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19th July 2009 - New research THE EFFECT OF ADDING AGONISTS TO L-DOPA IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE Neural Stem International Journal of Clinical Practice [2009] 63 (4) : 613-623 (Talati R, Baker WL, Patel AA, Reinhart K, Coleman CI.) Complete abstract Adding the use of dopamine agonists to the existing use of L-dopa has been found to reduce Parkinson's Disease symptoms, but it increases the side effects. As the effect of L-dopa tends to wear off, some patients are given dopamine agonists for an additional effect. Scores on the primary assessment of Parkinson's Disease, the UPDRS, are reduced when people added dopamine agonists to the existing use of L-dopa. They also experienced symptoms for less time, and were able to reduce their dosage of L-dopa. However, the incidence of dyskinesia and hallucinations was higher when dopamine agonists were added to the existing use of L-dopa. So the increase in efficacy was paid for with increased adverse events. Although the effect of L-dopa wears off in time, so does the effect of dopamine agonists. Dopamine agonists work by stimulating the dopamine receptors. However, continuous use of dopamine agonists makes the dopamine receptors progressively less sensitive to dopamine and dopamine agonists. In order to refer to this article on its own click here. 17th July 2009 - New research 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