 |
 |
New drug could improve muscle control in Parkinson's patients (May 22, 1998 10:26 a.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) - The generic drug amantadine can improve the jerky, involuntary muscle movements that occur after long use of the leading medication for Parkinson's disease, researchers say. "By adding amantadine to Parkinson's treatment therapy, many patients in the advanced stages of Parkinson's disease can expect a better quality of life and improved muscular functioning," said Dr. Thomas Chase of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md. "Amantadine is cheap, available, safe and makes a substantial difference." Chase carried out a study on 14 patients with advanced Parkinson's disease in which half got a placebo drug and half amantadine, with neither patients nor the caregivers knowing who got the real pill. Results of the study were published in the May issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Parkinson's disease develops when the brain is unable to produce enough of the brain-signaling chemical dopamine, resulting in loss of motor function, tremors and limb weakness, among other symptoms. More than half a million Americans suffer from the slowly progressing disease. Doctors typically treat Parkinson's by giving large doses of Levodopa. But after it's used for several years, many patients develop the jerky movements that "contribute significantly to patient disability," Chase said. The study showed that amantadine reduced the severity of such movements by 50 percent when it was given in combination with levodopa, and the beneficial effects of the original drug were not lost. All patients in the study decided to continue using amantadine as part of their therapy. "This discovery is exciting because surgery has been the only option to treat motor fluctuations up until this point," Chase said. Amantadine has mainly been used to treat flu symptoms and drug addiction, although it has also been used for decades to treat early-stage Parkinson's disease. Researchers recently discovered that levodopa makes certain receptors in the brain hypersensitive, and that blocking those receptors can reduce some of the movement difficulties. Chase decided to try amantadine because the drug was recently found to contain properties that blocked the receptors. By Lee Bowman, Scripps Howard News Service Copyright 1998 Nando.net Copyright 1998 Scripps Howard janet paterson aka calendar control supervisor 51/10 - sinemet/selegiline/prozac - [log in to unmask] quotations: http://newww.com/cgi-bin/do_cal?c:newvoice pwp event calendar: http://newww.com/cgi-bin/do_cal?c:pwpc