The Importance of Early Treatment for Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disorder of the central nervous system caused by a lack of dopamine, a brain chemical used to send messages to the muscles to make them move properly. The loss of dopamine causes a variety of movement problems, including:

  • Shaking (tremor)
  • Difficulty walking
  • Muscle stiffness or aching
  • Slowness of movement
  • Small handwriting
  • Decreased facial expression

People with Parkinson’s disease may lose up to 80% of dopamine in their body before symptoms appear. In addition, special imaging tests of the brain show that dopamine may decline as much as 10% per year in people with Parkinson’s disease. This is why it’s important to get diagnosed and begin treatment as soon as the early signs of Parkinson’s disease appear so that dopamine loss in the brain can be minimized.

AZILECT® (rasagiline tablets) works by blocking the breakdown of dopamine in the brain. With more dopamine available in your brain, you may be able to move more freely again. Everyday tasks may become less difficult.

In a clinical trial, the symptoms of people with Parkinson’s disease taking AZILECT showed improvement after six months, while the Parkinson’s disease symptoms of patients receiving a placebo worsened. 
 

 

AZL129390210/121094

 

AZILECT (rasagiline tablets) is indicated for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) both as initial therapy alone and to be added to levodopa later in the disease.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION ABOUT AZILECT

Do not take Azilect if you are taking meperidine as it could result in a serious reaction such as coma or death. Also, do not take Azilect with tramadol, methadone, propoxyphene, dextromethophran, St. John’s wort, or cyclobenzaprine. You also should not take Azilect with other monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).

Inform your physician if you are taking, or planning to take, any prescription or over-the-counter drugs, especially antidepressants and ciprofloxacin. If you have moderate to severe liver disease, you should not take Azilect. You should not exceed a dose of 1 mg per day of Azilect in order to prevent a possibly dangerous increase in blood pressure. All PD patients should be monitored for melanoma (skin cancer) on a regular basis.

Side effects seen with Azilect alone are flu syndrome, joint pain, depression, and indigestion: and when taken with levodopa are uncontrolled movements (dyskinesia), accidental injury, weight loss, low blood pressure when standing, vomiting, anorexia, joint pain, abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, dry mouth, rash, abnormal dreams, and fall.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

AZL101023709/101191