Hi: I have also to agree that levodopa is not the cure for PD. It is neither considered therapy. It simply gives temporary symptomatic relief for a few years and it also has its own problems such as inducing dyskenesia. The literature is full of the causes of dyskenesia. For this reason, I avoided sinemet when it was prescribed for me four years ago. I took the controversial route of ayurvedic medicine and after two years on ayurvedic medication, I am happy to say, I have not developed distonia or dyskenesia and I am still enjoying reasonable level of postural stability and have virtually no bradykinesia. I am still able to walk 2km a day. I am able to work in my computer for 6-8 hrs / day, albeit with some difficulty. I am not sure if I will recover completely from the symptoms of PD. But, I do not believe that it is impossible, given the report a couple of months ago , that in some studies people in placebo showed remarkable recovery, comparable to the people that were on the drug. Raj ************* ----- Original Message ----- From: w g <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 11:14 PM Subject: levodopa: the standard against which all is judged??? > hi wendy, > > i am new to the list and haven't seen your previous > posts - it is good to know i am not the only one > disturbed by this. > > levodopa being held up as the standard against which > other therapies (at least the brain surgery therapies) > are judged is troubling to me because it means that if > something almost measures up, but not quite, the study > may be deemed a failure, the therapy may be dropped, > and levodopa and dyskinesia remain the *best* therapy, > rather than another option that *doesn't cause > dyskinesia* being made available. > > does anyone know whether, in clinical trials, > participant satisfaction is taken into account in the > judging of the success/failure of the trial, and if > so, to what degree? > > mackenzie > > > --- Wendy Siegel <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > That is the point I was trying to make. Thanks for > > putting it so > > clearly! > > > > Wendy > > > > -----Original Message----- > > What I would like to know is, given that there is a > > 30% chance of > > developing dyskinesia after two years of levodopa > > therapy, and a 50% > > chance after five years of levodopa therapy, is > > anyone else disturbed by > > levodopa being held up as the "best" treatment for > > PD, the treatment > > that must be surpassed (by therapies requiring brain > > surgery, at least) > > in order for them to be considered successful? > > > > If you were given a choice between 5 years of > > levodopa-level symptom > > relief with a 50% chance of having developed > > dyskinesias by the end of > > that period, and 5 years and maybe more of somewhat > > less than > > levodopa-level symptom relief, with the risks of > > brain surgery but > > *without* the risk of dyskinesias, which would you > > choose? > > > > free storage! > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > > mailto:[log in to unmask] > > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Y! Messenger - Communicate in real time. Download now. > http://messenger.yahoo.com > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn