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Vladimir Hachinski, MD, DSc

Arch Neurol. 2000;57:410.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

FEW DRUGS in medicine have had the dramatic impact of the introduction of levodopa in the late 1960s. Patients immobilized by parkinsonism experienced symptoms immortalized in Awakenings, Oliver W. Sacks' book and subsequent movie. In this issue of the ARCHIVES, Shulman¹ and Weiner² agree that levodopa decreases disability and may prolong life. They also agree that the experimental data on levodopa toxicity are inconclusive and that evidence of human nigral toxic effects is lacking.

Shulman thinks that the current practice should be changed because of the pharmacological toxic effects of levodopa, which manifest in the form of motor fluctuations and dyskinesia. She argues that fluctuations and dyskinesia were not described prior to the introduction of levodopa and that a combination of disease progression and levodopa therapy account for these adverse effects. Weiner points out that levodopa continues to be effective to treat rigidity, akinesia, and . . . [Full Text of this Article]

London, Ontario

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