The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted approval for Nuplazid (pimavanserin) tablets, which are the first treatment for the hallucinations and delusions that accompany the psychosis that some Parkinson’s patients experience.
This is a significant step forward for Parkinson’s patients. There are approximately 50,000 U.S. citizens who receive Parkinson’s disease diagnoses every year. An estimated one million U.S. citizens have Parkinson’s.
Parkinson’s is a neurological disorder that patients usually develop when they are over 60 years old. This happens when the brain cells that manufacture dopamine die or grow defective. Without dopamine, patients can no longer perform purposeful movements like writing, eating and shaving. Gradually, the disease causes shaking, tremors, hallucinations, delusions and difficulties with chewing, swallowing and speaking.
Hallucinations and delusions from Parkinson’s are major symptoms of the disease. These can lead to the patients feeling and thinking in such impaired ways that the patients won’t care for their own needs or relate to their loved ones.
Approximately 50 percent of Parkinson’s patients experience hallucinations or delusions during their illness. This means that Parkinson’s patients can see or hear things that don’t exist, which are hallucinations, or adopt false beliefs, which are delusions.
“Hallucinations and delusions can be profoundly disturbing and disabling,” Dr. Mitchell Mathis, director of the Division of Psychiatry Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said. “Nuplazid represents an important treatment for people with Parkinson’s disease who experience these symptoms.”
