The pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by tremors, muscle rigidity, and movement disorders, is complex and involves both endogenous genetic and environmental factors. To date, PD treatment in Western medicine has been based on surgical procedures and dopamine replacement therapy with levodopa. However, long-term use of levodopa preparations can result in diminished efficacy and adverse reactions such as motor complications, thus posing a medication dilemma and significantly affecting patients’ quality of life. In contrast, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment focuses on diagnosing and treating PD according to the mechanisms of wind, fire, phlegm, blood stasis, and deficiency. Moreover, TCM in clinical practice uses multi-target, multi-component formulas providing unique advantages in alleviating PD symptoms. However, achieving widespread use of TCM in PD treatment would require overcoming multiple barriers, including difficulties in understanding TCM theory from a modern medical perspective, insufficient research on the mechanisms underlying TCM’s efficacy, the weak evidence base for TCM and the dominance of Western medicine, and insufficient public and professional awareness. This review, considering the current state of PD treatment, and the similarities and differences between TCM and Western medicine, summarizes understanding of PD from ancient TCM theory to the application of modern TCM in PD treatment. This review is aimed at clarifying the advantages of combining TCM with Western medicine in PD treatment and providing insights into future treatment strategies for PD.
Huang et al. (2026) studied this question.