The 10% of patients diagnosed with Parkinson 's have advanced disease when the majority does not adequately respond to oral drugs available and suffers severe disability , reaching suffer behavioral disorders , cognitive disorders , or impaired balance and gait.

As Parkinson 's disease progresses , the patient loses autonomy , becoming increasingly dependent and generating an overload on the caretaker, who was forced to leave just other life activities . In these stages , the benefits to the patient advanced treatments positively influence the quality of life of their caregivers , as they give the patient more autonomy .

Specifically incorporated by therapy involves administering Hospital of continuous intraduodenal infusion of levodopa / carbidopa, intraduodenally via a catheter which allows the substance may be released continuously over time , favoring customized treatment . Thanks to its gel formulation , this drug achieves greater stability of the patient , reducing the motor and nonmotor symptoms of the disease, resulting in improved quality of life and gain autonomy.

The fact that the treatment is administered via continuous intraduodenal is an important advance for patients suffering from this disease : management form allows you to have an effect that remains constant over time in the right dose for each patient.

Dr. Maria Boscá , Gandia Hospital neurologist , highlighted the multidisciplinary collaboration between Neurology and Gastroenterology services to the implementation of this treatment. " The involvement of neurologists and nurses with extensive experience in Parkinson's disease as well as close collaboration Digestive service ( charge of performing percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy - PEG - to place the probe on the patient) is essential to the correct time treatment implementation . in this sense the work conducted multidisciplinary Gandia Hospital has been excellent , "he concludes .

About Parkinson's disease

Parkinson 's Disease ( PD) is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that affects the area in charge of coordinating the activity and muscle tone and movement. It is estimated to affect 150,000 people in Spain , - nearly 11,000 in the Region - , and is expected to be increasing due to the progressive aging of the population. This neurodegenerative disorder , the second most common cause is unknown and chronic and progressive course .

PE occurs when cells in the area of ​​the brain called the " substantia nigra " , stop working and die. These cells are responsible for producing a substance called dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter , or chemical messenger that transmits information to areas of the brain that control movement and coordination . In patients with PD , the dopamine-producing cells begin to die , causing the reduction of the neurotransmitter in certain brain structures and results in the appearance of motor symptoms ( tremor, rigidity , slowness of movement ... ) and non-motor (depression , anxiety , sleep problems , digestive disorders etc).

As the disease progresses, conventional drugs lose effectiveness , making necessary the use of advanced therapies ( deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus or continuous infusions of levodopa or apomorphine ) . The benefits these therapies positively affect patient quality of life , to improve symptoms of the disease and reduce side effects of oral medications.

Source : Press release http://www.san.gva.es