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This is very worrisome for us, because David has taken permax for many years. I'd be interested in the dosage used in the trials, because he's on a relatively small daily dosage. It's the one drug that has helped his cognition, and doesn't seem to have any other side effects. He's so sensitive to meds, that it makes me shudder to even think of putting him on something else. The dr. tried Requip, but that was a disaster. What to do? Bev ----- Original Message ----- From: "M.Schild" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 2:04 AM Subject: heart damage-studies-edited > Sorry, the first version went off without editing :-( > > > BOSTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Two Parkinson's disease drugs cause the same > kind > of heart damage that led to the withdrawal of the diet drug combination > "fen-phen," according to two studies published on Wednesday. > Patients taking the drugs pergolide, developed by Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY.N: > Quote, Profile , Research) and sold under the brand name Permax, and > cabergoline, developed by Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N: Quote, Profile , Research) > and > sold under the brand Dostinex, had a sharply higher risk of heart valve > damage than those taking other therapies, the studies said. > The studies, one of which analyzed the records of 11,417 patients in > Britain > and one of which tested 245 patients in Italy, reinforce the results of > earlier, smaller studies showing that drugs which activate a cellular > receptor known as 5-HT2b can cause damage to the heart valve, a serious > condition that can lead to heart failure and sudden death. > > "We recommend that physicians not prescribe drugs that have this > biochemical > property," said Bryan Roth, a researcher at the University of North > Carolina, > Chapel Hill, who was not involved in the trials but viewed the data and > commented on it in The New England Journal of Medicine, where both studies > appeared. > Such drugs also include the migraine headache drug ergotamine and the > amphetamine derivative known as "ecstasy." > Roth said his team, in a separate piece of research that has yet to be > published or reviewed by the scientific community, has identified several > other big-selling drugs that have until now not been known to activate the > 5-HT2b receptor. > He declined to reveal the names of the drugs until the research has been > published. > > "We recommend that every drug be screened at this receptor before it goes > into humans," Roth told Reuters in an interview. "It costs just pennies > per > drug for such a screen." > The British study showed that patients taking pergolide were 7.1 times > more > likely to develop heart valve damage than those who took other treatments. > Patients taking the highest doses of the drug had a 37 times greater risk. > The study showed that patients taking cabergoline were 4.9 times more > likely > to develop heart valve damage. At higher doses patients were 50.3 times > more > likely to suffer damage. > Both drugs are available in generic form. > > > A second study, conducted in Italy, tested 245 people, of whom 155 had > Parkinson's disease. Of the diseased population, one group received > pergolide, one group received cabergoline, and one group received an > alternative Parkinson's treatment. The non-diseased control group received > nothing. > The results showed that 23.4 percent of patients taking pergolide and 28.6 > percent of patients taking cabergoline suffered heart damage, compared to > just 5.6 percent in the control group. > "These are huge risks," said Roth. He said they were similar to the kind > of > damage seen with fen-phen, whose main ingredients were withdrawn in 1997 > and > forced the drug-maker Wyeth (WYE.N: Quote, Profile , Research) to take > more > than $21 billion in charges to cover liabilities. > Wyeth's recalled drugs were fenfluramine, or Pondimin, and > dexfenfluramine, > or Redux. To make fen-phen, one or the other was combined with another > drug > called phentermine that is still sold by other companies. > Wyeth, then called American Home Products, recalled Pondimin and Redux > after > some of the 6 million Americans who had taken fen-phen developed > heart-valve > problems. > Roth said pergolide is also used to treat restless leg syndrome, a > condition > in which patients feel a crawling sensation in their legs combined with a > need to move them. > (Additional reporting by Ransdell Pierson in New York) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn