Posted by Zeke on December 16, 1999, at 2:41:00
In reply to Re: dangling threads from Parnate, posted by Elizabeth on December 15, 1999, at 21:24:31
> (this subject: line makes it sound like the dangling threads were a side effect of Parnate!)
>
> > is RIMA: Reversible Inhibitors of MonoAmine oxidase? or what???
>
> Exactly.OK, but deprenyl(selegiline) is irreversible. (Always starting trouble, aren't I!)
>
> > You know, my mother died of Alzheimer's last year. I unsucessfully tried to get the doctors to try deprenyl -- the last one seemed fearful of psychotic reactions. (They seemed to like the idea of neurolepticss widespite the toxicity of those drugs. BTW she had much less than typical agitation and positive symptoms.)
>
> ARGH!!!!! I'm very sorry to hear this. (Misuse of neuroleptics in demented elderly patients is a big pet peeve of mine.)What I didn't mention was the estrogen connection -- which is beconing clear thanks to folks like Bruce McEwen etal. (For example, the majority of folks with Alzheimers are post menopausal women. In men testosterone levels don't drop so much and T is converted to estrogen in the brain.) Estrogen also is reported to improve mood and has applications in treating depression, but this isn't realized in the US (though it is in countries like Australia).
My Mom was post menapausal and because of breast cancer was given the estrogen blocker tamoxifen(Nolvadex). Then some (male) gynaecologist cut out her overies. Within months memory problems presented. I read and read about Alzheimer's and discovered the protective and therapeutic effect of estrogen in Alzheimers. I pushed and pushed for estrogen replacement. (This was 5+ years after the cancer so contraindication wer not a big risk factor then. Besides, the risk of having Mom fewer years but with her mind seemed a better option than living longer but deep in dementia. That's what I'd want for me in such a situation.) But I was told by one emminent neurologist that estrogen receptors don't exist in the brain! WRONG!!! Eventually we got her on estrogen, but by then she had progressed deep into Alzheimers -- her mind had regressed to that of an infant. It was hard for me or my Dad to tell if it helped though other family members said they saw a difference.
(Excuse me, but I wouldn't lose sleep if someone took that gynaecologist and similarly whopped off his testicles. I wholly agree with women that feel that gynaecologists should be women! Again, excuse my outburst.)
As I'd mentioned the doc also rejected deprenyl, which benefits folks with Alzheimers. In the end, they kept pushing the nasty neuroleptics, but we finally got someone to replace it with Ativan, which calmed her without shutting down her frontal lobes and all the neuroleptic toxicities. I guess some of thse docs never took the Hippocratic oath.
> > Anyway, you mention transdermals and I think that one other possibility we considered was the nicotine patches used for smoking cessation.
>
> *Very* jittery for a nonsmoker!I'm not sure how you mean that but compare nicotine to the other ACh stimulants for Alzheimers (that she was given) like tacrine(Cognex) and all the nasty side effects like severe nausea. And as Adam said, the transdermals provide smoother pharmacokinetics. (thanks Adam for mentioning this!)
poster:Zeke
thread:9748
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991212/msgs/17004.html