8th November 2014 - New research

DELAYING L-DOPA IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

During the past decade, a number of large drug trials have suggested that the initiation of L-dopa therapy should be delayed in order to reduce the risk of motor complications in people with Parkinson's Disease.

Researchers therefore assessed what happened when L-dopa was withheld for a long time after somebody had developed Parkinson's Disease. They studied Ghana, because in Ghana access to medication for Parkinson's Disease means that initiation of L-dopa is often delayed for many years after the onset of Parkinson's Disease. Their data was compared to people with Parkinson's Disease in Italy, where the use of L-dopa is initiated far earlier. Demographic features, frequency and severity of motor and non-motor symptoms were comparable in the two populations. Although L-dopa therapy was introduced much later in Ghana, the duration of Parkinson's Disease when motor fluctuations and dyskinesias started was similar to people in Italy who initiated the use of L-dopa far earlier.

Instead of how early L-dopa was initiated, what was most associated with motor fluctuations and dyskinesias was (1) the duration of Parkinson's Disease and (2) the daily dose of L-dopa (mg/kg of body weight). The average time to the development of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias after the initiation of L-dopa was surprisingly short as it was only six months.

Reference : Brain [2014] 137 (10) : 2731-2742 (R.Cilia, A.Akpalu, F.S.Sarfo, M.Cham, M.Amboni, E.Cereda, M.Fabbri, P.Adjei, J.Akassi, A.Bonetti, G.Pezzoli)  Complete abstract  For more news go to Parkinson's Disease News

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