Herbal Moieties and its effect on Parkinsonism: A New Prospective

Parkinson’s disease is a brain disease that leads to stiffness, shaking, and problems with walking, balance of coordination, and brain injury. It occurs when nerve cells or neurons that produce an important brain channel known as dopamine and control the movements in an area of the brain is impaired and die. Parkinson’s symptoms usually begin gradually and get worse over times. Age is the one clear risk factor for this disease. A person with Parkinson’s disease may have clumps of proteins known as alpha synuclein or Lewy bodies in their brain. There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, the aim of medical management of Parkinson’s disease to restore the proper balance of dopaminergic and cholinergic activities in the brain in order to relieve symptoms. This review presents a brief overview of scientific basis that support the plant derived natural products and their constituents for the treatment of underlying neuronal degeneration observed in Parkinson’s disease. The neuroprotective effects exhibited by these medicinal plants and their constituents are considered to be due to their ability to modulate; glutathione, superoxide dismutase and catalase in the brain, which all are disrupted in the PD brain. Keywords: PD, Indian Herbs