Parkinson's disease: fewer treatment withdrawals with levodopa

In mid-2015, interim results of a randomised trial conducted in the routine care setting, involving 1620 patients with newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease, showed that levodopa was slightly more effective in terms of mobility than dopamine agonists or MAO-B inhibitors, after a median follow-up of 3 years. Levodopa caused more dyskinesias but fewer neuropsychiatric adverse effects, sleep disorders and gastrointestinal disorders. In patients with recently diagnosed Parkinson's disease, the advantage of first-line dopamine agonist therapy is uncertain.