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Biotech / Medical : Celgene-CELG -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Bloxom who wrote (238)	1/15/1999 7:41:00 PM
From: Miljenko Zuanic	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 804

So, ritalim may be prescribed for certain depression condition (in mice). Or, Prozac and other SSRIs may be prescribed for ADHD. Miljenko Hyperactivity Drugs Understood Scientists Gain Insight Into Treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder The Associated Press W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 15 — Medical science now may know how the drugs taken daily by millions of American children to calm hyperactivity affect the brain. New research in mice suggests that drugs such as Ritalin quiet hyperactivity by boosting the levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter, in the brain. A study was appearing today in the journal Science. Between 3 percent and 6 percent of American school-age children suffer from a condition called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. These children are restless and impulsive and have difficulty concentrating. Drugs such as Ritalin and Dexedrine have a calming effect, but their action has been poorly understood. Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers at Duke University discovered the serotonin action of Ritalin by eliminating the possibility that the drug was acting on other brain chemicals. They used a laboratory mouse strain that had been genetically manipulated to lack a key protein in the processing of dopamine, another neurotransmitter. Such mice have symptoms similar to those of ADHD. Not Acting on Dopamine When the mice lacking normal dopamine were given Ritalin, they were calmed, proving that the drug was not acting on dopamine. The researchers then blocked the effects of norepinephrine, another brain chemical, but this had no effect on the ADHD symptoms. Finally, the researchers gave the mice Prozac, a drug that inhibits the action of serotonin. The ADHD symptoms declined dramatically in the mice. The results, said the researchers, show that Ritalin acts on the serotonin levels in the brain by restoring a proper balance between serotonin and other natural brain chemicals.