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ScienceDaily (Jan. 3, 2007) — A drug used totreat epilepsy has been found to significantly improve tremors, motorfluctuations, and other involuntary movements, or dyskinesias, inpatients with Parkinson disease, according to a study published in theJanuary 2, 2007, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of theAmerican Academy of Neurology. The three-month, multi-center study in Japan involved 279 Parkinsondisease patients who weren't responding well to the commonly used drug,levodopa, to manage their symptoms. The patients were divided intogroups that took 25, 50 or 100 mg a day of the drug zonisamide orplacebo. Researchers found at least 30 percent of patients taking zonisamideexperienced a more than 30-percent reduction in their score on a ratingscale used to follow the progression of a person's Parkinson disease.The most significant improvement was seen in the group taking 50 mg ofzonisamide a day. That group saw a nearly 40-percent improvement in thescore. "Zonisamide treatment improved all main Parkinson disease symptomsin these patients, including tremor and other disabling dyskinesias.This is consistent with findings from other, smaller studies," saidlead author Miho Murata, MD, PhD, with the National Center of Neurologyand Psychiatry in Tokyo, Japan. "Zonisamide is safe, effective, andwell tolerated at 25 to 100 mg a day as an added treatment in patientswith Parkinson disease." While this study lasted only 12 weeks, Murata says their preliminarydata shows the benefits of zonisamide observed at 12 weeks weremaintained for more than a year in all 17 patients involved in a studyon the long term effects of zonisamide on Parkinson disease. Murata says it's not fully understood yet as to why zonisamide helpsParkinson disease symptoms and further study is needed to clarify themechanism behind the drug's benefits. According to the study, the drug's most common side effects were drowsiness, apathy, weight loss, and constipation. The study was supported by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma, which discovered zonisamide. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070102092317.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn