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Antiepileptic Reduces Parkinson's Symptoms Safely Neil Osterweil Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Explain to patients who ask that the antiepileptic drug Zonegran (zonisamide) may reduce the symptoms of Parkinson's disease when it is used as an adjunct to first-line therapy with levodopa. TOKYO, Jan. 2 -- Tremors and other symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease can be reduced significantly by the antiepileptic drug Zonegran (zonisamide) without an increase in dyskinesias, according to Japanese researchers. Patients with Parkinson's disease resistant to levodopa who received Zonegran in two of three different doses had significant improvements in Parkinson's disease rating-scale scores compared with patients who received placebo, found Miho Murata, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry here and colleagues. "Zonisamide treatment improved all main Parkinson disease symptoms in these patients, including tremor and other disabling dyskinesias," wrote Dr. Murata and colleagues in the Jan. 2 issue of Neurology. "This is consistent with findings from other, smaller studies." The investigators previously published a case report and results of a small open-label study indicating that Zonegran could improve the main symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including limb rigidity, tremor, postural instability, and motor fluctuations that occur during wearing-off from levodopa. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 Next Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn