title: Bromocriptine as initial therapy in elderly parkinsonian patients. The Bromocriptine Multicentre Trial Group.
abstract: The problems of long-term levodopa treatment are well established, and a number of studies describe the use of bromocriptine as a first-line agent in patients under 65 years. This multicentre double-blind study compared the efficacy of low and very low dose bromocriptine in 64 elderly subjects with newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease. Both regimens led to clinical improvement, but there was a high drop-out rate and a high mortality. These difficulties, together with a low recruitment rate, resulted in problems of statistical analysis. There was no significant advantage in using the higher of the two dosage regimens, and we would recommend a maintenance dosage range of 5 mg-15 mg bromocriptine daily. On the basis of this study, however, bromocriptine seems unlikely to replace levodopa as the first-line treatment for Parkinson's disease.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001971:Bromocriptine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D001971:Bromocriptine