Clinical Analyses of Factors Influencing L‐dopa Treatment of Parkinson's Syndrome

One hundred and twenty‐three patients with Parkinson's disease have been treated with L‐dopa for 6–31 months. Rigidity was improved in 85%, hypokinesia in 93%, tremor in 69%, speech disturbances in 30% and mental depression in 48% of the patients. The existence of any correlations between measured variables was tested in 260 tests. The L‐dopa dosage was higher in men than in women. Improvement in ADL disability was inversely correlated to age. This improvement was directly correlated to the occurrence of tremor before treatment and to the appearance of involuntary movements during treatment. There was a correlation between the appearance of involuntary movements and the appearance of muscular hypotonia. These and other observations allowed conclusions concerning the proper indications for L‐dopa treatment of Parkinson's syndrome.