Re: Piracetam - OK got curious -some stuff I found out about it

November 22, 2008

wow! I just read 's research page and searched for more

myself...this is from Dr. Weil...as follows...and read the last lines

of what he says!!!!!!!!!!! fish oils! nothing beats fish oils. I

dunno, I think the fact that it smells like gasoline, scares me. Best

wishes to all of you who are using this and the other drug along with

it. may you be safe and your kids excel!!!

Q

Looking for a Brain Boost from Piracetam?

What do you think of a supplement called piracetam, considered to be a

brain nutrient? It has been used in Europe for decades.

A

Answer (Published 3/20/2007)

Piracetam is a so-called " smart drug " or " nootropic " (mind-turning)

agent loved by some students and life-extension types, but their use

is generally discouraged by mainstream experts on brain function.

Piracetam is said to improve learning and memory and boost

concentration without causing toxicity, even at high doses.

Enthusiasts claim that piracetam " wakes up " the brain.

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I doubt it. I can tell you that piracetam is not a recognized brain

nutrient and that there's not much scientific evidence to support the

claims made for it. I am aware that it is available by prescription in

Europe but that doesn't mean that piracetam is effective. You can't

buy it over-the-counter in the United States either – you have to

order it by mail or get it in Mexico.

We don't know much about how piracetam and other smart drugs work,

although they might affect nerve pathways in the brain that use

acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter believed to play an important role

in learning and memory. Another smart drug, Hydergine, is marketed as

a nonspecific cerebral stimulant, and is prescribed to help relieve

symptoms of age-related mental decline. It is available in the United

States, and the same people who talk up piracetam often recommend it

for enhancing mental abilities and intelligence.

I tried hydergine myself some years ago to see what it could do, but I

detected no benefits. While the drug seems safe enough, I don't see

the point of using it - especially since it's expensive. I haven't

seen any evidence that it lives up to the many claims made for it. If

you're tempted to try any of the smart drugs, you should be aware that

none has been evaluated for long-term use.

Your best bet for keeping your mind and memory nimble is to take on

new mental challenges. The best mental workouts I know are learning a

new computer operating system and learning a new language. Tackling a

new operating system is exactly the type of task needed to force

change in the brain's neural network so that it will stay flexible and

young. Learning a language draws on " fluid intelligence, " the ability

to stay focused and to manage attention while ignoring irrelevant

information. Fluid intelligence is one of the first aspects of brain

function affected by age.

As for things to take to improve brain function, nothing beats

supplemental fish oil in doses of 1 to 2 grams a day. Most people in

our part of the world are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, and that

impacts mental and emotional health adversely. Look for a product that

provides both EPA and DHA in a ratio of about 3-4 to 1.

Weil, M.D.

>

> 2 articles about this drug...did those of you that give this stuff to

> your kids know that you can't just stop it -you have to reduce a drop

> at a time -and that there may be changes in dosages around the dates

> of a flight?! I'm sure there's much more out there on this stuff or

> what Dr. Leshin calls " a drug in search of a disease. "

>

> Piracetam and Down syndrome

> Summary by Len Leshin, MD, FAAP

>

> Piracetam is what I refer to as " a drug in search of a disease. " A

> best-selling drug in Europe and Japan, a large portion of sales is to

> normal adults looking for cognitive enhancement. It is not a drug of

> first choice for any disease process yet, though current research is

> looking into myoclonus, sickle cell disease, stroke and Raynaud

> syndrome.

>

> Piracetam became a controversial topic in the mid-1990s when a

> parent group began advocating its use for Down syndrome. There was

> notable publicity due to two ABC news shows about it and internet

> advocacy on the part of the parent group. However, the company

> licensing it, UCB Pharma in Belgium, has discouraged its use in

> children with Down syndrome. In July 1998, UCB Pharma specifically

> denied all rumors that it will fund or has plans to fund any study

> with children with Down syndrome in the United States or elsewhere.

> Many advocates of its use in Down syndrome claim that UCB Pharma's

> reluctance stems more from economic motives than scientific; however,

> UCB Pharma has obtained " orphan drug " status for piracetam in the US,

> and is currently planning a controlled trial of piracetam and

> myoclonus in the US. If given approval by the FDA for myoclonus, UCB

> Pharma would have several years of exclusivity of the drug in the

> US.

>

> I have listed below the studies that involve children with Down

> syndrome. I have a separate page for other research on piracetam.

>

> Lobaugh NJ et al. Piracetam does not enhance cognitive abilities in

> moderate to high-functioning 7 to 13 year-old children with Down

> syndrome. Presented at the PAS/SPR meeting in San Francisco May 3,

> 1999; published in Archives of Ped and Adol Med, April 2001, 155

> (4):442-448.

