New data presented at the 13th International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in June show that ropinirole prolonged release tablets improve nocturnal symptoms experienced by patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD). The data showed that patients with more significant nocturnal symptoms had a greater improvement with prolonged release ropinirole, when used as an adjunct to levodopa (L-dopa), versus placebo.

These data indicate that once-daily ropinirole prolonged release tablets remain effective in treating PD symptoms over the night as well as during the day. Sleep disturbances, a key element of nocturnal symptoms, are one of the most common non-motor complications of PD and can affect up to 98 per cent of patients.

A recent pan-European survey revealed that two out of three patients do not feel in control of their symptoms over a 24-hour period, with over 70 per cent waking at least once during the night and nearly one in four rating the quality of their sleep as poor or very poor. As a result, they often struggle to function properly in the morning and throughout the day.¹  Nocturnal symptoms, which typically increase as the disease progresses, include difficulty staying asleep, hallucinations, urinary incontinence, painful muscle cramps, painful posturing of arms or legs on waking and feeling tired and sleepy after waking. Treatment strategies that provide continuous dopaminergic stimulation have been shown to improve nocturnal symptoms.

Additional study data presented at the congress showed that adjunctive prolonged release ropinirole, in patients with advanced PD not optimally controlled with L-dopa, achieved a significant reduction in their 'off' times, compared with placebo. These improvements were seen as early as two weeks following treatment. By week 24 over 50 per cent of patients receiving adjunctive prolonged release ropinirole had achieved a maintained reduction in ‘off’ time. Furthermore, data showed that a greater proportion of prolonged release ropinirole-treated patients experienced at least a 40 per cent reduction in awake time spent ‘off’ versus those receiving standard ropinirole three times daily. These results confirm the benefits of prolonged release ropinirole in maintaining control of symptoms in advanced PD. Recent safety and tolerability data also confirm that long-term therapy with prolonged release ropinirole is well tolerated by patients with early or advanced PD.

Reference

1.  Stocchi F, et al. The Real Life, Real PD Survey, Pan-European Results and Recommendations for Change, 2008. Abstract available online www.epda.eu.com