trial. Parkinson's Dis. 2018;4:35. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6283839/pdf/41531_2018_Article_71.pdf [Accessed October 2023]
3. Stoker TB et al. Emerging treatment approaches for Parkinson's disease. Front Neurosci. 2018;12:693. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6186796/pdf/fnins-12-00693.pdf [Accessed October 2023]
4. Elkouzi A et al.. Emerging therapies in Parkinson disease—repurposed drugs and new approaches. Nat Rev Neurol 2019; Mar 12:1.
5. Wenker SD et al. Cell therapy for Parkinson′ s disease is coming of age: current challenges and future prospects with a focus on immunomodulation. Gene Ther 2019; Apr 16:1
6. Zeuner KE et al.. Progress of pharmacological approaches in Parkinson's disease. Clin Pharmacol & Ther 2019; Jan 19.
7. Axelsen TM et al. Gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease, An update. J Parkinsons Dis 2018; 8(2): 195–215. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6027861/pdf/jpd-8-jpd181331.pdf [Accessed October 2023]
8. Huttunen HJ et al. CDNF protein therapy in Parkinson’s disease. Cell Transpl 2019 Mar 4:0963689719840290. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963689719840290 [Accessed October 2023]
UK/BIAL/2023/032e
Date of preparation: October 2023