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Dear Everybody, Barbara Patterson has asked me to share with you some insights on Eldepryl (Selegiline hydrochloride) that I have collected over many years of research for a book that was written on the subject. In the space available, that is NOT easy. The total story - impossible to write here in this space - involves intrigue, smuggling, the Hungarian crown jewels, international diplomacy, a person that just disappeared, conflicts over the Nobel prize, many trial and error efforts, misconceptions of Type A & B MAOs, and many other things including the story of a man who pulled himself from nothing at the end of WWII to the Chief Professor of Pharmacology at Semmelweis University in Budapest. In fact, in reviewing all this information, one would think it was fiction except for the excellent trail of documentation from many sources that tells you it is not fiction. First I would like to dispense with the North American myth that selegiline is a "new drug" with a singular track record provided by DATATOP. It is not so, and, unfortunately, appears to be the byproduct of the North American tendency to the "not invented here syndrome". Selegiline hydrochloride, derived from an altered version of the amphetamine family of molecules, began life in Dr Joseph Knoll's test tubes in Budapest 40 years ago. Later it began it's commercial life as Compound E-250 in the labs of Chinoin Drug Company in Budapest. It was first marketed in Hungary as "Jumex". It was sold in England and the rest of Europe as "Deprenyl" and much later - finally - in the U.S. as "Eldepryl". What ever name you use, it is still the same old selegiline hydrochloride with a long (40 year) and excellent track record as a Parkinsonian drug. When the body has lost approx. 80% of the dopaminergic cells in the substantia nigra, the body cannot naturally produce enough dopamine for the motor-nerve system to operate properly. This natural death rate of an average 7% per decade is normal for dopaminergic cell loss, and is considered by most researchers as a part of the aging process. When that death rate is accelerated via environmental, genetic, or viral causes ....or a combination of any above, the body exhibits Parkinson's disease symptoms. Selegiline does, as proven by many tests, slow that death rate. Dr. Knoll would be the last one to say that selegiline is a fountain of youth, but there have been tests where lab rats with a known life cycle of 24 months, have lived (and indulged in sex) up to 36 months while on selegiline. Joesph Knoll, an orthodox Jew, lost his entire family at places like Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He himself was almost dead when the American troops liberated his internment camp. He started post-war life with no money, no family, and no home.; A rough beginning. Yet today, he is in his 60's; looks like he is in his 40's; and is as energetic as a 30 year old. He has taken 15 mg a week of selegiline for many years. For the Parkinsonian he recommends no more than 10 mg per day, as that is almost the limit the body can assimilate in a day. My wife takes 15 mg a week while I take 10 mg per day. Neither she nor I have any trouble with that dosage at all. Granted, the same drug will affect different people in many different ways, but before you consider cutting back the dose of selegiline to save money, or because you have been taking it for 2 years, or because somebody who sounds like they know what they are talking about "thinks" you should, I beg you to inform your self about this drug, in an objective manner, first. Obviously, this is not all of the story - or even a large part of it. How Don Buyskie brought selegiline to the United States by convincing the U S Government to return the Hungarian Crown Jewels to Hungary is a book in itself. How Dr. Shulman of Canada kept Buyskie from going bankrupt while trying to satisfy the demands of the FDA is another book, And the fact that the DATATOP safety committee broke the double-blind study halfway through DATATOP because the selegiline results were so good they felt it was unfair for the placebo subjects to be deprived of the drug, is even a better story. But my space/time is up. To know more about this subject, I recommend two excellent books on the subject: "The Deprenyl Story" by my good Canadian friend, Alastair Dow, ISBN#0-7737-2406-0 and "Parkinson's Disease: The Mystery, The Search and the Promise" by my wife, Sue Dauphin, ISBN#0-9620354-1-6. The latter can be ordered by calling (in the US)1-800-444-2524 24 hours per day. I hope this has been of some value to you, VernD