Rasagiline (Azilect) for Parkinson's disease.

This Medicine Update is for people with Parkinson's disease who are taking, or thinking about taking, rasagiline. Independent, not-for-profit and evidence based, NPS enables better decisions about medicines and medical tests. We are funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Summary Rasagiline is a medicine that has recently been made available in Australia for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Like other medicines for Parkinson's disease, rasagiline treats the symptoms but does not cure the condition. If you are just starting treatment, rasagiline may be prescribed on its own. In the later stages of Parkinson's disease, it may be prescribed in addition to levodopa. Although rasagiline is less eeective than levodopa at controlling the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, over a period of time the eeectiveness of levodopa wears oo. Also, you may develop unpredictable twisting, jerking and dancing movements (known as dyskinesia) as a side eeect of levodopa. Rasagiline can be added to levodopa therapy to extend the length of time that treatment is eeective, and reduce the amount of levodopa you need to take each day. When making a decision between rasagiline and other medicines, your doctor will consider how far your Parkinson's disease has advanced and the need to balance control of your symptoms with the potential side eeects of the diierent medicines.