3 ms·
Traditional Parkinson's symptoms (problems w/ voluntary movement) only show up after 80-90% of dopaminergic neurons are gone. That's a whole lot of dead cells.
by xkcd-sucks 12y ago
Traditional Parkinson's symptoms (problems w/ voluntary movement) only show up after 80-90% of dopaminergic neurons are gone. That's a whole lot of dead cells.
Symptoms of pre-Parkinsonian dopaminergic neuron loss are (anhedonia, depression, psychiatric weirdness without movement disorder) are just beginning to be described, and it's very likely that stimulant use will be shown to cause pre-Parkinsonian symptoms in human populations once we know what to look for, and after somebody decides to spend tons of time and money investigating it.
Maybe the appropriate clinical recommendation is to exercise caution with DAT ligands, and to use them as minimally as possible?
- bayesianhorse 12y agoSo the mice showed 80% loss after what? One or two years of chronic use? How come people have taken this for twenty years and more and we didn't notice the Parkinson epidemic?
- xkcd-sucks 12y agoThe mice showed a ~20% loss at high dose. At the low dose, the mice showed no significant loss but were vulnerable to a sub-threshold dose of a toxin and toxin+MPH mice showed a ~20% loss. This is in figure 1, and in the discussion. Exactly what behavioral effects result from a 20% loss of DA neurons is still an open question. So, the clinical implication is that people on methylphenidate might be vulnerable to things (rotenone, heavy metals, etc) which aren't toxic to "normal" people.