Highlights citicoline, a drug which may not only halt stroke
cascade but may also protect and repair brain cell membranes. Information
on the study conducted by Richard Wurtman of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology; Functions of citicoline.
By
Randy Blaun, published on January 01, 1999
MEMORY
It's hard to watch a loved one struggling with the cruel
aftershocks of stroke: loss of speech, memory, eyesight and movement.
Unfortunately, while doctors can use TPA (tissue plasminogen activator)
to dissolve stroke-causing clots, the drug doesn't interfere with the
biochemical "stroke cascade" which causes mental and physical
disability
Enter citicoline, a drug which may not only halt the stroke cascade
but may protect and repair brain cell membranes. "We desperately need a
safe drug to treat the hundreds of thousands of people who have strokes
every year, and this may be it," says Richard Wurtman, M.D., professor of
neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In a recent study of 394 stroke patients, 41% of those treated with
500 milligrams of citicoline daily for six weeks achieved an almost
complete or complete recovery
Citicoline promotes synthesis of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter
involved in learning. This may explain why elderly folk who, pre-drug,
had scored below average on verbal memory tests saw their scores rise
when taking the medication, according to a study by MIT neuropsychologist
Paul Spiers, Ph.D.
Already used in 20 countries to treat stroke, dementia and brain
injury, citicoline could be approved by the FDA for stroke treatment here
in mid-2000 if current trials go well.
Tags:
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massachusetts institute of technology,
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neuroscience,
physical disability,
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stroke patients,
verbal memory
