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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Study Shows Benefits of DL-DOPS in Patients with Autonomic Failure Editorial Compares Benefits to Treatment of Parkinson's Disease with L-DOPAme way L-DOPA is converted to dopamine, this agent is converted to norepinephrine which is the missing chemical in patients with autonomic failure." The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled single-dose study involved 11 patients, four women and seven men, all of whom had orthostatic hypotension and postprandial hypotension. They were given a dose of DL-DOPS, one thousand mg, or a placebo three hours before eating. In the current study of autonomic failure, the researchers found that DL-DOPS increased blood pressure, but did not affect heart rate. Patients suffered no ill effects from the drug. An editorial that accompanies the study in Neurology asks whether this therapy, demonstrated by the new study by Freeman, et al, "could do for autonomic failure what DOPA did for Parkinson's disease." Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a major clinical, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School. SOURCE Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center /CONTACT: Tina Murphy, 617-632-8046 or Patti Jacobs, 617-667-4431, both of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/ CO: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ST: Massachusetts