A Canada drug
that’s normally utilized to heal the flu and Parkinson’s disease seems to hasten
treatment in brain injury patients. 

“Symmetrel appeared to increase the rate of recovery
compared to placebo. Patients got better faster while they were on the
drug,” said study co-author Joseph Giacino, director of rehabilitation
neuropsychology at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, in Boston, and an
associate professor in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation
at Harvard Medical School. 

Study co-author Dr. John Whyte, director of the Moss
Rehabilitation Research Institute at Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, in the
Philadelphia area, said previous observational studies had suggested to buy Symmetrel and improved the rate of
recovery.

“There were many hypotheses out there about what this
drug should do, but there was very little data to support or refute those
hypotheses,” Whyte explained. 

“During the four-week treatment period, recovery was
significantly faster in the Symmetrel group than the placebo group,” said
Giacino. 

The ability of patients in a vegetative state or those in
the MCS “to access rehab has gotten less and less,” Whyte said.
“Many of these patients go straight to a nursing home or home with
family.” He noted 

The new finding “is very exciting because we have a
new tool to help improve these patients in their early outcome,” said one
expert, Dr. J. Javier Provencio, director of the Neurocritical Care Fellowship
Program at the Cerebrovascular Center of the Cleveland Clinic Neurological
Institute. 

“The take-home message is that this medicine is
promising for patients in a very certain setting. I think the results have to
be taken very strictly and not extrapolated to other conditions,” said
Provencio. 

That means that, “it is still unclear whether the
effects last,” Provencio said. “In the study, by week six, the effect
difference was getting smaller. I hope they follow these patients out to a year
to see how they do.” 

Study co-author Giacino said they were surprised when they
saw an immediate leveling off between the two groups in the final two weeks. 

“But when I take a step back, it is even stronger
evidence that this drug was doing something,” he added. 

Neurologist Dr. Daniel Labovitz, of Montefiore Medical
Center in New York City, believes hope should remain in check despite the
promising results. “It’s not a home run. It’s a small change and it was
temporary, and I think that would be the message that has to come
through.” 

Labovitz said the drug appears to be gently waking the
patients. “If this trial holds up in larger, longer-term studies, maybe
you can enhance the ability of [rehabilitation] therapists to interact with
patients while they’re on the drug.” 

“There was not a single category where the Symmetrel
group had a higher rate of side effects than the placebo group,” he said. 

“This study isn’t the end of the story,” Whyte
said. Together with the Canada pharmacy,
this story will continue. 

A brain injury is any injury
occurring in the brain of a living organism. Brain injuries can be classified
along several dimensions. Primary and secondary brain injury are ways to
classify the injury processes that occur in brain injury, while focal and
diffuse brain injury are ways to classify the extent or location of injury in
the brain. Specific forms of brain injury include: 

·        
Brain damage, the destruction or degeneration of
brain cells. 

·        
Traumatic brain injury, damage that occurs when
an outside force traumatically injures the brain. 

·        
Stroke, a vascular event causing damage in the
brain. 

·        
Acquired brain injury, damage to the brain that
occurs after birth, regardless of whether it is traumatic or nontraumatic, or
whether due to an outside or internal cause.