NICOTINE PATCH HAS POTENTIAL TO EASY MANY MALADIES.Byline: Richard Harkness Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire Nicotine patches are usually associated with smoking-cessation programs. The skin patch skin patch, transdermal patch, or transdermal delivery system, adhesive patch used to deliver a controlled dose of a drug through the skin over a period of time. is a way to get nicotine into the body in place of smoking - thus easing the craving for cigarettes. Recent studies show these same nicotine patches help patients with Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (ăls`hī'mərz, ôls–), degenerative disease of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex that leads to atrophy of the brain and senile dementia. and schizophrenia. They appear to improve intellectual function and alertness. Nicotine may help in Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. and Tourette's syndrome Tou·rette's syndrome or Tou·rette syndrome n. A severe neurological disorder characterized by multiple facial and other body tics, usually beginning in childhood or adolescence and often accompanied by grunts and compulsive utterances, as of , also. The patches carry nicotine into the bloodstream. It then goes into the brain and plugs into certain neurotransmitter receptors. Neurotransmitters Neurotransmitters Chemicals within the nervous system that transmit information from or between nerve cells. Mentioned in: Bulimia Nervosa, Impotence, Pain, Withdrawal Syndromes are chemicals that squirt between neurons and carry the signals that produce thought and memory. In Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, many of these receptors are lost. Nicotine appears to activate those still available. One study used Nicoderm patches in five patients with Alzheimer's disease. A 7-milligram patch was worn 16 hours a day for three to seven days, then a 14-milligram patch for two to seven days. Patients showed improvement in intellectual function and behavior. Nicotrol patches were used in another study in patients with schizophrenia who were currently taking the antipsychotic antipsychotic /an·ti·psy·chot·ic/ (-si-kot´ik) effective in the treatment of psychotic disorders; also, an agent that so acts. Antipsychotics are a chemically diverse but pharmacologically similar class of drugs; besides psychotic drug haloperidol haloperidol /hal·o·peri·dol/ (hal?o-per´i-dol) an antipsychotic agent of the butyrophenone group with antiemetic, hypotensive, and hypothermic actions; used especially in the management of psychoses and to control vocal utterances and for their condition. This drug typically causes memory and alertness problems. Three hours after applying the patches, the patients took a battery of tests. ``Nicotine caused a significant improvement in haloperidol-induced memory performance,'' one researcher said. Experts are buoyed by the results, but think better formulations may be needed. ``My guess is that the nicotine type of compounds will improve attention, arousal and perhaps some of the apathy you see in Alzheimer's disease,'' said Dr. Peter Whitehouse, director of the Alzheimer's Center at Case Western Reserve University. ``But I don't think the current nicotine patches will be adequate. We will need more targeted formulations.'' |
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