>

> " Piracetam, a drug reported to enhance cognitive performance in many

> neurobehavioural conditions, has become popular in the treatment of

> children with Down Syndrome (DS). However, reports of its efficacy in

> DS have been anecdotal, not from evidence-based studies. Some

> caregivers have noted no effect of piracetam, while others claim

> substantial improvement in cognitive functioning. To address the need

> for objective analysis, we conducted a double-blind placebo-

> controlled crossover study assessing the cognitive and behavioral

> effects of piracetam in children with DS. Patients and Study Design.

> Children with DS (n = 25, 13 males, 6.5 - 13 yrs) and their parents

> participated. The first phase of the study was a baseline cognitive

> assessment. Children were then randomly assigned to one of two four-

> month treatment arms: Piracetam. Placebo or Placebo. Piracetam.

> Children were retested at the end of the two treatment phases.

> Children received 80-100 mg/kg piracetam per day in capsules. Placebo

> was administered in the same manner. Test Battery. The test battery

> included 16 tasks assessing attention, learning, memory, verbal

> fluency, perceptual and spatial abilities, processing speed, fine

> motor skills, and executive function. Both standardized and

> experimental tasks were included. Secondary outcome measures were

> questionnaires completed by parents and teachers at each of the three

> phases. Results. Eighteen children (7 - 13 yrs) completed the study,

> 5 withdrew, and 2 could not complete the battery at baseline testing.

> The mean mental age for the final sample was 4.2 ± .7 years (Stanford

> Binet). The 16 tasks yielded 75 measures and the parent and teacher

> questionnaires had 80 and 24 items, respectively. Piracetam did not

> show significant effects over placebo on any outcome measure. All

> significant interactions (p's < 0.05) with drug order or the

> covariate were examined further to ensure drug effects were not being

> masked. That analysis did not alter the results. Piracetam

> administration was associated with CNS stimulatory effects:

> aggressiveness (n=4), agitation (n =3), sexual arousal, (including

> masturbation in public, n=2), irritability (n=1), and poor sleep

> (n=1). Conclusion. Piracetam has received a great deal of attention

> in the popular press purporting its efficacy in improving cognitive

> function in children with Down Syndrome. In this study, we were

> unable to substantiate these claims, even at doses associated with

> adverse effects. Neither cognitive nor behavioural measures

> demonstrated improvement under piracetam. Due to the serious adverse

> effects, it is unlikely that larger doses can be tolerated. "

>

> Fialho J Dromia and Piracetam: a useful association in the treatment

> of Down syndrome. Tempo Medico 30:944, 1977. (The original was

> published in Spanish; an English version was reprinted in a book

> whose specifics are unknown to me.) 26 children with DS between 3

> months and 12 years were given Dromia (mixture of pyriglutine and 5-

> hydroxytryptophan) alone, and then a combination of Dromia and

> Piracetam. The children were then evaluated based on their muscle

> tone, motor development, mental development, speech, affective-social

> development, scholastic achievement and EEG trace. The author

> concludes that the combination of the two drugs caused an improvement

> in all aspects, but especially speech. There were no side effects

> noted. (Unfortunately, this is a terrible study. There were no

> controlled subjects, the investigator does not tell how he evaluated

> the above categories and does not say if the subjects, parents, or

> investigators were " blinded " as to which children were getting one or

> both drugs.)

>

> An unpublished feasibility study was conducted in 1999 at the Kennedy

> Kriger Institute in Baltimore under the guidance of Dr.

> Capone. Five school-aged children with DS were given piracetam and

> compared to five children with DS not on piracetam. The piracetam was

> given at 100 mg/kg body weight per day. After six months, the

> children were assessed for auditory verbal memory, auditory non-

> verbal memory, visual memory, and spatial working memory. There were

> no statistically significant differences in the two groups. It should

> be noted that this was a study that was set up more to prove to the

> NIH that the study was doable and deserving to be funded on a large-

> scale basis rather than to prove whether to not piracetam had any

> measurable effects. A lack of funds kept this study from being

> carried out to a point where the research could be published.

> In 2002, Dr. Capone and his associates published their trial of

> piracetam on trisomy mice: The effects of piracetam on cognitive

> performance in a mouse model of Down's syndrome Physiology & Behavior

> 77: 403-409, 2002.

