The study involved people with Parkinson's disease who weren't responding optimally to the widely used treatment for Parkinson's, levodopa. For the study, half of the group took GlaxoSmithKline's prolonged release version of the drug ropinirole, called ropinirole 24-hour, and levodopa for six months. The other half took placebo and levodopa.
Researchers found those people taking the drug reduced their average daily “off” time by 2.1 hours compared to 3 hours in the placebo group. Parkinson's symptoms include tremors, slowness, stiffness, and walking difficulties.
“Ropinirole 24-hour prolonged release, when taken with levodopa, is effective in reducing daily 'off' time for Parkinson patients who aren't getting the best results from levodopa,” said study author Rajesh Pahwa, with the University of Kansas Medical Center. “We also found the drug helped improve quality of life and motor function.”
Among those taking ropinirole, researchers found significant improvements in Parkinson symptoms, quality of life, depression, emotional well-being, stigma, and sleep. Over half of the people in the ropinirole group were classified as much improved” or “very much improved” compared to 14% in the placebo group.
According to the study, the 24-hour prolonged release ropinirole appears to be as effective as immediate release ropinirole and better tolerated.