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unripenedboyparts OP t1_j8iphkg wrote

Reply to comment by Current-Ad6521 in Why do dopamine reuptake inhibitors not treat Parkinson's disease? by unripenedboyparts

It's interesting that the two top comments are "it works" and "it doesn't work," but both are scientifically supported and don't really contradict each other.

I read a few reliable places that methylphenidate may protect neurons in cases of Parkinson's disease, along with some speculation that it might augment levodopa and help lower the dose. You can Google pretty much any hypothesis and find a study to support it.

Previously I'd assumed it was just unpopular because of issues like blood pressure problems and addiction. Then I learned about actual Parkinson's drugs and...holy crap. lol

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Miss_ChanandelerBong t1_j8j1wh8 wrote

Like most things in science, the devil is in the details, and most people just don't have the expertise to parse those details out. Or, in many cases, the details aren't yet fully known. That's why it seems like there are contradictions, but, in reality, it's just different nuances.

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Current-Ad6521 t1_j8kwtne wrote

I would guess that the reason for this is mostly because Parksinson's itself is not that well understood.

It makes sense to say "yes it might work" because we know for sure the drug does xxxx and Parkinson's might have xxxx disease path and therefore cause xxxx which means xxxx symptom of Parkinson's might be due to xxxx which does respond to the drug

On the other hand it makes sense to say "no it might not work" because even though we know the drug does xxxx, Parkinson's might have alternative xxxx disease path and cause xxxx which means xxxx symptom of Parkinson's might be due to alternative xxxx which doesn't respond to the drug

I say it might work because either of these situations might be true

The top comment about it being too late for the actual cells is true, damage brain cells and connections can't be fixed but the damage can be prevented. I'm speaking on the prevention and/or slowing of disease progression

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