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Deprenyl Delays Onset of Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Jul 09 - In patients with Parkinson's disease, freezing of gait (FOG) is distinct from bradykinesia, according to a report in the June 26th issue of Neurology. Moreover, deprenyl treatment appears to delay the onset of FOG. Dr. Stanley Fahn of the Neurological Institute in New York and colleagues with The Parkinson Study Group prospectively studied data on 800 patients with early Parkinson's disease enrolled in the Deprenyl and Tocopherol Antioxidative Therapy of Parkinsonism clinical trial. The patients had been randomly assigned to receive placebo, deprenyl, tocopherol, or a combination of deprenyl and tocopherol. "The primary outcome measure was the time from randomization until the freezing of gait score on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) became positive," they explain. Fifty-seven patients (7.1%) had FOG at study entry. Of the remaining patients, 193 (26%) developed the symptom by the end of the followup period. Patients with baseline FOG had significantly more advanced disease than patients without the symptom at study entry. "High baseline risk factors for developing freezing of gait during the followup period were the onset of Parkinson's disease with a gait disorder; higher scores of rigidity, postural instability, bradykinesia and speech; and longer disease duration," the team says. They note, however, that tremor as an initial symptom was strongly associated with a decreased risk of developing FOG. The symptoms more strongly associated with FOG at the end of followup included gait, balance and speech disorders. Rigidity and bradykinesia were not associated with the freezing phenomenon. The investigators report that treatment with deprenyl reduced the risk of developing FOG by 53%, but that treatment with tocopherol had no effect. "Because the presence of [a gait disturbance as] an initial symptom is a strong risk factor for the development of FOG, we suggest that this type of patient will benefit by being placed on deprenyl after the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is made," Dr. Fahn and colleagues conclude. Neurology 2001;56:1712-1721. SOURCE: Reuters http://neurology.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2001/07/07.10/20010709clin002.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn