EVALUATING INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS AS A THERAPEUTIC ALTERNATIVE TO LEVODOPA IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Levodopa, which is a drug commonly used to suppress the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, a neurological disorder that affects the neurons of patients, has been responsible for the involuntary movement of patients taking levodopa as therapy. Levodopa-induced dyskinesia, which is a side effect of the medication, causes patients to experience similar symptoms of the disease that involve movement, such as tremors and shaking, except these symptoms are not caused by the death of neurons in the nervous system of the patient after using levodopa for a long period of time. Since it has been proven that Parkinson’s disease patients who use levodopa for years are at higher risk of experiencing involuntary movement due to the medication instead of the disease, new treatment methods with fewer side effects should be used. Induced pluripotent stem cells, which are the first stage of most cells of the human body, can be used as an alternate method of not only suppressing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, but also curing the disease as well. These stem cells, when safely differentiated to have the function of neurons, can replace any damaged or dead neurons in a patient and function as well as neurons that are not affected by Parkinson’s disease, eliminating the need to use therapies that have side effects.