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Sleeping pill may help with nerve disorder

An Internet news source recently highlighted an article that appeared in the July 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The article was a report by a group of doctors who noted the beneficial effect zolpidem (Ambien) had on four of five patients with spinocerebellar ataxia. Spinocerebellar ataxia belongs to a family of ataxia disorders that are mainly inherited, and results in the degeneration, or atrophy of the parts of the nervous system that control movement. Areas of the central nervous system that may be affected include the cerebellum and the spinal cord. Some symptoms of ataxia include weakness, slurred speech, and loss of balance.

The New England Journal of Medicine reported that five patients from the same family with spinocerebellar ataxia were treated with zolpidem. The family member’s ages ranged from 24 to 49, and only temporary improvement was seen after treatment with zolpidem.

According to the news release the reporting physicians treated the patients with zolpidem because of published reports suggesting the potential benefit observed in patients with brain injury who were treated with zopidem. The author of the article interviewed Dr. Tetsuo Ashizawa whose credentials include being chairman of neurology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston; and an authority on ataxia. According to Dr. Tetsuo the report in the New England Journal of Medicine is interesting, but not significant in that the scales used for evaluation of ataxia were not valid. Dr. Tetsuo then goes on to explain that the beneficial effect seen in the four of five patients treated with ataxia may be due to the sedative and tranquilizing action of zolpidem, and feel that further study would be of interest.

References:

1) Edelson E. Sleeping Pill May Help With Nerve Disorder. Health Dayd. 2004 Scout News LLC.

Luke Winiesdorffer, Pharm D. candidate