Rasagiline and Parkinson's Disease
Neuroscience

Rasagiline and Parkinson's Disease


From the FDA on the 17th of May:

FDA Approves New Treatment for Parkinson's Disease

The Food and Drug Administration today approved Azilect (rasagiline), a new molecular entity, for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The drug is a monoamine oxidase type--B (MAO-B) inhibitor that blocks the breakdown of dopamine, a chemical that sends information to the parts of the brain that control movement and coordination.

"This is a welcome development for the more than 50,000 Americans who are each year diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, " said Dr. Steven Galson, Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Parkinson's is a relentless disease with limited treatment options, and each new therapy is an important addition to the physicians' treatment options."

[snip]

Azilect was approved for use as an initial single drug therapy in early Parkinson's disease, and as an addition to levodopa in more advanced patients.  Levodopa is a standard treatment for Parkinson's disease. The safety and effectiveness of Azilect was demonstrated in three 18- to 26-week controlled clinical trials.

One of the studies compared the effects of Azilect with the effects of placebo in 404 patients with early Parkinson's. Compared with patients on placebo, the condition of patients on Azilect showed significantly less worsening on a rating scale that measures the ability to perform mental and motor tasks as well as daily living activities.

[ ... Read the full press release ... ]
-
Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain




- Parkinson Disease, Creatine, And Minocycline
From an NIH new release: Preliminary Study Shows Creatine and Minocycline May Warrant Further Study In Parkinson’s Disease A National Institutes of Health-sponsored clinical trial with 200 Parkinson's disease patients has shown...

- Amgen's Gdnf And Parkinson Disease
From the AP, via The WashingtonPost.com website, concerning glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF): Autopsy Shows Parkinson's Drug's Progress By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID The Associated Press Friday, July 1, 2005; 3:57 PM WASHINGTON --...

- Business World: Acadia Pharm, Acp-103, & Parkinson Disease
From an AP report posted at Yahoo!: Acadia Pharma Says Drug Study Encouraging Wednesday June 22, 7:44 pm ET Acadia Pharmaceuticals Says Lead Drug Helped Psychosis in Parkinson's Patients; Shares Fall SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc....

- In The Weeklies
This week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (09 December 2004) includes two research papers and one editorial comment on topics concerning Parkinson disease: Levodopa and the Progression of Parkinson's Disease by The Parkinson...

- Awareness Month: Parkinson’s Disease
April is National Parkinson's Awareness Month. Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, has no known cause in most cases. Medically, Parkinson’s has been traced to the death of dopamine-generating cells in the...



Neuroscience








.