If a patient has symptoms consistent with Parkinson’s disease, and the diagnosis is confirmed during a consultation with a neurologist, and treatment with appropriate doses of suitable anti-Parkinson’s medication is started, one can expect the symptoms to improve significantly. This improvement should last for many years – the aim for complication-free treatment is 7–10 years. The beneficial effects of the medication can be expected to continue beyond this, but as a patient, one needs to be prepared to accept a compromise regarding the proportion of the day characterised by Parkinson’s symptoms and the proportion that is symptom-free.
/Håkan Widner