To this day, there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease. Existing treatments can help alleviate symptoms, but the therapeutic strategy can be different in young people with Parkinson’s. In fact, there are more treatment options available to young people than to seniors but the stakes are twofold:
- When to begin taking medication
- Which medication to start with
These issues need to be taken into consideration as young people tend to develop dyskinesias more rapidly and more frequently with levodopa.
For a long time, disease management guidelines delayed the prescription of levodopa in order to delay the onset of side effects and preserve the therapeutic effect for later. Today, it is increasingly accepted that early treatment allows patients to take full advantage of the effectiveness of their medication.
Your doctor may also decide to delay medicinal treatment or start with a medication other than levodopa depending on your situation. There are multiple medications to alleviate Parkinson’s disease symptoms.
If medicinal treatments are not effective with time, people living with early onset Parkinson’s can undergo a deep brain stimulation surgery. Discuss your options with your doctor.