Pharmacotherapy of Parkinson's disease. Aspects of drug safety

This overview focuses on the aspects of the pharmacotherapy of Parkinson's disease, which is one of the most common disorders of the nervous system. This article presents the complexity of the pharmacotherapy of geriatric patients with neurological diseases. Information about the potential risk factors and aspects of drug safety in the pharmacotherapy of Parkinson's disease. Selective literature search using PubMed and the scientific-clinical experience of the authors. Patients with Parkinson's disease are usually geriatric patients with concomitant diseases. As a result they are often treated with comedication which leads to a complex medication regime with more than five drugs. Such polypharmacy increases the risk of adverse drug events due to the rising number of possible interactions and contraindications. To control this risk and maintain a safe therapy, certain measures should be considered. This implies additional need for educational work in order to create awareness regarding potential adverse drug events. In certain cases of diagnosed comorbidities or relevant drug prescriptions in the medication regime, follow-up examinations should be conducted. Specific parameters of Parkinson's disease, the health-related quality of life of affected patients and the quality of pharmacotherapeutic drug safety can be improved by targeted monitoring of the medication regime. As a result, the overall drug safety can be increased.