>

> " Piracetam is a nootropic agent that has been shown to improve

> cognitive performance in a number of animal model systems. Piracetam

> is reported to be used widely as a means of improving cognitive

> function in children with Down's syndrome (DS). In order to provide a

> preclinical assessment of the potential efficacy of piracetam, we

> examined the effects of a dose range of piracetam in the Ts65Dn mouse

> model of DS. Ts65Dn mice are trisomic for a region of mouse

> chromosome 16 with homology to human chromosome 21. Daily piracetam

> treatment at doses of 0, 75, 150, and 300 mg/kg ip was initiated in 6-

> week-old male Ts65Dn and euploid control mice. Following 4 weeks of

> treatment, mice were tested in the visible and hidden-platform

> components of the water maze and were placed overnight in

> computerized activity chambers to assess effects on overall activity.

> Piracetam treatment was continued through the 4 weeks of testing. In

> control mice, 75 and 150 mg/kg/day piracetam improved performance in

> both the visible- and hidden-platform tasks. Although low doses of

> piracetam reduced search time in the visible-platform component in

> Ts65Dn mice, all piracetam doses prevented trial-related improvements

> in performance in Ts65Dn mice. The 300-mg/kg/day-piracetam dose was

> associated with a reversal of the nocturnal spontaneous hyperactivity

> in Ts65Dn. These data do not provide support for piracetam treatment

> for individuals with DS. "

>

> Advocates of piracetam have argued that choline must also be

> supplemented with piracetam to get any effect, thus explaining the

> results of the Toronto and s Hopkins studies. The main basis for

> this belief are the following studies:

>

> Bartus RT et al. Profound effects of combining choline and piracetam

> on memory enhancement and cholinergic function in aged rats.

> Neurobiol Aging Summer;2(2):105-11, 1981. Rats given both choline and

> piracetam did better on a memory test than on choline or piracetam

> alone.

>

> Platel A et al. Habituation of exploratory activity in mice: effects

> of combinations of piracetam and choline on memory processes.

> Pharmacol Biochem Behav 21(2):209-12, 1984. Mice did better on memory

> of their environment with the combination of choline and piracetam

> than on either separately.

>

> Mosharrof AH & Petkov VD. Effects of citicholine and of the

> combination citicholine + piracetam on the memory. Acta Physiol

> Pharmacol Bulg 16(1):25-31, 1990. Mice did better with memory

> retention with the combination of citicholine and piracetam than the

> compounds separately.

>

> Friedman E et al. Clincal Response to choline plus piracetam in

> senile dementia: relation to red-cell choline levels. New Eng J Med

> 1981 Jun 11; 304(24): 1490-1. This is actually a " letter " rather than

> a full paper, and consisted giving 10 patients with presenile

> dementia piracetam and choline for 7 days in a non-controlled study.

> 3 of the 10 had " marked improvement " cognitively, but no description

> of the cognitive tests or whether the testing was blinded is

> mentioned. The 3 who responded had higher choline red blood cell

> levels than the 7 who didn't respond.

>

> However, other studies show a lack of usefulness of the combination:

> Ennaceur A & Delacour J. Effect of combined or separate

> administration of piracetam and choline on learning and memory in the

> rat. Psychopharmacology 92(1):58-67, 1987. Rats given choline alone

> did better than rats given piracetam alone on memory test, and rats

> given piracetam and choline together did worse than the other groups.

> Growdon JH et al. Piracetam combined with lecithin in the treatment

> of Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiol of Aging 7:269-276, 1986. Piracetam

> was administered alone or with lecithin (phosphatidylcholine) in a

> double-blinded test. No effect was seen, with or without lecithin, on

> cognition or memory test scores.

>

> Corona GL et al. Clinical and biochemical responses to therapy in

> Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia. Eur. Arch. Psychiatr.

> Neurol. Sci. 239:79-86, 1989. Patients with either AD or multi-

> infarct dementia were given either piracetam or piracetam with

> choline. This was not paired with placebos. Despite biochemical

> changes, there was no change in memory performance.

> It should be noted that the maker of piracetam, UCB Pharma, has never

> incorporated choline as part of any of its research on humans with

> Alzhemier's disease or myoclonus.

>

> http://www.ds-health.com/piracet.htm

>

> Piracetam Frequently Asked Questions

>

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

> ----------

> Piracetam's (2-oxo-1-pyrrolidine acetamide) earliest use in Down

> syndrome was in Spain and Portugal in 1974 in a comparative study,

> using historic case controls, of Dromia (a 5-hydroxytryptophan

> containing product) and Noostan (a brand of Piracetam) in 26 children

> from age 3 months to 12 years of age (Fialho, 1977).

>

> Piracetam is a cyclic derivative of GABA (gamma amino butyric acid, a

> neurotransmitter) and enhances cognition under conditions of hypoxia

> (lack of oxygen), enhances memory and some kinds of learning in non-

> disabled persons, mitigates oxidative stress, returns fluidity to

> brain membranes that have undergone hardening from lipid peroxidation

> and allows for increased communication between the hemispheres of the

> brain. It is reported to be an intelligent booster and a CNS (central

> nervous system) stimulant with no known toxicity or addictive

> properties. Its effects and safety are so impressive that piracetam

> prompted the creation of a new pharmaceutical category called

> nootropics.

