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Glossary
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
Routine activities of everyday life that people tend to
do on a daily basis without needing assistance. There
are six basic ADLs: eating, bathing, dressing, toileting,
transferring (walking) and continence. An individual’s
ability to perform ADLs is important for determining
what type of long-term care (e.g. nursing home care
or home care) and coverage the individual needs
(i.e. government-funded health care or long-term care
insurance).
Adjunctive treatment
A drug added as a supplement to increase the efficacy/
decrease side effects/change the pharmacokinetics
(PK) of another already prescribed treatment, e.g.
(i) improve efficacy of a first-line therapy, e.g. adding
a dopamine agonist to patients on levodopa,
(ii) improve the toler ability and safety of the first-line
therapy, e.g. use of anticholinergics to patients on
neuroleptics, and (iii) improve the PK/brain availability
of the first-line therapy, e.g. COMT-inhibitors
administered to patients on levodopa.
Agonist
An endogeneous or exogeneous agent that mimics the
action of hormones and/or neurotransmitters
on their receptors to enhance the response. For
example, dopamine agonists stimulate specific brain
dopamine receptors to obtain motor response.
Allodynia
Pain from mechanical or thermal stimuli which are
not normally painful. Allodynia is not referred pain
and can occur in other areas that are not stimulated.
Alpha-aminoamide derivative
The chemical class to which both safinamide and
ralfin amide belong. More specifically, it is an amide
derivative of an alphaamino acid.
Alzheimer’s disease
A progressive degenerative disease of the brain of
unknown etiology, characterized by diffuse atrophy
throughout the brain with characteristic pathological
changes suggestive of degeneration, and/or necrosis.
The disease is characterized by a progressive deterio r-
ation of memory, cognitive function and changes in
personality. Death usually occurs within 7 to 10 years
of the time of diagnosis in most patients.
Benzodiazepines
A class of drugs with hypnotic, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant,
amnestic and muscle-relaxant properties, which
are used for short-term relief of severe, disabling
anxiety, insomnia, and muscle relaxation for surgical
procedures.
Cannabinoid
A group of chemicals which activate the body’s
cannabinoid receptors. Currently, there are three
general types of cannabinoids: (i) herbal cannabinoids
occur uniquely in the cannabis plant, (ii) endogenous
cannabinoids are produced in the bodies of humans
and other animals, and (iii) synthetic cannabinoids are
similar compounds produced in a laboratory.
Central Nervous System (CNS)
The nerves and cells of the brain and spinal cord.
Chemical scaffold
Chemical structure subunit shared by the molecules
of a given chemical class.
Clinical Global Impression Scale
A scale which provides an overall assessment of the
global severity of illness, and change in the clinical
condition of the patients compared with pretreatment
status.
Daily motor fluctuations
(the “ON/OFF” effect)
An unpredictable succession of “OFF” periods when
patients experience full disability and “ON” periods
when the drug being administered is successfully
alle viating the patient’s symptoms.
70 Newron Annual Report 2011