title: A reassessment of risks and benefits of dopamine agonists in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Neurologists have several choices of drugs that have been shown to be effective for the treatment of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Among the first options are the dopamine agonists, which are commonly used both as an early monotherapy and as an adjunct therapy to levodopa. However, before starting any treatment, the overall benefit-to-risk ratio to individual patients must be considered. For the dopamine agonists, the available evidence on their symptomatic efficacy, effect on long-term levodopa-related motor complications, putative effect on progression of disease, and adverse event profile must be taken into account. Recently, the occurrence of adverse events such as leg oedema, daytime somnolence, impulse control disorders, and fibrosis have increasingly been recognised. The risks of these potentially serious adverse events must therefore be taken into account and treatment decisions should be based on considerations of risks versus benefits for individual patients.
authors.affiliation: Parkinson Institute, Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antonini
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tolosa
authors.forename: Yoshikuni
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: Mitsutoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Werner H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Poewe
mesh_terms: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D018491:Dopamine Agonists