Currently, around 16,000 people in Austria suffer from Parkinson’s disease.

Although Parkinson’s is not a widespread disease, such as stroke, the incidence of the disease is expected to triple by 2030. The incidence of the disease increases with age: about 2% of people over 60 years show Parkinson’s syndrome, and over 80 years around 3%.¹

Pramipexole is used for the symptomatic treatment of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, alone (without levodopa) or in combination with levodopa, i.e., throughout the course of the disease up to the advanced stage, when the effect of levodopa decreases or becomes irregular, and fluctuations in therapeutic effect occur (so-called end-of-dose or on-off phenomena).²

A multicentre randomized placebo-controlled trial in PD patients showed that with initial treatment with pramipexole, compared with levodopa, dyskinesias and wearing-off effects were significantly less.³

Pramipexole is also associated with antidepressant efficacy. This has also been supported by studies.⁴

¹ Medical University of Innsbruck. Public Relations and Communication. Parkinson’s disease: early diagnosis can delay disease progression: https://www.i-med.ac.at/pr/presse/2012/38.html (accessed: Nov. 5, 2013).

² SmPC Calmolan® tablets, GL Pharma. Date of information: September 2013.

³ Parkinson Study Group. Pramipexole vs levodopa as initial treatment for Parkinson disease: a 4-year randomized controlled trial. Arch Neurol. 2004; 61(7): 1044-53.

⁴ AWMF guideline: http://www.awmf.org/uploads/tx_szleitlinien/030-010l_S2k_Parkinson_Syndreome_Diagnostik_Therapie_2012-09.pdf (accessed: Nov. 5, 2013).