L-dopa treatment of Parkinson's disease: a ten-year follow up study

A ten-year follow-up study of parkinsonian patients treated with L-dopa is presented. Originally 130 patients entered the study, and previous reports were presented in 1971 and 1973. This report concerns the 47 remaining patients now available for examination. The effectiveness of L-dopa diminished over the ten-year period, so that the disability states of these patients are now similar to those prevailing just before the study began ten years ago. Despite the decline, the interim improvement and the patients' relatively asymptomatic existence for part of the time confirm the effectiveness of L-dopa therapy in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.