Protein redistribution diet remains effective in patients with fluctuating parkinsonism
P. J. Karstaedt and J. H. Pincus
Department of Neurology, Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC 20007.
Forty-three carbidopa-levodopa (Sinemet)-treated parkinsonian patients with
protein-sensitive motor fluctuations were started on the protein
redistribution diet within the past 48 months. Thirty patients (70%) are
still using the diet successfully after more than 12 months (mean duration,
33.6 months; range, 12 to 48 months). The diet was discontinued in the
other 13 cases. In 10 of these 13 patients, the protein redistribution diet
was discontinued for a variety of reasons, despite continued sensitivity to
dietary protein; in only three patients (7%), those with the most severe
and complicated disease, was the protein redistribution diet stopped
because of its limited therapeutic benefit. The protein redistribution diet
is a simple adjunct to the treatment of Parkinson's disease that can
significantly prolong the efficacy of levodopa therapy in many fluctuating
"end-stage" patients.
