Medialink Features: First and Only Treatment Now Available for Mild-to-Moderate Parkinson's Disease Dementia
Posted on: Thursday, 15 February 2007, 21:00 CST
NEW YORK, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF), Parkinson's disease (PD) affects 1.5 million Americans. While the disease is best known for causing people to have shaky, stiff or slow movement, a large number of Parkinson's patients will go on to develop problems with memory and thinking as the disease progresses.
Fortunately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Exelon(R) (rivastigmine tartrate) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD), making it the first and only medication available for the treatment of this condition. Exelon is also approved for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.
PDD can have a devastating impact on patients and families and can affect approximately 40 percent of PD patients. In addition, the risk for developing dementia among PD patients is approximately four to six times higher than among elderly people without the disease. The primary symptoms of PDD include memory impairment and psychiatric symptoms such as depression, hallucinations, anxiety and apathy. The NPF also reports that dementia is one of the complications most feared by PD patients and their caregivers.
"Until now we have had no approved therapies for the treatment of Parkinson's disease dementia. Now they have a medication which can help them with the kind of everyday memory challenges they're facing," said Jeffrey Cummings, MD, Professor of Neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
For the full story, go to http://media.medialink.com/home.aspx?Story=32942
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