ABSTRACT
Background: This fact-finding study aimed to attain an overall idea and knowledge about medicine disposal practices in Dhaka Metropolitan households. Methods: This mixed study (both quantitative and qualitative) was orchestrated to inspect the household leftover medicine disposal pattern's governing status. A cross-sectional survey was conducted following a structured questionnaire and key informant interview with a household person and in-depth interviews with the top pharmaceutical and government officials. Results: Findings disclose that, for most of the key informants, the terms "drug disposal" and "drug pollution" were unknown; more precisely, 67% and 74% of key informants even did not hear these two terms. Almost all (87%) households faced undesired incidents due to the insecure storage of medicines. People disposed of excess and expired medication in regular dustbins (47%), threw out of the window (19%), flushed within commode (4%), burnt in fire (2%), and reused (4%). A good percentage of people (21%) returned unexpired drugs to the pharmacy and bought other medicines on a need basis. A total of 72% wanted a medicine take-back program, and 100% agreed on mass education on this issue. Officials of pharmaceuticals conferred mixed opinion: top-ranked pharmaceuticals will adopt leftover medicine disposal practices; middle and low-ranked pharmaceutical companies are reluctant, merely denied mentioning the less important issue. Conclusions: The absence of mass awareness and standard laws and policies may explain these existing aberrant practices.
ABSTRACT
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that exerts a huge burden on our society. The occurrence of this neurodegenerative disease has been increasing day-by-day. PD can be a serious concern if the patients are left untreated. However, conventional treatment has many side-effects and less bioavailability in the brain. Therefore, the necessary measurement is required to solve the limitations of PD treatment. Nanotechnology has made a major contribution to comprehend PD pathogenesis. Nanotechnology can provide efficient therapies that have reduced side-effects and increased bioavailability in the brain. This review emphasizes the emerging promise of nanoparticle-based treatment, drug delivery, and other therapeutic approaches for PD. Besides, the advantages of different approaches on nanotechnology platforms are far better over conventional therapy in the treatment of PD.
