The drug, Ambroxol - which comes in both pill and syrup form - is already used to ease coughing by clearing away mucus in the lungs of patients with respiratory diseases.
A clinical trial is beginning in the UK, testing whether a common cough medicine can be used to treat Parkinson's. Early studies indicate the 50-year-old drug can cross into the brain and help clear out the toxic proteins known to cause the disease.
Ambroxol, a common medicine used to treat respiratory illnesses shows promise as a treatment to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. Researchers report ambroxol increases the level of GCase, a protein that allows cells to remove waste proteins including alpha synuclein.