Is LDN a potential treatment option for Parkinson_s disease

 Parkinson's disease is a nervous system disorder in which movement gets affected. Symptoms emerge slowly, sometimes beginning with a hardly noticeable shaking in one hand. Tremors occur commonly, but in this disorder stiffness or slowing of movement happens, too.

In the initial stages of Parkinson's disease, the patient's face might show slight or no expressions at all. The arms might not swing while walking. The way a person talks might become slurred and soft. Parkinson's disease symptoms get worse as the condition advances over the course of time.

Although Parkinson's disease can not be completely cured, medicines can make its symptoms significantly better. Infrequently, the doctor may suggest an operation to regulate specific areas of the patient's brain to alleviate their symptoms.

Symptoms

Symptoms of Parkinson's disease can be distinctive for every patient. Early symptoms can be quite mild and even unnoticeable. Symptoms usually occur on one side of the body and generally stay worse on that side, even if both sides get affected.

Parkinson's signs may include:

●      Tremor: Shaking or tremors, usually start in one limb (hand or fingers). The hand might also tremble when it's still.

●      Decreased movement (bradykinesia): With time, Parkinson's disease might make the body movements slow, and simple tasks can become difficult and time-consuming. Steps become shorter too as the patient walks. It might become challenging for the person to get up from a chair. The patients might also have to drag their feet as they try to walk.

●      Rigid muscles: Stiffness of muscle might occur in any area of your body. These stiff muscles can cause pain and result in a limited range of motion.

●      Impaired posture and balance: The posture of a person with Parkinson's might become crouched, or they may experience problems with the balance due to Parkinson's disease.

●      Loss of involuntary movements: The capability to perform unconscious movements becomes decreased, these can include smiling, blinking, or swinging of arms while walking.

●      Speech changes: The speech might become soft, quick, or slurred. Also, the person can sound more monotoned instead of having the usual accents. 

Treatment with LDN

LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) due to its safety profile is used as an off-label prescription medication that has earned a big deal of consideration over some time. It produces remarkable disease-modifying influences of managing and modifying symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. In an open-label, small trial, Low Dose Naltrexone therapy was tolerated well by the patients and was associated with similar reductions in fatigue as compared to past benchmarks. These marked declines in exhaustion were unlikely to be an effect of any observed improvements to motor activity because UPDRS scores somewhat got worse throughout the 8 months, during which the trial was conducted.