Canada Pharmacy Shares New Remedy to Traumatic Brain Injury

A Canada drug that's normally utilized to heal the flu and Parkinson's disease seems to hasten treatment in painful 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.