Amphetamines May Aid Stroke Recovery

A five-center clinical trial will seek to determine whether amphetamines coupled with customized physical therapy can improve recovery following a stroke, as suggested in some animal and small clinical studies. The principal investigator will be Dr. Larry Goldstein, a neurologist at Duke University Medical Center (Durham, NC).

Amphetamines belong to a class of drugs that stimulate the central and peripheral nervous system. They have been shown to stimulate the brain to release several neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine, that aid the passage of information between nerve cells. Physical therapy within the first 60 days after a stroke can improve functional abilities such as walking and arm and hand movements. Adding amphetamines may boost the beneficial effects of the physical therapy, say researchers. The ingestion of amphetamines will be timed so that peak levels of the drug will be circulating through the bloodstream during actual physical activity.

An adjunct trial, also involving the use of amphetamines and physical therapy, will be conducted concurrently with patients whose stroke occurred between one and six months previously. The goal is to determine if the new approach has any beneficial effects long past the initial stroke. The Duke team has been granted US$1.1 million to conduct the trials by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

"Somehow, the amphetamines seem to help in the relearning process,” said Dr. Goldstein. "The brain is not a static organ—it responds to injuries. While brain cells generally do not regenerate in adults, they are very dynamic and under the right conditions are subject to changes in performance.”




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