title: Early development of levodopa-induced dyskinesias and response fluctuations in young-onset Parkinson's disease.
abstract: We evaluated whether patients with young-onset Parkinson's disease (PD) (onset between 21 and 40 years) develop levodopa-induced dyskinesias and motor response fluctuations more frequently and earlier than patients with older-onset PD (onset after 40 years) by determining the period from levodopa introduction to development of dyskinesias or fluctuations in 25 young-onset (mean age at onset, 33.54 years) and in 25 matched older-onset PD patients (mean age at onset, 55.76 years). Young-onset PD patients had significantly higher frequency for both dyskinesias and fluctuations after both 3 and 5 years of levodopa. Young-onset PD patients also developed both levodopa-induced dyskinesias and fluctuations earlier than older-onset PD patients. We suggest that the introduction of levodopa therapy in patients with young onset PD should be postponed as long as possible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kostic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Przedborski
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flaster
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sternic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D004409:Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011336:Probability; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007980:Levodopa