Post

Does the slope of UPDRS vs. time show neuroprotection?

Andrew Grove, PhD, Former Chairman, Intel Corporation; PwP
29 Sep 2009 05:40 PM EST
These recent rasagiline data (Olanow et al., 2009) represent a laudable if not heroic effort on behalf of PD patients, but unfortunately they are inconclusive and  I believe they do not warrant ... 
Responses: 4

Dr. Schwarzschild, I read your posting on PDOnlineResearch on Adagio, etc. with interest.  I wonder if we are overlooking a fairly basic indicator of disease modification (nay, neuroprotection); the slope of the UPDRS vs. time lines.  Eyeballing the Rasagiline lines, in comparison to the slope prior to administration of Rasagiline, shows in all cases a lower slope.

By contrast, the ELLDOPA lines within the acuity of my eyes, all have the same slope, suggesting no modification of progression.  

 Why would that not be a sufficient indication that Rasagiline lowers the rate of progression and ipso facto, modifies the disease progression?