Amantadine Medication Appears to Increase Recovery Rate of Thinking Skills

Past Studies reveal that a type of brain injury called “diffuse axonal injury” occurs in all motor vehicle crash-related traumatic brain injuries in which individuals lost consciousness and in approximately one third of all severe traumatic brain injuries. Diffuse axonal injury describes a type of brain injury where axons have been injured in a widespread fashion throughout the brain, causing a disruption to the messenger system of the nerve cells. Axons are the extension of a nerve cell in the brain that delivers “messages” from nerve cell to nerve cell. All the nerve cells in the brain work together to enable a person to perform functions, such as thinking clearly to remember things and solve problems. When nerve cells cannot receive or send messages accurately, an individual may not be able to function as before.

 

Researchers indicate that axonal damage initially can be caused by the traumatic injury itself and even more so secondarily by harmful chemicals released in the brain during injury that cause the axonal system to breakdown. Amantadine is a medication that can block the harmful chemical production in order to help protect nerve structures and preserve nerve function. Amantadine is a comparatively inexpensive medication with no serious adverse side effects. Amantadine studies on animals and individuals with strokes have appeared promising. The effect of Amantadine on the recovery rate of thinking skills for individuals with traumatic brain injuries has not been studied.

This Study included 35 individuals with motor vehicle crash-related traumatic brain injuries. The participants were randomly divided into two groups and received Amantadine within 12 weeks of their injury. The first group received Amantadine for six weeks and received a placebo, an inactive substance that contains no medication, for the second six weeks. The second group of participants received the placebo for the first six weeks and Amantadine for the second six weeks.

 

Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in thinking skills, such as memory, only during the six weeks that they received Amantadine. Both groups did not make the same significant gains during the period that they received the placebo. It did not appear to make a difference in the results if Amantadine was received during the first six weeks or second six weeks after the injury. The medication was well tolerated by the participants.

Physicians, researchers, individuals who receive automobile crash-related traumatic brain injuries, rehabilitation personnel, and third-party payers.

Amantadine appeared to be beneficial during the first 12 weeks after injury, no matter when it was started.

Amantadine appears to improve the recovery rate of thinking skills for individuals with diffuse axonal brain injuries when received within the first 12 weeks after injury. Amantadine appears to be a safe and cost effective medication. Because of the positive findings of this study, future research is warranted using a much large number of participants from multiple areas.