Welcome to Touch Neurology Advanced Parkinson’s Disease – a website that is focused on collating and disseminating knowledge on the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease (PD).

PD is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder that results from a deficiency of dopamine in the brain. The advanced stage of PD is not precisely defined; however, symptoms of advanced disease include problems with memory and balance, stiff facial muscles, involuntary movements, and slow or slurred speech. Essentially, advanced-stage Parkinson’s is associated with the sufferer’s symptoms becoming progressively worse and their condition deteriorating markedly.

The medical management of advanced Parkinson’s is often complex and fraught with difficulties; patients in the later stages often have a poorer response to medication, meaning that higher individual doses/more frequent dosing is often required. The treatments either do not work as well, or they may only be efficacious for a limited period, making the addition of other medications often necessary.

With advancing disease, as the number of medications is increased in an attempt to maintain symptom control, side effects become increasingly problematic. It becomes ever more challenging to achieve a medication regimen that keeps the patient mobile while at the same time does not create side effects that outweigh the benefits of treatment.

This website serves as a valuable resource for physicians treating patients with advanced PD, providing information, highlighting the latest research, collating the views of thought leaders, and listing forthcoming congresses in the field. This site serves to augment knowledge within the medical community of this complex stage of PD and thus help guide clinical decision making.

As information resource for the scientific community, we are always looking for ways to improve our site. If you have any suggestions for additional content, please contact mary.read@touchbriefings.com, jenny.charlton@touchbriefings.com . We welcome your input.