What is it about?
Movement disorder management and therapy are rapidly evolving, owing to an ever-deeper understanding of disease biology and the discovery of new tools for diagnosis and treatment. With this narrative review, we aim to explore emerging therapeutic approaches for movement disorders, with a focus on Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement-related pathological conditions, including Huntington’s disease (HD), essential tremor (ET), and dystonia. This review encompasses preclinical research and human trials, providing a comprehensive overview of the current landscape. Several promising therapeutic strategies have emerged, particularly in the realm of precision medicine for PD associated with GBA and LRRK2 gene mutations. Additionally, innovative immunotherapies and drugs targeting misfolded α-synuclein are under investigation. These approaches have the potential to influence disease progression and improve patient outcomes. The landscape of pharmacological treatments for movement disorders is both complex and diverse, with substantial progress made over the years. While current treatments effectively manage motor symptoms, they fall short of providing a definitive cure and are limited by nonmotor symptoms and potential side effects. Novel techniques, such as gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and infusion therapies, offer promising avenues for future research.
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Why is it important?
In this narrative review, we aimed to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of therapeutic approaches for movement disorders, focusing on Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia. These disorders significantly impact quality of life, and current treatments often fall short in addressing non-motor symptoms or halting disease progression. By consolidating both established therapies and emerging interventions, we sought to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and clinical practice. Our review serves as a valuable resource for clinicians and researchers seeking a deeper understanding of the evolving treatment landscape and highlights the urgent need for more effective, patient-centered therapies.
Perspectives
What sets our review apart is our emphasis on precision medicine and individualized care. We integrated both clinical and preclinical evidence, covering innovative modalities such as gene therapy, stem cell treatments, neurotrophic factor delivery, and RNA-targeted approaches. Additionally, we addressed real-world challenges like regulatory barriers, ethical considerations, and cost-effectiveness, which are often overlooked in similar literature. Our international, multidisciplinary authorship also allowed us to bring diverse perspectives, making the review relevant to both high-resource and low-resource healthcare settings. Collectively, these elements position our work as a forward-thinking, globally relevant contribution to the field of movement disorder therapeutics.
Hashim Mohamed Siraj
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Therapeutic Approaches in Movement Disorders: A Narrative Review, Brain Science Advances, April 2025, Tsinghua University Press,
DOI: 10.26599/bsa.2024.9050026.
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