W ASHINGTON , DC - A little nicotine can go a long way toward the improving the lives of people with a condition called Tourette syndrome. Small doses of nicotine may increase the effects of other drugs, allowing patients to reduce their dose, neuroscientist Paul Sanberg of the University of Florida, Tampa, reported Feb. 21 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement science, which publishes science
people with Tourette syndrome have verbal tics and muscle. NOW; they shrug, wave, grin, or uncontrollable shaking their heads, and can bark or occasionally blurt curses. Most of the estimated 100,000 American children with this syndrome take small doses of powerful antipsychotic drugs such as haloperidol in controlling these symptoms. But the drugs also slow thinking and movement, and other serious side effects such as dizziness, headaches and dehydration.
During the last decade, Sandberg and others have gathered anecdotal evidence that low doses of nicotine patches or gum to enhance the potential of tic-calming other medicines also affect seen in rats. These observations suggest that children could reduce their total consumption of drugs by adding a bit of nicotine in their diet. "We're not talking about tobacco," says Sandberg
To test this hypothesis, Sanberg and colleagues enrolled 70 children aged 8 to 17 in a double-blind trial. half of them wore skin patches releasing 7 milligrams of nicotine per day for 8 weeks, while the other half was placebo spots. All continued to take their medication. The first group included much more normally, with fewer tics and verbal outbursts, Sanberg reported. Even when the dose of haloperidol participants was lowered halfway through the study, "the level of improvement was maintained." Sandberg declined to reveal the details of the study because the data are not yet published.
The study did not suggest that children become addicted to nicotine, or no previous trial. But there were minor side effects such as stomach pain and itching caused by the patch. Sandberg and others are now trying to find nicotinelike substances without the side effects that could be taken orally.
The medical community has been eagerly awaiting the data, said Gerald Erenberg, a pediatric neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. But "because nicotine was watching a villain as such, we are conservative about the results," he said. Erenberg said he hopes the study will be replicated by other researchers.
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