Use of the dopamine receptor agonist Mirapex in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

We present a review of the literature on dopamine receptor agonists along with our own data on the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) with Mirapex, which was used in 30 patients (mean age 61.8 +/- 7.7 years, duration of disease 8.4 +/- 1.3 years). Mirapex was used at a dose of 3.5 +/- 1.1 mg/day on the background of treatment with levodopa preparations. The efficacy of Mirapex was assessed using quantitative scales. Improvements were demonstrated in general state, motor activity, daily activities, and the quality of life. Attention is drawn to a decrease in the severity of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias and in anxiety and depression, and to improvements in cognitive functions. The significance of the combination of the high efficacy and good tolerance of this agent is emphasized.

Functional Analysis of Cultured Neural Cells for Evaluating Cold/Cool- and Hot/Warm-Natured Chinese Herbs

“…On the contrary, herbs of hot or warm nature usually warm up the interior, dispel cold and support yang, and are therefore used to treat cold syndromes, a hypo-reaction of nervous system. Also, the imbalance of nervous and adrenergic systems in the brain is associated with neural degenerative diseases (Kalinin et al, 2007;Alisky, 2006), which possess complicated pathogenesis involving either upregulation or downregulation of norepinephrine in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients; redundant reactive oxygen species (ROS), known as side-products during energy metabolism, in Parkinson's disease (PD) and AD (Fedorova and Chigir', 2007;Peskind et al, 1995;Hoogendijk et al, 1999;Szot et al, 2000;da Silva and Ming, 2007;Calabrese et al, 2006). Based on these findings, the complicated syndrome of neural degenerative diseases seems to have certain similarity to heat or cold syndromes in Chinese medicine theory.…”