For Patients & Families > Specific Diseases > Movement Disorders > Parkinson's Disease > Dopamine: The Root of the Problem
Dopamine: The Root of the Problem
The devastating motor symptoms of Parkinson’s can be traced to the progressive loss of a discrete
group of nerve cells deep in the brain. These cells normally produce dopamine, a chemical that is critical
for cell-to-cell communication in the brain. As dopamine cells degenerate and die, the brain’s stores
of dopamine dwindle, a process that may begin years before symptoms are apparent. In most cases, by
the time Parkinson’s is diagnosed, the vast majority of dopamine cells have been destroyed.
A central goal of Parkinson’s treatment is to restore dopamine. The mainstay of current drug therapy
is levodopa (also called L-dopa), which is converted to dopamine by the body. Other medications
may be combined with levodopa to prolong or enhance its effectiveness. Surgical procedures aimed
at the brain circuits underlying dopamine processing are sometimes used in people who no longer
respond to drug therapy.
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