Parkinson's disease (PD), which causes tremors and erratic body movements for the nearly million Americans--like Michael J. Fox and Janet Reno--who suffer from it, remains incurable. Levodopa (L-Dopa), the primary drug used to curb symptoms, loses effectiveness and even causes motor problems over time. But a new study highlights a second drug that is side effect-free.
The drug, called Requip, may be just as good as L-dopa at controlling early PD, without causing the jerky movements (dyskinesias) that the older drug does, according to the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Of 130 PD sufferers taking either Requip or L-dopa for five years, those taking L-dopa were seven times more likely to get dyskinesias than those taking Requip.
PD results from the deterioration of nerve cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is crucial to coordinated movement. While L-dopa is first converted into the missing dopamine before acting on its receptors, Requip binds directly to receptors.
