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cough syrup metabolite researched for stroke threatment, what happened?

asecin

Bluelighter
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Apr 13, 2005
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from wikipedia; Dextrorphan was under development for the treatment of stroke, and reached phase II clinical trials for this indication, but development was discontinued.[9]

so i cant get any further information on this. anyone care to help here please? im just curious if they found out that cough syrup can cause brain holes etc.
 
It's the same story with pretty much every other NMDA antagonist; the whole spectrum of compounds has been investigated for neuroprotective effects vs strokes and the like by reducing excitotoxicity, but I think the long and short is that they simply don't work for that purpose. Phase 1 trials are just to determine tolerability (i.e. can people take the drug without dropping dead), only in phase 2 trials does the question of efficacy for a given purpose come into question.
 
Also with all of the drugs that prevent ischemic brain damage, it's really hard to have a clinical trial where they give people the drugs right before they have a stroke/ischemia.
 
I recently read this interesting paper which goes into a bit more detail about the various clinical trials of NMDA antagonists for various purposes, including why they may have completely failed for stroke.

The dextrorphan study itself concluded that it was pretty safe, if not always well-tolerated. (In fact, dissociative effects seem to have been a problem that comes up a lot in these studies, even those on competitive antagonists.)
 
so chugging cough syrup in a moment of feeling you might be experiencing a stroke or a seizure is a good or a bad idea? just clarify this for me please.
 
so chugging cough syrup in a moment of feeling you might be experiencing a stroke or a seizure is a good or a bad idea? just clarify this for me please.

That would be a bad idea, as the compound was not found to be safe and/or effective for that indication.
 
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