Parkinson's Disease CME

Hardware and Software Specifications Needed to View

This course requires Windows Operating Systems (95/98, NT, 2000, ME, XP), version 5.5 browsers or higher from Microsoft or Netscape.

Certain activities may require additional software to view multimedia, presentation, or printable versions of their content. These activities will be marked as such and will provide links to the required software. That software may be: Macromedia Flash, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft PowerPoint, Windows Media Player, and Real Networks Real One Player.

CME Information

Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of the Elsevier Office of Continuing Medical Education (EOCME) MedThink Communications, Inc. The EOCME is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians.

CME Credit Statement

The EOCME designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Faculty Disclosures

As a sponsor accredited by the ACCME, it is the policy of the EOCME to require the disclosure of anyone who is in a position to control the content of an educational activity. All relevant financial relationships with any commercial interests and/or manufacturers must be disclosed to participants at the beginning of each activity.

The faculty of this CME activity disclose the following:
Richard Dewey discloses that he receives grant/research support from NIH; is a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline and Teva Neuroscience; and serves on the speaker's bureaus for GlaxoSmithKline, Teva Neuroscience, Verhalis, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Norvartis, and BI.

Ron Miller, PhD, the educational reviewer, has nothing to disclose.

Resolution of Conflict of Interest (COI)

The Elsevier Office of CME has implemented a process to resolve COI for each CME activity. In order to help ensure content objectivity, independence, fair balance, and that the content is aligned with the interest of the public, the EOCME has resolved the conflict by External Content Review.

Financial Support

EOCME and MedThink Communications, Inc. gratefully acknowledge the educational grant provided by Teva Neuroscience.

Intended Audience

This activity is intended for neurologists involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Program Goal

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive, neurologic disorder with an estimated prevalence of 4.1 million worldwide and 340,000 in the United States in individuals >50 years of age. Early diagnosis of PD and treatment with disease-modifying therapies may provide improved long-term patient outcomes by potentially slowing the progression of PD. Overall, effective management of the motor and nonmotor symptoms of PD through an individualized, patient-focused perspective is crucial to minimize disability, improve health-related quality of life, and achieve therapeutic success. The objective of this program is to provide healthcare providers with information necessary to develop and implement a routine comprehensive assessment of patient needs and to facilitate the development of an appropriate individualized treatment strategy for patients with PD.

Educational Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to

• Compare symptom-based staging systems (eg, UPDRS, Hoehn and Yahr score) that describe PD severity and response to treatment
• Describe the importance of improving patient quality of life (QOL) and what treatment goals are reflected by use of PD QOL instruments but not by standard symptom-based criteria
• Explain the complications related to dopamine replacement therapy (eg, motor fluctuations, dyskinesia) and why therapies that manage these complications or delay the need for dopamine replacement affect overall treatment success
• Recognize that therapies that modify PD progression (eg, neuroprotective and neurorestorative agents) instead of merely controlling symptoms stand to improve long-term outcomes and contribute to treatment success

Unapproved/Off-Label Use Disclosure

The EOCME requires CME faculty to disclose to the participants

1. When products or procedures being discussed are off-label, unlabeled, experimental, and/or investigational (not US Food and Drug Administration [FDA] approved); and
2. Any limitations on the information that is presented, such as data that are preliminary or that represent ongoing research, interim analyses, and/or unsupported opinion.

Faculty may discuss information about pharmaceutical agents that is outside of FDA-approved labeling. This information is intended solely for continuing medical education and is not intended to promote off-label use of these medications. If you have questions, contact the medical affairs department of the manufacturer for the most recent prescribing information.

Special Needs

We encourage participation by all individuals. If you have any special needs please send an e-mail to info@parkinsonsdiseasecme.com for assistance.