About this Research Topic

Background

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease induced by dopaminergic neuronal death in the midbrain with genetic and environmental factors. Depletion of dopamine neurons leads to motor symptoms like tremor, rigidity, akinesia, and non-motor symptoms including sleep dysfunction, mental disorder and constipation. Excluding the unexpected appearance of further adverse events, dopamine supplements such as levodopa are suggested as standard treatment for most PD patients, and subthalamic electrical stimulation or transplantation of dopaminergic neuronal stem cells are also suggested.

Recent studies have shown that Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), such as herbs, tuina, and acupuncture, is reported as a safe treatment method for PD. In the past years, research has shown that not only does CAM improve behavioral symptoms of PD, but also causes molecular changes in a pathological mechanism associated with PD. Moreover, CAM has displayed synergistic effects when combined with conventional drugs, enhancing its potential role as an alternative therapy. However, current findings regarding such research efforts researches have yet to be organized with any overall resulting insight.

The current Research Topic focuses on the effect of CAM in the treatment of PD and its underlying mechanisms. Our main goal is to explore effective CAM treatment for PD patients, through an understanding of its molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, we aim to find potential roles for CAM treatment as an alternative therapy, one that can be possibly combined with conventional methods to treat PD. In this context, we welcome original research, reviews and mini-review articles based on the following topics:
• Basic science research about the neuroprotective effect or behavioral improvement through herbal medicine/acupuncture on Parkinsonian animal models.
• Clinical research about the effects of herbal medicine/acupuncture on Parkinsonian patients.
• Research about effects of tuina, meditation, or other CAM-related therapy for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
• Research about the synergistic effects of CAM with conventional methods, and its underlying mechanisms with respect to Parkinson’s disease

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, experimental model, clinical research, molecular mechanism

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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