PD symptoms, but not pd can be caused by drugs.The PD symptoms are reversible upon stopping the drug. In contrast PD is an irreversible disease. Occasionally, a person with unrecognized PD is "unmasked" by the drug: the peron's PD would have appeared, eventually, but it sppeared sooner because of the drug. Drugs known to cause PD sumptoms include Haldol, Prolixin, Stellazine, and Thorazine. Drugs also known to cause PD symptoms include Orap, Risperidal, and Zyprexa, Coompazine and Reglan. All of the drugs have in common an ability to block fully or partly dopamine receptors in the brain.

Drugs known to cause PD symptoms also include reserpine and tetrabenazine by depleting the brain of dopamine.

The incidence of PD symptoms in people taking these drugs varies from 15-60%

One drug which causes permanent PD symptoms is a narcotic-like substance is MPTP. MPTP has served as an excellent means of causing PD in animals. It has provided us with insights into how PD may start and progress. And it has helped in the development of new drugs for PD.

Bruce