Parlodel contains the active ingredient bromocriptine mesilate, which is
a type of medicine called a dopamine agonist. It works by stimulating
dopamine receptors in the brain. This can have several results, hence the
medicine has several different uses.
Bromocriptine is mainly used to treat disorders that result from high levels
of the hormone prolactin in the blood. Prolactin is produced by the
pituitary gland in the brain. Bromocriptine decreases the production of
prolactin from the pituitary by stimulating dopamine receptors.
A high prolactin level is associated with several conditions.
Over-production of this hormone can cause abnormal production of breast milk
in both men and women (galactorrhoea), as well as suppression of the sexual
glands (hypogonadism), which can result in infertility. High prolactin
levels are also associated with some breast and menstrual disorders.
Reducing prolactin levels with bromocriptine can therefore improve these
conditions.
Bromocriptine is also sometimes used to prevent or stop milk production for
medical reasons following childbirth, miscarriage or abortion. Prolactin is
the hormone that stimulates the production of breast milk, hence decreasing
the production of prolactin with bromocriptine stops milk production.
A further use of bromocriptine is to reduce prolactin production from a type
of tumour of the pituitary gland, called a prolactinoma.
Bromocriptine's action on dopamine receptors also decreases the production
of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. This is useful for treating
conditions where growth hormone is overproduced, such as acromegaly.
Lastly bromocriptine can be used to treat Parkinson's disease. The
neurotransmitter dopamine is known to be reduced or absent in the brains of
people with Parkinson's disease, and this is thought to be the cause of the
disease symptoms. Stimulating dopamine receptors with bromocriptine is
similar to replacing the dopamine in the brain, and this reduces some of the
symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
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