Antiparkinsonian treatment with L-Dopa gives rise to a number of problems: I) lack of initial response in a few cases; II) side-effects; III) becoming less effective after the first few years of treatment. Consequently, various drugs have been tried to replace, or combine with, L-Dopa. Among those drugs bromocriptine has been described the most effective. Twelve patients suffering from severe parkinsonism, all being intolerant to L-Dopa, have been treated with Bromocriptine. They fell into stage V of the Hoehn and Yahr's scale after 8 days of complete withdrawal of therapy with L-Dopa. Benefit and side-effects have been assessed as follows: a) L-Dopa alone; b) bromocriptine alone; c) combination of a and b. A daily dose of 30 mg of bromocriptine was given for 4 months. This was then reduced to 15 mg with the addition of L-Dopa for another 4 months. The results were: I) bromocriptine scored higher in all patients except one; II) bromocriptine has been consistently less effective than L-Dopa; III) side-effects were similar to those of L-Dopa but less frequent; IV) the combined effect of the two drugs was superior to each drug given alone.
Aged Bromocriptine