"It doesn't work for everyone" is certainly true of all PD meds...I wonder
why.  How depressing.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Meg Duggan" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 7:18 AM
Subject: Re: apopmorphine


> Apomorphine is an injectible rescue therapy, trade name Apokyn in US.
> Didn't do very well at launch, mainly because FDA insisted that patients
> recieve training from neuros via several office visits. I believe that
> Bertek had the drug at launch but has since sold it off.  Not sure who
> owns
> rights now, but I could certainly find out. I know a couple of people that
> use it to kick on, not cheap and doesn't work for everyone.  Meg
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of rayilynlee
> Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 10:55 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: apopmorphine
>
>
> Anyone know anything about this drug?
>
> I WON'T BE BEATEN BY PARKINSON'S
> EX-CHAMPION BODYBUILDER IS LIFTING WEIGHTS AGAIN AFTER 15 YEARS THANKS TO
> REVOLUTIONARY COMPUTERISED DRUG BELT
> By Samantha Booth
> A FORMER champion body builder, who was crippled by Parkinson's disease
> for
> 15 years, has had his life transformed by pioneering treatment.
> Fitness fanatic Michael Thompson, 59, won Mr Inverclyde and Mr East of
> Scotland titles until he was struck down by Parkinson's at the age of 44.
> Crippled and confined to a wheelchair by the age of 57, Michael's once
> active life was destroyed by the disease.
> But now, after receiving the groundbreaking drug Apomorphine, Michael is
> back lifting weights again.
> He hopes his experience can help lead to a major breakthrough for
> thousands
> of other sufferers.
> Parkinson's disease, which affects one in 500 people across Britain, had
> left the former champion bodybuilder suffering from uncontrollable
> tremors.
> But after becoming only one of a handful of people across the UK to try a
> pioneering treatment, Michael is walking - and even lifting weights.
> Michael, of Greenock, has a special pump on a belt around his waist which
> gradually releases a drug into his stomach to control his tremors.
> Parkinson's has been had a high profile in recent years with celebrities
> such as Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox among the four million sufferers.
> After an agonising 13 years of suffering, Michael's doctor recommended
> Apomorphine two years ago.
> Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition caused by the death of
> nerve cells in the base of the brain, called neurons.
> These nerves usually produce a chemical called dopamine that is used by
> the
> movement centres of the brain to maintain smooth and fluid movement, and
> as
> Parkinson's disease progresses, they slowly degenerate or die off.
> The brain loses its ability to produce dopamine, causing sufferers to lose
> control of their body and muscle movement.
> They experience uncontrollable shaking, stiffness in the limbs and
> slowness
> of movement.
> Apomorphine is often given to sufferers who have had Parkinson's for 10 to
> 15 years, when tablets no longer work.
> The drug does not cure the disease but controls the shaking and stiffness
> by
> imitating the action of dopamine and helping the brain transmit signals to
> control body movements.
> It can be used either as an intermittent injection to manage temporary
> lapses in control of the condition, or, as in Michael's case, by
> continuous
> infusion through a computerised pump.
> The drug was discovered in the Fifties, but it was not until the Eighties
> that it was used both in the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's. It
> has
> only been used for continuous infusion in recent years using the
> computerised pump.
> After initially getting a specialist nurse to fit the pump every morning,
> Michael's wife Elizabeth, 60, now does it herself.
> She gives Michael a four mg dose of the drug every morning through a
> syringe
> which is fitted to the pump. The pump is connected to a line which is
> inserted into the skin on his stomach.
> The computerised device, tied around Michael's waist, gradually releases
> the
> drug into his body over the next 12 hours.
> Dr Roger Barker, an expert on Parkinson's disease from Cambridge
> University,
> said the drug was only used when other treatments were no longer
> controlling
> the condition.
> But he stressed Apomorphine was not a cure, simply a way of managing the
> symptoms. "The disease will carry on progressing, and most people will
> find
> several years into the treatment that they will start to break down
> again,"
> he said.
> "They will usually get a few good years and then move on to whatever drug
> is
> available next. They will stay on it until the drug is not working any
> longer, or they start getting side effects."
> Potential side effects include confusion, skin irritation or feeling sick
> or
> faint.
> Elizabeth said: "I don't want people to think Michael has been cured
> because
> he hasn't. He still has Parkinson's disease. This is just a way of
> managing
> it.
> "Every morning, he can hardly move at all until I give him the drug. Once
> I
> have put it into the pump, it takes half an hour to an hour for it to kick
> in, and then he is much better for the rest of the day.
> "At night, he can lie in bed hardly able to move at all."
> But Michael is delighted at the improvement. Before he received the
> treatment, people often thought he was drunk when he fell down in the
> street.
> One day, when he was out with his four-year-old granddaughter, Michael was
> shocked to be accused of being drunk.
> He said: "One guy said to me: 'That is ridiculous. You in charge of a
> little
> girl when you are drunk'.
> "I replied: 'You're wrong. I suffer from Parkinson's'. It is amazing how
> many people can be cruel and think that you are drunk."
> Elizabeth struggled to look after Michael as his symptoms became worse.
> She
> said: "Since he started on the pump, I have noticed a great difference in
> Michael.
> "The nurses wish they had taken a video of Michael before he got this pump
> to compare it to how he is now. I hope other people will get to know about
> this drug and it can help them too."
> Although he will never be cured, the drug has given Michael a new lease of
> life.
> "Now I am able to go back to the gym to train, but I am only allowed to go
> with a carer," he said. "They won't let me go back in on my own.
> "When I get the pump put in each the morning it takes 30 minutes to an
> hour
> for it to work. After that, I don't even notice it for the rest of the
> day.
> Now I don't fall down in the street anymore."
>
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