ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 29, 1996 TAG: 9612300098
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ORLANDO, FLA.
Nicotine patches, like the ones used by smokers kicking their habit, may boost the effectiveness of a drug prescribed to relieve verbal outbursts and other symptoms in children with Tourette syndrome.
The surprising findings by researchers at the University of South Florida in Tampa show that low-dose nicotine can amplify the effects of a commonly prescribed Tourette drug.
This means a dramatically lower dose of the potentially harmful medication can be prescribed.
Concerns about nicotine addiction, scientists say, are not an issue because only low-dose patches are used. The Tampa study is reported in the current issue of The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
``This is the first complete study looking at the long-term effects of the patch,'' said Dr. Paul Sanberg, a USF neuroscientist and the study's lead investigator.
Financed by the Tourette Syndrome Association, the study points again to nicotine's affinity for specific sites in the brain and adds to a list of neurological conditions for which nicotine may prove useful.
Tourette syndrome is a devastating neurobiological disorder characterized by tics, sudden involuntary movements and verbal outbursts.
- The Orlando Sentinel
LENGTH: Short : 35 linesby CNB