title: [Levodopa in the treatment of Parkinson disease -- yesterday and today].
abstract: Levodopa has an established position in the treatment of Parkinson's disease for the last 40 years. It is still called a gold standard therapy. The treatment is relatively easy in the first uncomplicated stage of Parkinson's disease, but the results of many studies performed in recent years showed that the time of treatment initiation and the mode of initial treatment may influence the course of disease in following years. At the late stages the levodopa treatment is a challenge due to the changes in reactivity to single doses as a result of changes in its pharmacokinetics, reactivity of dopamine receptors and progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons. This review paper aims to show the recent views on treatment of Parkinson's disease with levodopa still being a core of this therapy.
authors.affiliation: Zakład Pielegniarstwa Neurologiczn-Psychiatrycznego, Wydział Nauk o Gdański Uniwersytet Medyczny. jaroslawek@gumed.edu.pl
authors.forename: Jarosław
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sławek
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D007980:Levodopa