In some patients the slowness, stiffness, and balance problems of PSP may respond to antiparkinsonian agents such as levodopa, or levodopa combined with anticholinergic agents, but the effect is usually temporary. The speech, vision, and swallowing difficulties usually do not respond to any drug treatment. Another group of drugs that has been of some modest success in PSP are antidepressant medications. The anti-PSP benefit of these drugs seems not to be related to their ability to relieve depression. Non-drug treatment for PSP can take many forms.
Patients frequently use weighted walking aids because of their tendency to fall backward.
Bifocals or special glasses called prisms are sometimes prescribed for PSP patients to remedy the difficulty of looking down. Formal physical therapy is of no proven benefit in PSP, but certain exercises can be done to keep the joints limber. A surgical procedure that may be necessary when there are swallowing disturbances is a gastrostomy. Experiments to find the cause or causes of PSP are currently under way. In addition, there is a great deal of ongoing research on Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases at the National Institutes of Health and at university medical centers throughout the country.