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Parkinson's Disease: Follow‐up After “Drug Holiday”
Author(s) -
Feldman Robert G.,
Kaye Jeffrey A.,
Lan Margaret C.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
the journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.92
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1552-4604
pISSN - 0091-2700
DOI - 10.1002/j.1552-4604.1986.tb02969.x
Subject(s) - drug holiday , drug , medicine , levodopa , confusion , drug withdrawal , parkinson's disease , disease , adverse effect , pediatrics , pharmacology , psychology , family medicine , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , psychoanalysis
Long‐term management of patients with Parkinson's disease includes close monitoring and frequent dose adjustment. In a small selected group of patients, complete withdrawal of l ‐dopa (drug holiday) and slow reintroduction of lower doses of this drug assured continued benefit for six to 24 months. We studied 45 drug holidays in 45 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Average preholiday l ‐dopa dose was 2,970 mg/d; at 24 months, it was 263 mg/d. The drug holiday resulted in reduced adverse drug effects (dyskinesias, “on‐off” phenomenon, hallucinations, and confusion), and improved functional ratings at one, six, 12, and 24 months after the drug holiday.