The history of drugs for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

In 1817, the English physician, James Parkinson, described the classical symptoms of a disease that was characterized by tremor, rigidity and akinesia. In 1861, the first autopsy of a patient with Parkinson's disease was carried out. Although Ordenstein, a pupil of Charcot, introduced treatment with belladonna in 1867, this later fell into disuse. In 1875, Brissaud determined that the lesion responsible for Parkinson's disease must be locatec the subthalamic regions of the brain. He was also the first to discuss arteriosclerosis-induced forms of Parkinson's disease. In 1919 Tretiakoff discovered cellular damage in the substantia nigra of patients with the encephalitic form of Parkinson's disease. In the 1920s, C. and O. Vogt discovered the basic histological conditions underlying the function of the corpus striatum; later Hassler significantly expanded and completed this work. The following chronology of dates and events is aimed at creating an understanding of the historical aspects of this diseases and consists of milestones in the development of antiparkinsonian treatment.