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Moira- In regard to your question about carbidopa in Sinemet. I don't believe it passes through the brain-blood barrier. However, elsewhere within the body it blocks the action of dopamine that would otherwise cause serious side effects, ie., vomiting (The name Sinemet means 'sin'-without, 'emet'-vomiting). This blocking action allows a much greater percentage of the levodopa you take to make it to the brain. Carbidopa acts as a decarboxylase inhibitor. Madopar, an anti-parkinson's drug commonly used in Great Britian combines levodopa with another decarboxylase inhibitor, benserazide. I am not aware of any advantage of one decarboxylase inhibitor over another. In addition I think that the optimum requirement for carbidopa is about 100 mg./day regardless on the amount of levodopa needed. Greg Johnson [log in to unmask]