My mother came across this article just a few hours ago, and as she suspected that I may have the disease, she showed me the article from The Star.
"New research shows people who have used amphetamines such as benzedrine and dexedrine appear to be at an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a study released a few days ago that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 63rd Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 9-16, 2011.
Benzedrine and dexedrine are amphetamines often prescribed to increase wakefulness and focus for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, a disorder that can cause excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden attacks of sleep. They are also used to treat traumatic brain injuries.
The study involved 66,348 people in northern California who had participated in the Multiphasic Health Checkup Cohort Exam between 1964 and 1973 and were evaluated again in 1995. The average age of the participants at the start of the study was 36 years old. Of the participants, 1,154 people had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease by the end of the study. The exposure to amphetamines was determined by two questions: one on the use of drugs for weight loss, and a second question on whether people often use benzedrine or dexedrine.
Amphetamines were among the drugs commonly used for weight loss when this information was collected. According to the study, those people who reported using benzedrine or dexedrine were nearly 60% more likely to develop Parkinson's than those people who didn't take the drugs. There was no increased risk found for those people who used drugs for weight loss. 'If further studies confirm these findings, the potential risk of developing Parkinson's disease from these types of amphetamines would need to be considered by doctors before prescribing these drugs as well as be incorporated into amphetamines abuse programmes, including illicit use,' said study author Dr Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, with the Division of Research at Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland, California, US.
Van Den Eeden explained that amphetamines affect the release and uptake of dopamine, the key neurotransmitter involved in Parkinson's disease. He explained that more research needs to be completed to confirm the association and learn more about possible mechanism.
The study was supported by Kaiser Permanente Northern California.-HealthNewsDigest.com"
So that's the article,complete. The ones I highlighted shows that amphetamine is associated with weight loss drugs and that these amphetamines may trigger the risk of developing Parkinson's. But the study also said that other drugs does not increase the risk. Only the two amphetamines. Still, it is under research, so our best way now is to avoid these amphetamines until a conclusion is made.
Parkinson's disease is no joke. My grandmother suffers from it, and she could barely keep her arm still. It keeps moving throughout the day without stopping, and she could hardly do most things on her own. Her arm will jerk violently. Trust me, you wouldn't like it. I have a brief experience with my arm jerking violently non-stop for minutes and it almost freak me out. Even my friend's hand, who's holding my jerking hand, couldn't stop my hand from jerking. Instead, her hand were also jerked from holding my hand. Its strong, the jerks. It's not fun. It's scary.
