UF Med student Grant Hubsher recently published an article describing how a single observation in a patient with Parkinson’s disease taking amantadine for flu, led to the use of amantadine in Parkinson’s disease. His paper appears in this month’s edition of Neurology. The abstract is below:
Amantadine: The journey from fighting flu to treating Parkinson disease.
Source
Correspondence & reprint requests to Dr. Okun: okun@neurology.ufl.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To explore how amantadine transitioned from an anti-flu drug to antiparkinsonian agent.
METHODS:
A review of the historical literature on the use of amantadine from 1966 to the present was performed.
RESULTS:
Amantadine was originally introduced and utilized as an antiviral medication. A single patient noticed relief in her Parkinsondisease (PD) symptoms after taking amantadine for a flu infection, and this observation sparked an interest, and several important studies that eventually led to a new drug indication.
CONCLUSION:
Amantadine has over the years fallen out of favor as a drug to address influenza infection; however, it has become part of the arsenal utilized for early symptomatic treatment of PD, as well an option for treating dyskinesia.
- PMID:
- 22474298
- [PubMed - in process]
where can i find a good website for learning more about my dbs i have recently got?
We certainly think our own website is a good resource for DBS information. Please check:
http://mdc.mbi.ufl.edu/surgery/am-i-a-candidate-for-deep-brain-stimulation-intro
http://mdc.mbi.ufl.edu/surgery/uf-what-a-patient-needs-to-know-about-dbs
Thanks!