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Parkinson's patients stomach new drug better than conventional meds HOUSTON -- (June 12, 2006) -- Several studies conducted at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston show that a new kind of orally disintegrating tablet provides improved symptom relief for patients with Parkinson's disease. Results are reported in the current issue of the journal Therapy. A new form of the medication selegiline, used for years to manage motor complications in Parkinson's patients, avoids first-pass metabolism and sidesteps compromises to its efficacy and tolerability. The drug is currently awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for use as an adjunctive therapy to the drug levodopa in the management of the neurodegenerative disease. "Although a variety of therapeutic options exist, there is a tremendous amount of unmet need in the treatment of Parkinson's disease," said co-author Dr. Joseph Jankovic, professor of neurology at BCM and director of the college's Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic. Many patients with Parkinson's disease still experience several hours a day during which the effects of levodopa, the most frequently used drug in Parkinson's treatment, wear off to the extent that patients shake and cannot move. Besides the wearing-off effects, many patients experience jerky involuntary movements, called dyskinesias, at the peak effect of levodopa. Because the orally disintegrating tablet dissolves within seconds, the drug can be ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn