Epilepsy Drug Helps Parkinson's

Ivanhoe Newswire
Wednesday, January 3, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Patients with Parkinson's disease may benefit from an epilepsy drug. Zonisamide, commonly used to treat epilepsy, is shown to decrease involuntary movements and tremors associated with Parkinson's disease.

In a recent study in Japan, researchers studied 279 Parkinson's disease patients who weren't responding to levodopa, a common Parkinson's disease treatment. Patients were given doses of 25, 50 or 100 milligrams of zonisamide or a placebo each day. Improvement was rated on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), used to follow the progression of the disease.

At least 30 percent of patients taking zonisamide had a 30-percent reduction of their UPDRS score. Patients taking 50 milligrams of zonisamide each day benefited most, with nearly a 40-percent reduction. Zonisamide relieved all major Parkinson's disease symptoms, like tremors, motor fluctuations, and other involuntary movements.

More research is needed to determine exactly why zonisamide relieves symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Side effects of the drug include drowsiness, apathy, weight loss, and constipation.

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SOURCE: Neurology, 2007;68:40-50