Pill (Seromycin, made by Eli Lilly) May Help People Overcome Fears

AP Yahoo News ^ | Nov. 10, 2003 | JANET McCONNAUGHEY

[FairOpinion]

NEW ORLEANS - Scientists say a pill may help people overcome their worst phobias. In a small study released Monday, a drug already on the market for tuberculosis helped people who were terrified of heights get over that fear with only two therapy sessions instead of the usual seven or eight.

The study, led by Michael Davis, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine, was described at a session about unlearning fears at the Society for Neuroscience meeting.

Davis based his work on research that had found the transmission of a certain protein to a brain receptor were critical to overcoming fear. He found that the TB drug, D-cycloserine, aids (news - web sites) the transmission of the crucial protein.

The drug, sold by Eli Lilly and Co. under the brand name Seromycin, doesn't dissolve fear. But in rats, it helped them unlearn fears faster, Davis said. Since it was already approved for use in people, he and Barbara O. Rothbaum, director of the school's trauma and anxiety recovery program, tested it on 28 acrophobics, people afraid of heights.

Each got a pill just before their two virtual reality therapy sessions, in which computerized goggles are used to simulate going up a glass elevator in a hotel lobby. Nobody knew whether the pill was a dummy or one of two doses of D-cycloserine, the 500 mg used for TB or one-tenth that dose.

One participant dropped out. When checked one week after and three months after the second session, the 10 patients who had gotten placebos did slightly better than they had at the start. But the 17 on drug — the dose didn't seem to matter — did as well as or better than people who had finished the usual course of eight treatments, Davis said.

"That's pretty powerful stuff, and pretty convincing," said Alan Steinberg, associate director of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress at UCLA.

And those who had taken the drug were twice as likely as those on the placebo to be going up in elevators, driving over high bridges and doing other things that fear of panic attacks had kept them from doing before the therapy.

"That's an especially positive aspect of these results," said Mark Bouton, a psychology professor at the University of Vermont. Many times, he noted, fear unlearned in one situation — elevators, for instance — may still show up in other areas, such as high bridges or rooftop restaurants.

However, David Kupfer, a Falls Church, Va., cognitive behavioral therapist with a specialty in phobias and other anxiety disorders, said that even if larger studies confirm the findings, he probably would use it only in a few patients.

Other research has indicated that people who go through therapy unmedicated for such problems do better, in the long run, he said.

"People learn ... that they are the powerful agent of change, not the medication," he said.

However, Kupfer said, it could be useful for people who have trouble with exposure therapy, whether it is virtual reality, imagination or going out to face the fear. ___

On the Net:

Anxiety Disorder Association of America: http://www.adaa.org/

Society for Neuroscience: http://www.sfn.org

[FairOpinion]

This sounds like it could be very helpful to people who have debilitating phobias and fears.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

It could also counter people's survival/Darwin gene

[cavtrooper21]

Cool, we can offer free percriptions over at DU....

[al baby]

30 Mg of valium also worked for me

[Vigilantcitizen]

This technology already exists...

[thulldud]

Or Prozac and Jack Daniels'. A 10 oz. Jack'n'Zac beats a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster any day. ( Or so I hear. )

[FairOpinion]

"This technology already exists..."

==

LOL! And alcohol is more fun, too. ;)

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Wouldn't work...Democrats breed early and rapidly.

[anniegetyourgun]

So, are the leftists going to require "homophobes" to take a pill?

[At _War_With_Liberals]

Total bullsh**.

They would love to sell this to every American with a 'fear' of anything.

They are trying to regulate human feelings with chemicals, and that is not right.

[FairOpinion]

There are some people who really have debilitating fears, that they literally are afraid to go out of the house and things like that.

I think, from the sound of it, this may help those.

It's not for "normal" type problems, but for people who don't dare get on an airplane, or get out of the house, or are afraid of germs, etc., it may help them be more normal.

[FreedomFarmer]

I have copious research data on shy women & white wine.

[Paul Atreides]

Just think: the Clintons could finally consummate their marriage.

[FairOpinion]

"So, are the leftists going to require "homophobes" to take a pill? "

===

Don't give them any ideas. ;)

[dep]

it reminds me of a florida story from the early 1980s. a guy scheduled for execution had as his last meal two dozen raw oysters. asked why he made his choice, he said that he had never had them before. (i am not making this up.) sounds like a mighty big chance to take when it's your last opportunity to eat anything, doesn't it? i thought so, too, so i followed the story for awhile and it turns out somebody -- a guard was suspected -- had told the guy that oysters make you immune to electricity. maybe these pills make you think you're immune to whatever it is you fear.

[Nov3]

Dilantin 100 mg B.I.D.

[GeronL]

This can be abused. Imagine giving this to soldiers in combat.

fear is usually a healthy thing if it makes you take precautions.

Imagine those who wash high-rise office windows or who do high-rise construction if they didn't feel it necessary to take precautions.

[GeronL]

You know what a powered-parachute is?? I want to make one from a dune buggy... I need a test pilot... =o)

[CrazyIvan]

How true. And I've got the scars to provc it.

[FairOpinion]

I get the im0pression from this article that this pill wouldn't take away the "healthy" emotional reactions, such as normal fear.

"Davis based his work on research that had found the transmission of a certain protein to a brain receptor were critical to overcoming fear. He found that the TB drug, D-cycloserine, aids (news - web sites) the transmission of the crucial protein. "

I think if people would take large doses, it may be more powerful. But just taking away fear, doesn't mean, that it would impair your judgement.

Like with almost any medication, one has to be careful, and there is a potential for abuse.

But I think it has the potential for helping a lot of people.