Controlling Emotion
March 26, 2004
TULSA, Okla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- One million Americans a year are diagnosed with a specific condition called pseudobulbar affect that causes uncontrollable laughing or crying. It affects patients with many diseases, including Lou Gehrig's disease, multiple sclerosis, and severe brain injuries. The condition often causes embarrassment in social situations and causes many patients to withdraw and stay confined to their homes. Now, there’s a way to settle these hard-to-control emotions.
Zoot Wilson and his wife Marysa are back in step now -- having fun with daily dance lessons. But that wasn't always the case. Zoot has Lou Gehrig's disease. He’s being treated for one of its side effects -- uncontrollable laughter.
"She said I laughed at the most inopportune times," Zoot tells Ivanhoe. "I laughed at stuff that wasn't funny, but I was very frustrated. I knew I was frustrated, but the laughter part?" Marysa says, "He was humored by things that weren’t necessarily appropriate or as funny as he thought them to be.”
A therapy under study by Neurologist and psychiatrist Ralph W. Richter, M.D., of Tulsa, Okla., targets the pathways of the brain that control our emotions. “It may be in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. It may also be deeper in the thalamus, which in some sense the soul, is the seat of the soul, or emotion,” Dr. Richter says.
Zoot joined the trial and takes a drug dubbed AVP-923, a combination of dextromethorphan and quinidine, every day. The results? “I'm just happier," he says. "My emotions are more even.”
Dr. Richter says, “The benefit is toward quality of life. If you're not embarrassing yourself or feel embarrassed, you're going to feel better about yourself.”
No longer on an emotional roller coaster, Zoot says he's enjoying himself with a sense of humor and some smooth moves on the dance floor.
Dr. Richter says the study may also help with uncontrollable laughter that is sometimes seen in patients with memory loss and depression.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Angela Corman
Certified Clinical Research Coordinator
Clinical Pharmaceutical Trials, Inc.
(918) 743-4374
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.