roshni
09-13-2006, 11:20 AM
Researchers have new evidence that the drug rivastigmine, which is at present used in treatment of Alzheimer's disease, helps improve memory in patients with traumatic brain injury, who have moderate to severe loss of memory.
The medication Rivastigmine belongs to a group of drugs that are called cholinesterase inhibitors. It works by blocking the action of an enzyme that is responsible for breakdown of acetylcholine. This is one of the many neurotransmitters present in the brain which are used by the nerve cells for communication. Some symptoms of Alzheimer's are supposed to be caused by the decreased levels of acetylcholine, and Rivastigmine raises the level of acetylcholine, which is supposed to cause the improvement in thinking and memory function in patients.
Lead author of the study Dr. Jonathan M. Silver, MD, of the New York University School of Medicine, New York, along with colleagues conducted the study of 134 patients who had traumatic brain injury, from 19 centers around the United States. The patients were divided into two groups of which one was given treatment with the drug and the other was given a placebo.
The treatment group patients were given a dose of minimum 1.5 milligrams of rivastigmine in one day, and if the patients were found to be able to tolerate it, they were given an increased dose of 6 milligrams per day. After a period of 12 weeks the results showed that those patients who were severely or moderately impaired and who had taken the medication for the 12 weeks, had a significant improvement in their attention scores and their verbal memory test scores as compared to their counterparts who were given a placebo.
Also, for a particular test, five or more words were remembered by 30 percent of patients from the treatment group as against 10 percent of the patients from the placebo group. However, even as the drug showed improvement in memory for those patients who had moderate to severe impairment, it showed less effect for those patients whose memory loss was milder.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/8724.html
The medication Rivastigmine belongs to a group of drugs that are called cholinesterase inhibitors. It works by blocking the action of an enzyme that is responsible for breakdown of acetylcholine. This is one of the many neurotransmitters present in the brain which are used by the nerve cells for communication. Some symptoms of Alzheimer's are supposed to be caused by the decreased levels of acetylcholine, and Rivastigmine raises the level of acetylcholine, which is supposed to cause the improvement in thinking and memory function in patients.
Lead author of the study Dr. Jonathan M. Silver, MD, of the New York University School of Medicine, New York, along with colleagues conducted the study of 134 patients who had traumatic brain injury, from 19 centers around the United States. The patients were divided into two groups of which one was given treatment with the drug and the other was given a placebo.
The treatment group patients were given a dose of minimum 1.5 milligrams of rivastigmine in one day, and if the patients were found to be able to tolerate it, they were given an increased dose of 6 milligrams per day. After a period of 12 weeks the results showed that those patients who were severely or moderately impaired and who had taken the medication for the 12 weeks, had a significant improvement in their attention scores and their verbal memory test scores as compared to their counterparts who were given a placebo.
Also, for a particular test, five or more words were remembered by 30 percent of patients from the treatment group as against 10 percent of the patients from the placebo group. However, even as the drug showed improvement in memory for those patients who had moderate to severe impairment, it showed less effect for those patients whose memory loss was milder.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/8724.html