The study also opens the door to test amantadine in patients with nontraumatic brain injuries from stroke, aneurysm, oxygen deprivation and tumor resection, Levine said. report beneficial effects of amantadine therapy in prevention of pneumonia in stroke patients after 3 years' follow-up. Their study was conducted on the basis that amantadine releases dopamine from nerve terminals, thereby improving the swallowing reflex in patients with cerebral infarction—particularly those with basal ganglion infarction. “The favorable neurobehavioral effects of amantadine may reflect enhanced neurotransmission in the dopamine-dependent nigrostriatal, mesolimbic, and frontostriatal circuits that are responsible for mediating arousal, drive, and attentional functions.” An unnamed patient, 36, believed to be from Berlin, who was only being kept alive by medical intervention, was able to speak in short sentences after being given the drug amantadine. [Amantadine sulfate (PK-Merz) in the treatment of ischemic stroke: a clinical-experimental study]. [Article in Russian] Khasanova DR, Saĭkhunov MV, Kitaeva EA, Khafiz'ianova RKh, Islaamov RR, Demin TV. We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content and ads. By continuing you agree to the use of cookies. Advertisements on this site do not constitute a guarantee or endorsement by the journal, Association, or publisher of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made for it by its manufacturer. When Amantadine hydrochloride capsules or anticholinergic antiparkinson drugs are each used with marginal benefit, concomitant use may produce additional benefit. When Amantadine and levodopa are initiated concurrently, the patient can exhibit rapid therapeutic benefits. The objective of the study is to test the action of the amantadine, as DOPA-agonist, in a double blind cross-over trial, amantadine / placebo, on the verbal fluency of chronic post stroke aphasic patients. Disclosures: Funded in part by support to Dr. Barrett by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Henry H. Kessler Foundation, and by support to Dr. Gonzalez Rothi by the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Changes included the ability to give yes-and-no answers, follow commands or use a spoon or hairbrush. Of the patients who received amantadine, only 17 percent remained in a vegetative state.