Guidance

This guideline covers diagnosing and managing Parkinson's disease in people aged 18 and over. It aims to improve care from the time of diagnosis, including monitoring and managing symptoms, providing information and support, and palliative care.

 MHRA advice on modafinil: In December 2020, we amended recommendations in line with the MHRA safety advice on modafinil. Women who are pregnant or who are planning a pregnancy should not take modafinil because it may increase the risk of congenital defects.

Last reviewed: 19 December 2024

We added links to relevant technology appraisal guidance in the sections on drooling of saliva and treating advanced Parkinson’s disease. This is to provide easy access to relevant guidance at the right point in the guideline only and is not a change in practice.  

This guideline updates and replaces NICE guideline CG35 (published June 2006) and evidence summaries ESUOM15, ES6 and ES9.

Next review: This guideline will be reviewed if there is new evidence that is likely to change the recommendations.

Recommendations

The guideline includes recommendations on:

Who is it for?

  • Healthcare professionals
  • Commissioners and providers
  • Adults with Parkinson's disease and their families and carers

Guideline development process

How we develop NICE guidelines

Your responsibility

The recommendations in this guideline represent the view of NICE, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their judgement, professionals and practitioners are expected to take this guideline fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory to apply the recommendations, and the guideline does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian.

All problems (adverse events) related to a medicine or medical device used for treatment or in a procedure should be reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency using the Yellow Card Scheme.

Local commissioners and providers of healthcare have a responsibility to enable the guideline to be applied when individual professionals and people using services wish to use it. They should do so in the context of local and national priorities for funding and developing services, and in light of their duties to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to reduce health inequalities. Nothing in this guideline should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with complying with those duties.

Commissioners and providers have a responsibility to promote an environmentally sustainable health and care system and should assess and reduce the environmental impact of implementing NICE recommendations wherever possible.