Re: new anti-viral therapy - amantadine

[Guest guest]

How fabulous for you!!

Which doc are you using?

S.

new anti-viral therapy - amantadine

There is a brand new anti-viral therapy to combat measles, polio, and

influenza virus in the nervous system. They are using an old anti-viral

drug called amantadine. Our doc said that " they " had treated about 200 kids

so far with remarkable success. It is supposed to help with concentration,

awareness, speech, social skills, and it is supposed to be calming to the

kids. It is also not supposed to cause any preliminary " die off " behaviors.

You are supposed to know within 6 weeks whether it will help the child, and

should see some good results within the first couple of weeks. I was

wondering if anyone out here has tried this therapy?

We started on it last Thursday evening, so 3 days ago. I was hoping to

compare notes with someone using the drug, or has used it. I could swear

that I am already seeing some good stuff from my boys. One son, who usually

bounces off the walls and runs through grocery stores, has been really calm

and actually stayed right by my side during 2 separate shopping trips. The

other son has actually been listening in on my conversations with my husband

and asking me about stuff he heard me say. This is extremely new for him,

as he usually is so engrossed in his computer game or TV show that he pays

no attention to conversations around him. He also got on the phone with his

grandmother and held a 5 minute conversation with her, telling her about his

favorite TV shows, his plans for going back to school, and the fact that we

will see her next weekend. (He usually MIGHT say one of these things but

never brings up 3 separate topics). These are bordering on WOW moments and

I am really afraid to get my hopes up at this point, because it has only

been 3 days. Is it a coincidence or the new drug? Is it common to see good

results this early? Is this as good as it will get, or is it just the tip

of the iceberg?

Anyone????

in Cedar Park

[Guest guest]

Who is your doctor?

new anti-viral therapy - amantadine

There is a brand new anti-viral therapy to combat measles, polio, and

influenza virus in the nervous system. They are using an old anti-viral drug

called amantadine. Our doc said that " they " had treated about 200 kids so far

with remarkable success. It is supposed to help with concentration, awareness,

speech, social skills, and it is supposed to be calming to the kids. It is also

not supposed to cause any preliminary " die off " behaviors. You are supposed to

know within 6 weeks whether it will help the child, and should see some good

results within the first couple of weeks. I was wondering if anyone out here has

tried this therapy?

We started on it last Thursday evening, so 3 days ago. I was hoping to compare

notes with someone using the drug, or has used it. I could swear that I am

already seeing some good stuff from my boys. One son, who usually bounces off

the walls and runs through grocery stores, has been really calm and actually

stayed right by my side during 2 separate shopping trips. The other son has

actually been listening in on my conversations with my husband and asking me

about stuff he heard me say. This is extremely new for him, as he usually is so

engrossed in his computer game or TV show that he pays no attention to

conversations around him. He also got on the phone with his grandmother and held

a 5 minute conversation with her, telling her about his favorite TV shows, his

plans for going back to school, and the fact that we will see her next weekend.

(He usually MIGHT say one of these things but never brings up 3 separate

topics). These are bordering on WOW moments and I am really afra

Anyone????

in Cedar Park

[Guest guest]

Yes, my son has tried it. He has been on it for about 8 weeks. I noticed

slight changes in his speech and communication skills. I also noticed

changes in his comprehension skills. I think that this drug has helped my

son. It wasn't dramatic, but it was more like since I am around him all the

time, I am sensitive to anything new. He takes a 1/2 tsp. twice a day, and

he is 6 yrs. old. I think it has been worth it. I wouldn't say it has the

" cure " , but any improvements in my book with no side effects is always worth

it, and with my insurance, it is only $5.00--- a win on all accounts. My

doctor said that said that some kids have dramatic differences. I think

that that might also depend on how severe they were to start out with too.

Good luck!!

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[Guest guest]

We received amantadine about a month ago from Dr. , who I love, and

my son has had the exact same response as yours. Suddenly he was asking

questions about other peoples conversations. He is 12 and that had never

happened before and suddenly it was happening all of the time.

[Guest guest]

,

we also got ours from Dr. (my hero). They have had 9 doses since last

Thursday. Tonight I took them to Walmart (which is ALWAYS a major nightmare

with the boys running from one end of the store to the other, NEVER EVER staying

within my eyesight). Those boys stayed right by my side, from the time we got

out of the car, through the entire store, the check out register, and back to

the car again. They did not wander one time. The verbal stims seem to be

tapering off. One of my sons who never stops moving and is always climbing all

over me and plays very hard....a completely different child. He has been so

calm and quiet (more like a normal 7 yr old) that I have actually been worried

about him. He actually played charades with me tonight, acting out the

characters in Winnie the Pooh for me to guess. My other son has been so much

more alert and his sentence structure and language depth have all improved a

good bit. Plus his comments on my conversations and his phone conversations

with his grandparents.... This is all since last Thursday!!! I am just holding

my breath to see if it continues, gets better, etc. I am so afraid to get my

hopes up but.....I have seen a whole bunch of WOW moments this past week.

