Entacapone (Cont.)

Entacapone: What Should I Tell My Healthcare Provider?

Talk with your healthcare provider prior to taking entacapone if you have:
 
Also, let your healthcare provider know if you are:
 
Make sure to tell your healthcare provider about any other medications you are taking, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
 
(Click Precautions and Warnings With Entacapone to learn more, including information on who should not take the drug.)
 

How Does Entacapone Work?

Entacapone is always used in combination with carbidopa and levodopa; it has no activity against Parkinson's disease when used alone. The drug works by increasing blood levels of levodopa and helping levodopa to last longer in the body. Entacapone works by inhibiting an enzyme known as catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) that breaks down levodopa before it has a chance to reach the brain.
 

Effects of Entacapone

In clinical studies, entacapone plus carbidopa-levodopa has been shown to be more effective than just carbidopa-levodopa for Parkinson's treatment. In these studies, people who were experiencing wearing-off fluctuations of their carbidopa-levodopa therapy were given either entacapone or a placebo (a "sugar pill" with no active ingredient) to take with each dose of their carbidopa-levodopa. These studies showed that entacapone helped carbidopa-levodopa work longer, with shorter "off" periods (when the medication did not work well) and longer "on" periods (when the medication worked well).
 
(Entacapone Continued: Page 3)

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Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD;