Posted by Philidor on August 23, 2004, at 11:15:03
In reply to Re: The Truth about Stimulant Tolerance, posted by elleff on August 23, 2004, at 0:54:56
> > Dear Philidor
> >
> > This may be of no use nor benefit, but I post this link because I happened to come across this old paper recently:
> >
> > "Inhibition of Amphetamine Tolerance and Metabolism by Propranolol" - Shoeman DW, Sirtori CR, & Ararnoff DL, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (1974) v191 (1):68 - 71.
> >
> > This reports studies on the pharmacokinetics and anorectic effect of amphetamine on laboratory rats, which showed, from my amatuer reading, an inhibition of amphetamine breakdown rather than any alteration in pharmacodynamics.
> >
> > I haven't seen nor heard any references to similar effects on humans on this board or elsewhere however.
> >
> > regards
> >
> > elleff
>
> PS sorry, forgot to include the link (but it's not much use because no abstract available):
>
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=4418151
>
Greetings elleff, thanks for that link.My only comment on the study---since I'm unable to read it, is that it's 30 YEARS OLD! If proprananol, a beta-blocker that is used all the time by doctors, did indeed prevent tolerance developing to stimulants in HUMANS, it would be common knowledge and routinely prescribed for just that purpose. (As a psych-med, it's still sometimes used to treat "stage fright", among other things, with mixed results.)
The fact that it is not, and that you've seen nothing further published on the subject, should tell you something.
This sort of thing happens ALL THE TIME in phamaceutical research. A single study on lab rats indicates that drug X cures or prevents disorder Y, causing initial interest, or even excitment, which quickly fades when follow-up studies fail to produce the same result.
That's why it's wise to withhold judgement until all the results are confirmed, and to ignore the impressive-sounding theorizing from so-called experts giving you lots of "scientific" reasons why melatonin, or whatever, is bound to be the answer to insomnia, (or whatever).
"Show me the money!", I say.
Best,
Phil
PS Of course,there's no harm in TRYING some of these potential remedies as long as the costs and risks are acceptable to you. You never know. Like, I've tried melatonin for insomnia myself, (and gotten the same disappointing results as most people.)
poster:Philidor
thread:380561
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040821/msgs/381239.html