A patient has been given a prescription for levodopa-carbidopa for a new diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. The patient asks the nurse, “Why are there two drugs in this pill?” The nurse’s best response reflects which fact?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A.
Carbidopa prevents the breakdown of levodopa in the periphery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
B.
Carbidopa is the biologic precursor of dopamine and can penetrate into the central nervous system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
C.
Carbidopa allows for larger doses of levodopa to be given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
D.
There are concerns about drug-food interactions with levodopa therapy that do not exist with the combination therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The correct answer and Explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n The correct answer is A. Carbidopa prevents the breakdown of levodopa in the periphery.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Explanation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Levodopa is a precursor to dopamine and is commonly used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease to alleviate motor symptoms by replenishing dopamine levels in the brain. However, when levodopa is administered alone, a significant portion of it is converted to dopamine in the peripheral tissues (outside the brain) before it can reach the central nervous system (CNS). This peripheral conversion not only reduces the amount of levodopa available for uptake in the brain but also leads to unwanted side effects, such as nausea and vomiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carbidopa is included in the combination therapy with levodopa to inhibit the enzyme aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AAAD), which is responsible for converting levodopa to dopamine in the periphery. By inhibiting this enzyme, carbidopa ensures that more levodopa can cross the blood-brain barrier, allowing for more effective treatment of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. This also means that a lower dose of levodopa can be used, reducing the risk of side effects associated with peripheral dopamine production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In summary, the combination of levodopa and carbidopa improves the efficacy of treatment by maximizing the amount of levodopa that reaches the brain while minimizing side effects associated with peripheral dopamine production. This therapeutic strategy enhances the overall management of Parkinson’s disease, making it an essential component of the treatment regimen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A patient has been given a prescription for levodopa-carbidopa for a new diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. The patient asks the nurse, “Why are there two drugs in this pill?” The nurse’s best response reflects which fact? A.Carbidopa prevents the breakdown of levodopa in the periphery. B.Carbidopa is the biologic precursor of dopamine and can penetrate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}