What medications are used to treat PSP?
Several medications, all available only by prescription, can help PSP in some cases. Sinemet. This is the brand name for a combination of “levodopa” and “carbidopa.” Levodopa is the component that helps the disease symptoms. Carbidopa simply helps prevent the nausea that levodopa alone can cause. When levodopa came along in the late 1960’s, it was a revolutionary advance for Parkinson’s but, unfortunately, it is of only modest benefit in PSP. It can help the slowness, stiffness and balance problems of PSP to a degree, but usually not the mental, speech, visual or swallowing difficulties. It usually loses its benefit after two or three years, but a few patients with PSP never fully lose their responsiveness to Sinemet. Some patients with PSP require large dosages, up to 1,500 milligrams of levodopa as Sinemet per day, to see an improvement, so the dosage should be pushed to at least that level, under the close supervision of a physician, unless a benefit or intolerable side effects occu
