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Found this article tonight. Nancy B Ropinrole Reduces Common Parkinson's Symptoms ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ST. PAUL, MN -- October 20, 1998 -- SmithKline Beecham’s Requip® (ropinirole) improves symptoms for Parkinson's patients experiencing stiff, slow or jerky movements, according to a study published in the current issue of the journal Neurology. Researchers studied 109 Parkinson's patients over six months. Throughout the study patients used levodopa therapy. In addition, 74 patients were given ropinirole and 35 were given a placebo. "Substituting ropinirole and reducing levodopa gives patients relief from Parkinson's symptoms, plus reduces some side effects of levodopa," said neurologist and study author Abraham Lieberman, MD, national medical director of the National Parkinson's Foundation in Miami, FL. "Thirty-five percent of patients taking ropinirole reduced their dose of levodopa by 20 percent, this in turn decreased stiffness, slowness and jerkiness of muscles by 20 percent." Additionally, patients on ropinirole and levodopa improved their scores on a Parkinson's rating scale measuring rigidity and movement. Parkinson's disease causes the brain to lose dopamine, which results in stiffness and rigidity of the muscles, slowness in movement and tremor of the arms and legs. Levodopa, the main treatment for the disease, is metabolised in the brain as dopamine. The brain's ability to metabolise and store levodopa diminishes after time and it becomes more dependent on the external supply of levodopa. Eventually most patients experience fluctuations when the medication is working and when it is not working in the body. Ropinirole is one of a number of direct dopamine receptor agonists. These drugs mimic the actions of dopamine in the brain and thereby reduce the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Dopamine receptor agonists have been used in Parkinson's treatment to complement the action of levodopa and to provide a longer duration of symptom control. Intensive research has focused on developing more effective means of replacing lost dopamine in Parkinson's disease. This research has produced a number of new medications that are available to neurologists. "Because so many patients benefit from supplementing a portion of levodopa with ropinirole, more physicians should consider prescribing both medications," Lieberman said. "In the future, patients taking ropinirole and levodopa may experience beneficial effects longer than those taking levodopa alone." Introducing ropinirole into the existing levodopa therapy caused 43 percent of patients with dyskinesia (jerky or fragmented involuntary muscle movements) to develop a side effect of new or worse dyskinesia. When researchers reduced a patient's original dose of levodopa, this side effect was reduced or eliminated. The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved ropinirole as both an initial therapy and an additive treatment with levodopa for Parkinson's disease. Ropinirole can be used on its own in the early stages of Parkinson's disease to help reduce some Parkinson's symptoms and improve difficulties in movement. Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive, neurodegenerative disease that affects more than 1,000,000 people in the United States. Related Links: Ropinirole, SmithKline Beecham [