After seeking care for tremors that have become increasingly severe in recent months, a 71-year-old man has been diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease and will soon begin treatment with carbidopa-levodopa. Which statement indicates that the patient has an accurate understanding of the new medication?
The statement which indicates that the patient has an accurate understanding of the new medication is; I have read that carbidopa-levodopa is quite short-acting so I will have to take it several times a day.
Explanation:
The half-life of both carbidopa-levodopa medication is approximately 2 hours with duration of action of a dose of 5 hours. This means that patients must take it more than once daily.
In addition, carbidopa-levodopa does not change the course of the Parkinson's disease and prescribed doses are not usually based on the short-term severity of symptoms. Hence, the patient's medications history must be evaluated.
"I've read that carbidopa-levodopa is quite short-acting so I'll have to take it several times a day."
Explanation:
Parkinson's disease is a neurologic disorder that causes tremors, stiffness at the limbs and slow movements. It usually occurs in older individuals. It genetic factors and environmental factors. The disease can't be cured but can be managed with certain medication such as
carbidopa-levodopa.
Levodopa changes into dopamine in the brain, helping to control movement. Carbidopa prevents the breakdown of levodopa in the bloodstream so more levodopa can enter the brain. Carbidopa can also reduce some of levodopa's side effects such as nausea and vomiting. The duration of action of both drugs is short and therefore it should be taken times a day. Therefore the above statement shows that the patient has an accurate understanding of the new medication.
An insulinoma is a benign tumor formed by the pancreas cells that secret insulin. As there are a lot of these cells, there is a lot of insulin, which makes the glucose levels in the blood decrease, causing weakness. If this is the case, I would be expecting to find low levels of glucose in the blood (hypoglycemia) in the laboratory results.
