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From: Nathan Lavid
Date: 12 Oct 2010
Time: 23:29:06 -0500
Remote Name: 96.229.104.42
Hello Ora, I was not involved in the Pagoclone study, but have some familiarity with it. In short, when evaluated by excepted research standards, it was not effective. This, obviously, is disappointing. In light of the study results, I doubt that it or other medications that modulate GABA activity will be evaluated further in stuttering. However, there are medications that have shown to induce fluency in stuttering, and these medications affect dopamine function. Unfortunately, these types of medications are not specific for areas in the brain that just affect speech, which can lead to other medical problems. The potential adverse effects are not benign, for example can lead to diabetes and cause symptoms that mimic Parkinson’s disease. On a brighter note, psychopharmacologic research is progressing and medications are being developed to be more specific. If and when a more tolerable fluency-inducing medication becomes available, it will be a treatment option for those who stutter.