New drug aids Parkinson's patients
NEW YORK, Oct 20, 1998 (Reuters) -- The drug ropinirole improves the
symptoms of Parkinson's disease and allows physicians to
reduce the dose of the commonly prescribed drug levodopa, according to a
study published in the October issue of Neurology.
Dr. Abraham Lieberman, medical director of the National Parkinson's
Foundation, Miami, Florida, and lead author of the study,
said more physicians should consider prescribing both medications. ``In
the future, patients taking ropinirole and levodopa may
experience beneficial effects longer than those taking levodopa alone,''
he said in a statement issued by the American Academy
of Neurology.
In the study, researchers observed 109 Parkinson's patients over 6
months. ``Thirty-five percent of patients taking ropinirole
reduced their dose of levodopa by 20%, this in turn decreased stiffness,
slowness and jerkiness of muscles by 20%,'' reported
Lieberman.
Adding ropinirole to the existing levodopa therapy caused 43% of
patients with dyskinesia (jerky, involuntary muscle
movements) to develop new or worse dyskinesia symptoms. But when
researchers reduced a patient's original dose of
levodopa, this side effect was reduced or eliminated.
Parkinson's disease causes reduced levels of the chemical dopamine in
the brain, which results in stiffness and rigidity of the
muscles, slowness in movement, and tremor of the arms and legs.
Levodopa, the primary drug treatment for the disease, is
metabolized in the brain to dopamine. Over time, the brain's ability to
metabolize and store levodopa diminishes and it becomes
more dependent on the external supply of levodopa.
In contrast, ropinirole directly stimulates dopamine receptors in the
brain, thus helping to reduce Parkinson's symptoms over a
longer period of time than levodopa.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved ropinirole as both an
initial therapy and an additive treatment with
levodopa for Parkinson's disease, a progressive, neurodegenerative
disease that affects more than one million people in the US.
Research was supported by SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals,
manufacturer of ropinirole, also known as Requip.
SOURCE: Neurology 1998;51:1057-1062.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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