Thanks for answering my post. I posted on 3 different groups. I heard back

from you and one other Dr. patient. That is it. This therapy is

really, really new.

in Cedar Park

[Guest guest]

Hi, folks-these articles, plus another I read that said that flu viruses

are resistant to amantadine, suggest that the mechanism of improvement

is actually the manipulation of dopamine, rather than the anti-viral

effects. The good effects may be temporary; it will be good to hear

feedback later on from those who are trying it.

J. Ruede, MLS

Librarian-liaison, School of Education; Communication Sciences and

Disorders

Texas Christian University

J Emerg Med. 2005 Apr;28(3):289-92.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/utils/lofref.fcgi?PrId=3048 & uid=15769

570 & db=pubmed & url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0736-4679

(04)00358-0

Improved neurological function after Amantadine

treatment in two patients with brain injury.

Wu TS, Garmel GM.

Stanford/Kaiser Emergency Medicine Residency Program,

Stanford, California.

This article presents two cases of functional recovery

in patients with brain injury after treatment with Amantadine, a

dopaminergic stimulant. Also presented is a review of current data

available concerning dopaminergic therapy after traumatic brain injury.

PMID: 15769570 [PubMed - in process]

Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2000 Dec;1(7):1441-53.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/utils/lofref.fcgi?PrId=3204 & uid=11249

477 & db=pubmed & url=http://www.ashley-pub.com/rpsv/cgi-bin/linker?ini=ashl

ey & reqidx=1465-6566(2000)L.1441

Pharmacology and clinical experience with risperidone.

Love RC, MW.

University of land, Baltimore, 100 Penn Street, Room 505, Baltimore,

MD 21201, USA. love@...

Risperidone (Risperdal, Janssen Pharmaceutica) is a second generation

antipsychotic (SGA) for the treatment of schizophrenia and other

psychotic disorders. It is a potent antagonist of serotonin-2 (5-HT2)

and dopamine-2 (D2) receptors in the brain. In comparison to

conventional antipsychotics, risperidone demonstrates superior efficacy

against the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia and a

decreased occurrence of extrapyramidal side effects (EPS). Risperidone

causes less weight gain than other marketed SGAs, but can increase

prolactin levels and cause EPS in a dose-related manner. In a variety of

pharmacoeconomic analyses, it has proven to be a cost-effective addition

to the antipsychotic armamentarium. As the first SGA available for front

line use, risperidone has established a new standard of care for the

treatment of individuals with psychotic disorders.

Publication Types:

* Review

* Review, Tutorial

PMID: 11249477 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

JAMA. 1991 Oct 2;266(13):1793-800.

Comment in:

* JAMA. 1991 Oct 2;266(13):1833-4.

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & do

pt=Abstract & list_uids=1832468>

* JAMA. 1992 Feb 5;267(5):651-2.

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & do

pt=Abstract & list_uids=1530982>

* JAMA. 1992 Feb 5;267(5):651; author reply 652.

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & do

pt=Abstract & list_uids=1530981>

The dopamine D2 receptor locus as a modifying gene in

neuropsychiatric disorders.

Comings DE, Comings BG, Muhleman D, Dietz G, Shahbahrami

B, Tast D, Knell E, Kocsis P, Baumgarten R, Kovacs BW, et al.

Department of Medical Genetics, City of Hope National

Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010-0269.

OBJECTIVE.--The A1 allele of the Taq I polymorphism of

the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene has been earlier reported to occur

in 69% of alcoholics, compared with 20% of controls. Other research has

reported no significant difference in the prevalence of the A1 allele in

alcoholics vs controls and no evidence that the DRD2 gene was linked to

alcoholism. We hypothesized that these seemingly conflicting results

might be because increases in the prevalence of the A1 allele may not be

specific to alcoholism. Thus, we examined other disorders frequently

associated with alcoholism or those believed to involve defects in

dopaminergic neurotransmission. DESIGN.--Case comparison study. To

minimize the effect of racial differences in gene frequencies, the study

was restricted to non-Hispanic whites. SETTING.--Ambulatory and

hospitalized patients. RESULTS.--Among all known controls (n = 314), 77

(24.5%) carried the A1 allele. Of the 69 controls known not to be

alcoholics, 10 (14.5%) carried the A1 allele. The prevalence of the A1

allele was significantly increased in patients with Tourette's syndrome

(44.9%, n = 147), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (46.2%, n =

