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Excerpts from Nicotine may relieve Tourette's, Parkinson's

By Rita Rubin, USA TODAY [02/22/00]

Nicotine actually appears to have a good side, although no one is advising people to take up smoking for their health.

Besides hooking smokers on cigarettes, nicotine may help some brain disorders, according to research presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C.

In an eight-week study that has not been published, Sanberg's team randomly assigned 70 young Tourette's patients to either nicotine patches or placebo patches.

On average, the patients on the nicotine patches were able to cut their dosage of Haldol, a potent tranquilizer used to treat Tourette's, by about half, Sanberg says. Haldol has a number of undesirable side effects, including learning disabilities. None of the young people became addicted to nicotine. Nausea, a slightly increased heart rate and itchiness from the patch were the main side effects.

Nicotine is thought to work by regulating brain levels of chemicals involved in carrying messages between nerve cells, Sanberg says. Tourette's patients have excessive levels of dopamine in the brain, while Parkinson's disease patients don't have enough.

In a paper accepted for publication, University of Vermont researchers tested nicotine in 15 people with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's, a degenerative movement disorder that can lead to dementia.

An intravenous dose of nicotine seemed to increase the patients' thinking ability, and wearing a nicotine patch for two weeks appeared to improve their motor skills.