title: Therapeutic strategies to prevent motor complications in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Dopaminergic treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) leads to significant improvement in Parkinsonian features; however, the treatment response is hampered by the appearance of motor complications, including dyskinesias and motor fluctuations. These motor complications have a significant negative impact on quality-of-life. Therapeutic strategies using different types and timing of dopaminergic therapy may influence the emergence of motor complications. While sustained release preparations of levodopa have not shown benefit over immediate release preparations, the early combination of a dopamine agonist with levodopa appears to reduce the onset of motor fluctuations. An even larger body of evidence has found that initiating treatment with a dopamine receptor agonist (as compared to immediate release levodopa) is associated with a reduction in motor fluctuations, particularly dyskinesias. These data have led to evidence-based medicine evaluations indicating that the use of dopamine agonists is efficacious and clinically useful for the prevention of motor complications.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester Medical Center, 1351 Mt. Hope Ave., Ste. 223, Rochester, NY 14620, USA. Karl.kieburtz@ctcc.rochester.edu
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kieburtz
mesh_terms: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004409:Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004421:Dystonia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D007980:Levodopa