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Hi Judith and list: Just wanted to mention I'm on clozapine and it doesnt seem to reallyhelp me. Just my 2c Bill Harrington At 12:08 AM 3/11/99 -0500, you wrote: >March 10, 1999 > >Drug Can Prevent Psychosis In Parkinson's Disease >By Gene Emery > >BOSTON (Reuters) - The sometimes psychotic side-effects produced by >drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease can be prevented with small >doses of the drug clozapine, researchers report in Thursday's New >England Journal of Medicine. > >Between 5 percent and 8 percent of the 50,000 Americans stricken each >year by Parkinson's disease develop some type of psychosis as a result >of treatment, usually with the drug L-dopa. Older drugs designed to >treat psychosis also often make the muscle tremors, stiffness and >weakness of Parkinson's disease even worse. > >Dr. Joseph H. Friedman, chief of neurology at Memorial Hospital of Rhode >Island and the study's lead author, told Reuters the findings should be >``very helpful'' to those patients who suffer from psychotic episodes. > >``There's no question that this is a big plus,'' he said. > >Those stricken by psychosis may become convinced that their spouses are >cheating, or someone is stealing their money. Or they may start having >visual hallucinations, such as witnessing people selling body parts or >seeing a cemetery in a hospital, Friedman said. > >His group found that small doses of clozapine, an antipsychotic drug, >can prevent the hallucinations and paranoia. > >The researchers found in a study of 60 volunteers at six U.S. medical >centers that clozapine, sold under the brand name Clozaril by Sandoz >Pharmaceuticals, significantly reduced the psychosis without making the >Parkinson's symptoms worse. > >``The (Friedman) report describes an important advance in our ability to >treat one of the most disabling conditions encountered in patients with >Parkinson's disease,'' said Dr. Jeffrey Cummings of the UCLA School of >Medicine in an accompanying editorial. > >``The addition of clozapine may allow some patients to continue living >at home for longer periods and will facilitate the care of many of those >living in nursing homes,'' Cummings said. > >But clozapine must be given with care. In about 1 percent of those who >take it for schizophrenia, it causes a dangerous depletion in white >blood cells, known as agranulocytosis, setting the stage for a >potentially fatal infection. > >Even though the Parkinson's sufferers were treated in the study with a >dose 20 times less than that prescribed for schizophrenics, Friedman >said the risk of agranulocytosis ''isn't related to the dose of >clozapine. It's related only to exposure to the drug.'' > >As a result patients must have their blood tested regularly to watch for >the condition. > >But ``if you do the monitoring,'' said Friedman, ``the risks are >incredibly tiny.'' > >Parkinson's disease is a degenerative brain disorder. About one person >in 200 is affected by the disease. Men are more likely to be affected >than women, and the elderly are particularly at risk. There is no cure >for the disease. >-- >Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada ><[log in to unmask]> > ^^^ > \ / > \ | / Today's Research > \\ | // ...Tomorrow's Cure > \ | / > \|/ > ``````` > >