Treatments are approved for Parkinson's and are included in the health basket

Accessible to all Parkinson's sufferers in Israel and their families to increase public awareness of eligibility for treatments within the framework of the state health law - the "health basket"

Courtesy of the Ministry of Health

According to the hypothesis of dopamine-acetylcholine balance, there are two chemical messengers in the brain: Dopamine and Acetylcholine that work in balance to transmit messages between nerve cells and between muscles. These messages allow us to perform a variety of coordinated movements.

In Parkinson's patients, this balance is disturbed due to the loss of some of the dopamine-producing cells. The result is manifested in muscle stiffness, slowness of movement, difficulty in starting movements, a tendency to make smaller movements and in some patients tremors. 

The main goal of drug treatment in Parkinson's disease is to restore the balance between dopamine and acetylcholine. This can be achieved by increasing the level of dopamine reaching the brain, stimulating the parts of the brain where dopamine works, or by blocking the action of acetylcholine.

In this document you will find the details of the medicines and treatments that are in the health basket according to the following division:

1. Oral treatment (in pills)

2. Advanced treatments

3. Non-pharmacological treatments