Towards a Better Management of Advanced Parkinson’s Disease
08 July 2008
The latest in Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ successful series of medical education symposia was held during the 18th meeting of the European Neurological society in Nice, France, on June 10th 2008. Chaired by Professor Per Odin (Klinikum-Bremerhaven, Germany), 'Towards a better management of advanced Parkinson’s disease' (PD) reviewed important recent advances in the treatment of the late stages of this progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Advanced PD presents considerable clinical challenges as patients are faced with increasingly severe motor fluctuations and non-motor problems at the same time as neurologists are running out of effective treatment options to offer.
Solvay Pharmaceuticals invited three internationally renowned experts in advanced PD to provide a stimulating series of presentations for an audience of over 150 neurologists from around the world. Keen to discover how to improve their patients’ condition and lives, delegates paid close attention to the vast collective expertise of Professors Poewe (Austria), Mouradian (USA) and Van Laar (The Netherlands).
The workshop focused on medical strategies designed to achieve “CDS”, or continuous dopaminergic stimulation. Although CDS helps to reduce severe motor fluctuations, clinical approaches to providing CDS have so far met with varying degrees of success.
However the recent development and introduction of a stable concentrated levodopa-carbidopa gel (Duodopa®), combined with progress in the construction and application of portable duodenal infusion systems, has greatly facilitated this treatment approach in clinical practice. The Duodopa® gel is administered inside the upper intestine through a small tube inserted directly into the duodenum, allowing the potential for permanent use. It has proven to be a successful approach that not only reduces motor complications but also helps to improve patients’ quality of life.
But the next big and intriguing question is whether this approach can also help patients at a much earlier stage of disease.
