Description: Segment 1 Dr Ian Gilliland introduces Dr Donald Calne. Calne speaks to camera and outlines what is to come in the two parts of the lecture. He refers to examples from popular culture which show the way that neuropsychological medications are viewed. He then runs through a detailed history of previous medications used to treat Parkinsonism, their successes and failures. Time start: 00:00:00:00 Time end: 00:05:07:15 Length: 00:05:07:15 Segment 2 Calne continues to look historically at previous treatments of Parkinson's disease, focusing first on stereotactic surgery and showing a table of statistics for follow-up studies on patients who underwent this surgery. Calne now begins to discuss the discovery of levodopa. In a series of tables he compares the effects of dopamine and dopa on the neurological pathways, listing in detail the effects of each. Time start: 00:05:07:15 Time end: 00:09:56:00 Length: 00:04:48:10 Segment 3 Calne looks back to the 1950s when dopa was first discovered, detailing some of the laboratory experiments on it. He refers to microscope images of the neurological nerve cells of a rat to illustrate the ways in which dopa affects these cells. Time start: 00:09:56:00 Time end: 00:13:56:00 Length: 00:00:14:00 Segment 4 Calne describes how, in the 1950s, the drug Reserpine was found to induce Parkinsonism in hospitalised patients it was noted that Reserpine lowers the levels of dopamine in the brains of the patients. This led to the natural conclusion that a drug such as dopa might increase dopamine levels and reduce the symptoms of Parkinsonism. Levodopa relies upon a balance between acetylcholine and dopamine Calne refers to a table which compares the effects of both separately and together. Time start: 00:13:56:00 Time end: 00:20:40:00 Length: 00:06:44:00 Segment 6 Still referring to the therapeutic actions of levodopa on the patient, Calne shows a series of short films of patients with Parkinson's diseae. The patients are shown performing a number of activities such as standing, sitting, walking and writing both before taking levodopa and after. The differences are remarkable. Time start: 00:25:01:12 Time end: 00:30:21:20 Length: 00:05:20:08. Segment 7 Calne moves on to discuss the, sometimes serious, side effects of levodopa. These include nausea, involuntary movements, cardiac arrhythmias, confusion, hallucinations and hypotension. Calne discusses them all and, where possible, suggests a way out of them. Time start: 00:30:21:20 Time end: 00:35:39:10 Length: 00:05:17:15. Segment 8 Calne continues to discuss the side effects of taking levodopa, in particular those causing cardiovascular changes and changes in blood pressure. He explains how some of this can be due to the age of the patient as Parkinsonism usually occurs in the older age group. To illustrate the effects of levodopa on the cardiovascular system, he refers to a study in which eye drops of levodopa were given to a volunteer and the sympathomimetic response recorded. Time start: 00:35:39:10 Time end: 00:40:29:10 Length: 00:04:50:00. Segment 9 Calne shows ECG studies detailing changes in cardiac rhythm following administration of levodopa. He describes how it is important that the tremor of the patients' hands are taken into account when reading the ECG reports. Finally Calne discusses the side effects of increased mobility - underlying conditions such as arthritis may have been masked by the immobility caused by Parkinsonism, but will now come to light. Calne sums up and briefly discusses the topic of Part Two: the pharmacokinetics of levodopa and some other new forms of treatment for Parkinson's disease. Time start: 00:40:29:10 Time end: 00:43:42:05 Length: 00:03:12:20