Summary
35 parkinsonian patients have been treated over 3 years with L-Dopa combined with benserazide. After an impressive improvement during the first months of treatment a slow but significant deterioration of the patients' condition was observed. At the end of the observation period however their condition was still significantly better than before starting the treatment. A reduced mean L-Dopa dosage was ruled out as the cause of this deterioration. Withdrawal of the L-Dopa therapy for a few days in 13 patients provided strong evidence that it is due to the progression of the disease and to a partial loss of L-Dopa efficacy.
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Dedicated to Prof. Dr.W. Birkmayer on the occasion of his 65th birthday.
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Ludin, H.P., Bass-Verrey, F. Study of deterioration in long-term treatment of parkinsonism with L-Dopa plus decarboxylase inhibitor. J. Neural Transmission 38, 249–258 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01249442
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01249442