>

> Piracetam is available by mail overseas or by prescription in the USA

> from a compounding pharmacy.

>

> Piracetam is not FDA approved for OTC (over the counter) sale and has

> been granted an orphan status in the USA. As of June of 2006,

> piracetam is not regulated in the United States (it is neither a

> controlled substance nor a prescription drug).

>

> The Piracetam NDC code for insurance purposes is 38779017725.

>

> Piracetam and Seizures

>

> Piracetam is an anticonvulsant. There are no know medical reports

> supporting the link between Piracetam and seizures. Infantile spasms

> are common in Down syndrome.

>

> Piracetam and Coumadin

>

> Piracetam can cause lack of adhesion of platelets which can affect

> clotting.

>

> When a patient is on Coumadin therapy due to valve replacement,

> Coumadin levels will need to be adjusted if the patient is on

> Piracetam.

>

> Piracetam and Surgery

>

> Piracetam should be doubled 72 hours prior to surgery and removed 48

> hours before the surgery is scheduled because of its blood thinning

> properties. Because Piracetam increases acetylcholine receptors, it

> allows the brain to handle the effects of anesthesia and cholinergic

> drugs better, like atropine and scopalamine, that are given as part

> of pre-operation medications. Resume Piracetam as soon as patient is

> home.

>

> Piracetam and Flying

>

> Piracetam has the capability of maintaining high oxygen levels in the

> brain even under periods of low oxygen stress such as flying.

> Pressurized planes have periods of low partial pressure of oxygen due

> to altitude. In addition, aircrafts are typically only pressurized to

> the equivalent of 8,000-9,000 feet altitude, i.e., there is less

> oxygen for a child that has a heart condition impairing oxygenation.

> Increase Piracetam dosage by 50% the day before and the day of

> flying.

>

> Piracetam and Phosphocholine

>

> Choline is necessary because one of the major effects of Piracetam is

> the stimulation of increased numbers of acetylcholine receptors.

> Without choline this step is inefficient and choline should be given

> in conjunction with Piracetam within 8 hour timespan. A dosage of 250

> mg of phosphocholine for every 20 pounds of weight, up to 800 mg, in

> conjunction with Piracetam, is recommended for persons not on

> NuTriVene-D®. The dosage can be doubled for adults up to 1600 mg.

> Phosphocholine, also known as Phosphatidyl Choline or Lecithin, is

> available from most health food stores.

>

> Piracetam and Glutamate

>

> While glutaminergic receptors are increased in Down syndrome [Arai,

> Mizuguchi, & Takashima, 1996. Excessive glutamate receptor 1

> immunoreactivity in adult Down syndrome brains. Pediatric Neurology,

> 15, 203-6] there is no evidence that Piracetam stimulates

> glutaminergic receptors to any great extent. Their main stimulus is

> on acetylcholine receptors.

>

> Withdrawing Piracetam

>

> Do not stop any drug that has psychotropic effects abruptly: first

> reduce the dose of Piracetam by half for 2 days, then drop a dose

> each day, until it is eliminated.

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

> ----------

> Source: http://www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/piracefa.html

>

> 1. Cognitive Enhancement Research Institute Revised: October 20,

> 2006.

> 2. Lawrence G. Leichtman, M.D. FAAP, FACMG. Genetics and Disabilities

> Diagnostic Care Center

>

> http://www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/index.htm?page=piracefa.html

>

> =====

>

November 22, 2008

Hey Krissy -or is this yet another testimony for Rock Band and/or

Guitar Hero?!

From Dr. Weil's article you posted below:

" Tackling a new operating system is exactly the type of task needed

to force change in the brain's neural network so that it will stay

flexible "

You can play/sing gasoline for therapy instead of eating it for

therapy!

=====

November 22, 2008

I don't know about who this Dr. Weil is but most of us heard about Piracetam

from doctors or nutritionalists. This nootropic has been used in the medical

community by prescription for a long time now and there are countless

'legitimate' studies (rather then comments by Dr. Who?) available to read at

http://www.piracetam.com. The downs syndrome community has used this for a

LOOONG while now with great success and the Alzheimer community is also using as

well as the dementia community.

I am confident that soon this nootropic will be available by prescription only

because if the drug companies aren't making money off of it.... they like to

steal it away!

Janice

[sPAM][ ] Re: Piracetam - OK got curious -some

stuff I found out about it