Therapeutic potential of Indian traditional medicines in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is second most common neurodegenerative disorder, which is a progressive motor disease that affects 10 million people worldwide and around 5.5 million Indian. The hallmark neuropathology in PD are damage to dopaminergic neurons located in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra (SN) that project to the striatum and alpha synuclein containing inclusion bodies in the surviving neurons, resulting in motor impairments, e.g., tremors, bradykinesia (slow movement), poor balance, rigidity and difficulty in walking, as well as non-motor impairments including constipation, autonomic, psychiatric as well as cognitive impairments. The only pharmacology therapy for PD is levodopa but chronic use of this medicine has many side effects. Hence, these impairments are pressing issues that need to be addressed. This review article attempts to describe the usage of Indian traditional medicines to treat PD. In India, the references to the curative properties of dietary spices in the Rigveda and Atharvaveda arguably seem to be the earliest records of the use of herbs in medicine.