Sinemet
Carbidopa and levodopaDrag to rotate. Scroll or pinch to zoom.
Pairs levodopa, which turns into dopamine once it reaches the brain, with carbidopa, which protects levodopa from being used up elsewhere in the body first — letting a smaller dose work better with fewer side effects.
How it works
Sinemet pairs two drugs as a team. Levodopa is the actual Parkinson's medicine — it turns into dopamine once it reaches the brain, replacing what the disease has depleted. Carbidopa doesn't treat Parkinson's itself; it protects levodopa from being used up elsewhere in the body first, so a smaller dose works better with fewer side effects.
What it’s used for
Sinemet treats Parkinson's disease and a few rarer conditions with similar movement symptoms, including some caused by past carbon monoxide or manganese poisoning.
- Mechanism
- Peripheral AADC inhibitor + dopamine precursor (fixed-dose combination)
- Drug class
- Fixed-dose combination
- Therapeutic area
- Neurology