Quote:
Originally Posted by johnt
Those people who see things in shades of grey and are using other drugs to treat high blood pressure may wish to discuss with their doctors moving to isradipine. It can be argued both ways whether this is an off-label use.
John
|
The news about Isradipine is in no way new. The relationship between the drug and lower incidence of PD has been around for over a decade. There has now been pre-clinical mouse data that supports they hypothesis of neuroprotection. In addition, conceptually, it makes sense. The announcement is for the start of the first human studies to actually test the drug for neuroprotection.
I think your suggestion about discussing it with your doctor for possible off label use is a good one. I had that conversation with my doctors (both MDS and Cardio) last year. I would suggest, however, that you keep the following in mind:
- To date, there has only been a correlational relationship between use of the drug and lower incidence of PD (similar to tobacco and coffee). This in no way means the drug can slow or stop progression.
- You do not know what the dosing schedule of the study will be. My understanding is that they used a much stronger dosage in the pre-clincal study than would normally be prescribed for high BP. I highly doubt any doc would recommend going over the prescribed dosage off label.
- If it actually does work, you may not even realize if for years. Keep in mind this is not for symptom control, its supposed to be neuroprotective. So, you wouldn't normally expect immediate or short term symptom relief. What you might expect is gradual improvement or longer term stabilization. I think the study goes on for three years.
That all being said, it is certainly worth having the conversation with your doctors. Or, since this is going to be a large multi-centered trial, people should consider joining the study and getting the proper dosage (if your not a placebo) along with ongoing, continuous monitoring.
As you stated, John, PwP do not want to be playing around with their BP without proper monitoring. This may be a reason to join the study rather than try it on your own. There will be some unique approaches to offsite patient monitoring. Carematix will support clinical trial operations including data management and real time uploading of blood pressure readings from patients at home. Verizon Enterprise Solutions will provide the communications technology that enables the exchange of data so that patient information can be securely transmitted to researchers for analysis and interpretation.
Gary