Low doses of an anti-schizophrenia drug can relieve psychotic symptoms in patients with Parkinson's without worsening the tremors or other physical signs of the disease, a study found.
More than 1 million Americans have Parkinson's, a neurological disorder that causes progressive rigidity, tremors and difficulty moving. There is no cure, but drugs can slow the progress of the disease and ease symptoms.However, up to one-fifth of Parkinson's sufferers develop hallucinations, delusions and other psychotic symptoms from the drugs used to treat the disease. And most anti-psychotic drugs just make the tremors and jerky movements worse.
Until recently, doctors had few options, and drug-induced psychosis is the chief reason Parkinson's patients are put in nursing homes.
However, a study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine found that the anti-psychotic drug clozapine decreased the psychotic symptoms and the tremors and did not worsen the other symptoms of Parkinson's.