Apomorphine for Parkinson's Disease. Issue 5 (1st October 2002)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lees, Andrew; Turner, Kirsten
• Is Part Of: Practical neurology. Volume 2:Issue 5(2002)
• Page Start: 280
• Page End: 287
• Publication Date: 2002-10-01
• Subjects: Neurology -- Periodicals; 616.8005
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1474-7766.2002.00086.x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1474-7758

Abstract

Abstract : A pomorphine was first used to treat behavioural vices in domesticated farm animals in the nineteenth century and is still used in veterinary medicine. It has had a chequered history in medical therapeutics, being successfully recommended as an emetic, a sedative, a treatment for narcotic and alcohol dependence and most recently for sexual dysfunction and impotence. It was first proposed as a treatment for movement disorders 150 years ago, but this indication was not pursued until the 1950s when Schwab in Boston confirmed its potential (Schwab et al . 1951). Following his demonstration that large doses of dopa improved Parkinson's disease, George Cotzias looked for other dopamine analogues that might have complementary effects and carried out a series of scrupulous and fascinating experiments with apomorphine (Cotzias et al . 1970). These indicated that the effects of the drug, when administered by subcutaneous injection, were potent but short-lived, and that vomiting and postural