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The anticonvulsant zonisamide has improved symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD) in small studies. These researchers conducted a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, manufacturer-sponsored study of zonisamide (25, 50, or 100 mg per day) as an adjunctive treatment in PD patients who had an “insufficient response to levodopa.”
The 330 patients were experiencing “wearing off,” “on-off” phenomena, or other complications of therapy. The primary endpoint was change in the motor portion of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) from baseline through 12 weeks of treatment. The major finding was a significant but modest improvement in UPDRS motor scores in the 25- and 50-mg/day groups, compared with the improvement seen in the placeb…