Response variations in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
The problems of long-term levodopa therapy tend to occur earlier if levodopa is combined from the start with a decarboxylase inhibitor. We conducted a retrospective study of 123 patients. Among patients treated with levodopa without a decarboxylase inhibitor, only 25% had response variations (end-of-dose deterioration, on-off response fluctuation) after 6 years of treatment. Among patients treated with both levodopa and a decarboxylase inhibitor, 90% showed response variations after 6 years of therapy.
D002262:Carboxy-Lyases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D007980:Levodopa; D002262:Carboxy-Lyases