104), autism (54.5%, n = 33), alcoholism (42.3%, n = 104), and

posttraumatic stress disorder (45.7%, n = 35). After correction for

multiple comparisons (requiring P less than .0009 for significance), all

remained significant except posttraumatic stress disorder. The

prevalence of the A1 allele was not significantly increased in patients

with depression, panic attacks, Parkinson's disease, or obesity. The

prevalence of the A1 allele in drug addiction and schizophrenia was only

significant when compared with that of controls who were not alcoholics,

and no correction was made for multiple comparisons. CONCLUSION.--These

results suggest the A1 allele of the DRD2 gene is associated with a

number of behavior disorders in which it may act as a modifying gene

rather than as the primary etiological agent.

PMID: 1832466 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Biol Psychiatry. 1992 Apr 15;31(8):794-807.

Neural development is regulated by classical neurotransmitters: dopamine

D2 receptor stimulation enhances neurite outgrowth.

Todd RD.

Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St.

Louis, MO 63110.

The classical neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine are thought to be

involved in the etiology or treatment of a variety of psychiatric

disorders. Recent studies suggest that these neurotransmitters may also

have roles as neural morphogens during brain development. Previously, we

have demonstrated that stimulation of serotonin 5-HT1A receptors

selectively inhibited neurite branching in an in vitro system (Sikich et

al 1990). In the present study, the developmental role of dopamine D2

receptors in the control of neurite outgrowth has been investigated by

quantitating the morphological response of cortical neurons to agonist

stimulation in vitro. Cultures of fetal rat frontal, cortical neurons

were shown to express both alternatively spliced forms of D2 receptor

messenger RNA (mRNA). The larger mRNA form predominated (D2A444:D2A415

ratio of about 6:1). In a small but significant percentage of these

neurons, culture in the presence of the D2 receptor selective agonist,

quinpirole, resulted in a three-to ten-fold increase in the length of

neurites and in the number of branch points per neurite. These effects

were blocked by the D2 receptor antagonists eticlopride and spiperone.

Early abnormalities in the stimulation of dopamine or serotonin receptor

subtypes could lead to the types of neuroanatomical changes observed in

studies of schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, and autism. These

morphogenic effects of classical transmitters could unite

neurodevelopmental and neurotransmitter theories of the etiology of

severe psychiatric disorders.

PMID: 1643194 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Brain Res. 2002 Sep 13;949(1-2):32-41.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/utils/lofref.fcgi?PrId=3048 & uid=12213

297 & db=pubmed & url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S000689930

202961X

Hypersensitivity of dopamine transmission in the rat striatum after

treatment with the NMDA receptor antagonist amantadine.

Peeters M, Page G, Maloteaux JM, Hermans E.

Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Experimentale (FARL), Universite Catholique

de Louvain 54.10, Avenue Hippocrate 54, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium.

Amantadine, a non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor

antagonist known to increase dopamine synthesis and release in the

striatum, is frequently associated with L-DOPA in the treatment of

Parkinson's disease. However, the biochemical mechanisms involved in the

effect of amantadine and the consequences of its repetitive

administration on the modulation of striatal dopamine transmission still

need to be clarified. We have investigated the effects of short-term

amantadine treatments on the expression of dopamine receptors and the

functional coupling to G proteins in rat striatal membranes.

Dopamine-induced stimulation of guanosine 5'-[gamma-35S]triphosphate

([35S]GTPgammaS) binding was significantly enhanced (40%) in striatum

homogenates from rats treated for 4 days with amantadine (40 mg/kg,

i.p.) compared to vehicle-treated animals. This effect was specific for

dopamine receptors and was transient as no significant modifications

were observed when animals were treated for either 2 or 7 days.

Administration of amantadine did not directly affect the animal

behaviour. However, treated animals exhibited hypersensitive dopamine

transmission since rats treated for 4 days showed exacerbated responses

to a single apomorphine administration (enhanced locomotor activity and

reduced stereotypy). Since the effects of amantadine administration

differ from those usually observed with direct dopamine receptor

agonists or other NMDA receptor antagonists, we suggest that multiple

biochemical mechanisms contribute to the modulation of dopamine

transmission by amantadine. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.

PMID: 12213297 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]