McGill University researchers took part in a major North American study to compare two treatments for Parkinson's disease.
The four-year clinical trial established that two drugs, levodopa and pramipexole, are both viable initial treatments for Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system.
Findings on pramipexole versus levodopa were produced by the Parkinson's Study Group (PSG) and are reported in the Archives of Neurology. Some 301 participants were evaluated at 22 PSG sites in the United States and Canada. The PSG is a non-profit cooperative of Parkinson's disease experts from the U.S. and Canada who are dedicated to improving treatment for Parkinson's disease. (Information)
Michel Panisset, director of the Movement Disorders Clinic at the McGill Centre for Studies in Aging, along with nurse coordinator Jean Hall, followed 13 of the Canadian participants. The primary goal of the study was to monitor treatment complications: wearing off (feeling that the drug effect lessens before the next dose) and dyskinesias (involuntary movements).
The PSG compared levodopa, the most commonly used drug to treat the early symptoms of Parkinson's, to pramipexole, a newer dopamine agonist that works as artificial dopamine. Patients with early Parkinson's who were treated with pramipexole reported a reduction of involuntary movements and wearing off of the drug, compared to treatment with levodopa.