When is a breakthrough not a breakthrough?

There was a recent article by the British national newspaper, the Daily Mail, which trumpeted a new Parkinson's breakthrough pill, see link to article below:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12307599/Breakthrough-pill-Parkinsons-treat-disease-early-relieve-symptoms-effects.html

The article itself included the following quotes:

"A daily capsule could treat Parkinson’s disease early and relieve symptoms — without the side-effects of standard drug treatments."

And

"In a recent trial, patients who took the new low-dose combination medication, known as P2B001, experienced the same improvements in their symptoms as seen with a standard treatment, but had significantly fewer side-effects."

So same improvement as with current treatments, just with less side effects.

Now this is an early stage treatment, where side effects tend to be less severe and less common. But certainly not unheard of.

So if true would be of great benefit to some.

But does this deserve the "breakthrough" heading? The article provides a further question mark, which somewhat undermines the hype:

"It involves a combination of two existing Parkinson’s medications, pramipexole and rasagiline, given at low doses in a slow-release formula."

And here is the crux of the problem.This is not new or news. For the last 3.5 years I have been taking this very combination ie rasageline and a slow release pramipexole.

Along with 1000's of others in the UK, and tens of thousands of others world wide.

Leading me to ask, apart from the fact the article is talking of a one pill combination, instead of two separate pills, where is the breakthrough, what actually is new.

And why has the Daily Mail hyped this "breakthrough"?

Apart from the fact it's the DM and that's what it does?

Is it because the article writer is simply regurgitating the manufacturer's hype, because they  no idea what they are talking about?

Ignorant of the background and too lazy to investigate properly?

Probably.

Whatever the reason, the article is a spectacularly poor one 

Even by the DM low standards.

This is an important issue, affecting thousands of people in the UK, made up of PD victims, their family and carers, typically wives and husbands, desperate for a real breakthrough. 

Desperate to have their lives back 

These people are desperate for a real breakthrough.

And they deserve better than this shoddy article.