this articlefrom WE-MOVE reflects my impression of this subject comparing UPDRS and SPECT are almost separate issues what is interesting is the lack of a control group a little late now, though the data can be gathered it would be necessary to give a placebo to another set of patients and maybe even a normal set of volunteers ray ------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Dopamine transporter brain imaging to assess the effects of pramipexole >vs. levodopa on Parkinson disease progression >Parkinson Study Group >JAMA. 2002;287:1653-1661 > >Initial treatment of PD with pramipexole slows nigral cell loss compared >to levodopa, according to this study. > >Patients in this study were a subset of the CALM-PD study, a double-blind >study comparing initial pramipexole to initial levodopa in the development >of motor complications. E-MOVE's report on this study is archived at >http://www.wemove.org/emove/article.asp?ID=223. > >Rate of dopaminergic cell loss was assessed longitudinally by >beta-CIT-SPECT imaging in 82 patients, 42 of whom initially received >levodopa, and 40 of whom initially received pramipexole. The mean >percentage loss of uptake in the two groups at each time point compared to >baseline was: > >22 months: pramipexole 7.1%, levodopa 13.5% (p=0.004) >34 months: pramipexole 10.9%, levodopa 19.6% (p=0.009) >46 months: pramipexole 16.0%, levodopa 25.5% (p=0.01) > >While worsening in UPDRS scores correlated with declining uptake for >patients grouped as a whole, no significant difference was found between >treatments at the 46-month evaluation (motor score increased 1.0 for >pramipexole, 2.1 for levodopa). The authors suggest that longer-term >follow-up will be required to assess any correlations between imaging and >clinical outcomes. > >The authors note, "Since this study compared 2 active medications without >a placebo group, these data cannot directly distinguish whether the >difference in the rate of loss of beta-CIT uptake in the treatment groups >results from a decrease due to pramipexole, an increase due to levodopa, >or both." However, they argue that preclinical and other evidence suggest >a protective effect of pramipexole is more likely. > >========================================================================== >Copyright 2002 WE MOVE >Editor: Richard Robinson ([log in to unmask]) > >Your E-MOVE news subscription is provided free of charge, courtesy of >WE MOVE. PRIVATE DONATIONS ARE NEEDED TO SUPPORT WE MOVE's VALUABLE, >FREE SERVICES LIKE THIS ELECTRONIC NEWS SERVICE. Donate online at >http://www.wemove.org, or send your tax-deductible contribution to WE >MOVE, 204 West 84th Street New York, NY 10024. TEL 800-437-MOV2 or 212- >875-8312. Thank you so much! > >This document may be freely redistributed by email only in its unedited >form. We encourage you to share it with your colleagues. Visit >http://www.wemove.org/emove for E-MOVE archives and information on >subscribing to E-MOVE. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to >[log in to unmask] with "unsubscribe e-move" in the message body. > >Patient subscribers: Information presented in the above article(s) >should not be interpreted as medical advice. Contact >your physician if you have questions about the information presented by >the E-MOVE news service or archives. It is not possible, nor >appropriate for WE MOVE to respond directly to questions regarding >medical management, including diagnosis and treatment. > >WE MOVE >204 West 84th Street >New York, NY 10024 >TEL 800-437-MOV2 >TEL 212-875-8312 >FAX 212-875-8389 > Ray Strand Prairie Sky Design -----------------( on the Edge of the Prairie Abyss )--------------- when the sky is clear the ground is visible 50/47dx PD/40? onset http://folding.stanford.edu join MSA TEAM CURE #2508 } ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn