No evidence exists at present to support the use of amphetamine after stroke .
INTRODUCTION The use of drugs to enhance recovery ( " rehabilitation pharmacology " ) has been assessed .
Amphetamine can improve outcome in experimental models of stroke , and several small clinical trials have assessed its use in stroke .
A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of the Use of Amphetamine in the Treatment of Aphasia
Background and Purpose — A number of studies suggest that drugs which increase the release of norepinephrine promote recovery when administered late ( days to weeks ) after brain injury in animals . A small number of clinical studies have investigated the effects of the noradrenergic agonist dextroamphetamine in patients recovering from motor deficits following stroke . To determine whether these findings extend to communication deficits subsequent to stroke , we administered dextroamphetamine , paired with speech/ language therapy , to patients with aphasia . Methods — In a prospect i ve , double-blind study , 21 aphasic patients with an acute nonhemorrhagic infa rct ion were r and omly assigned to receive either 10 mg dextroamphetamine or a placebo .  Patients were entered between days 16 and 45 after onset and were treated on a 3-day/4-day schedule for 10 sessions . Thirty minutes after drug/placebo administration , subjects received a 1-hour session of speech/ language therapy . The Porch Index of Communicative Ability was used at baseline , at 1 week off the drug , and at 6 months after onset as the dependent language measure . Results — Although there were no differences between the drug and placebo groups before treatment ( P = 0.807 ) , by 1 week after the 10 drug treatments ended there was a significant difference in gain scores between the groups ( P = 0.0153 ) , with the greater gain in the dextroamphetamine group . The difference was still significant when corrected for initial aphasia severity and age . At the 6-month follow-up , the difference in gain scores between the groups had increased ; however , the difference was not significant ( P = 0.0482 ) after correction for multiple comparisons . Conclusions — Administration of dextroamphetamine paired with 10 1-hour sessions of speech/ language therapy facilitated recovery from aphasia in a small group of patients in the subacute period after stroke . Neuromodulation with dextroamphetamine , and perhaps other drugs that increase central nervous system noradrenaline levels , may facilitate recovery when paired with focused behavioral treatment
No evidence exists at present to support the use of amphetamine after stroke .
INTRODUCTION The use of drugs to enhance recovery ( " rehabilitation pharmacology " ) has been assessed .
Amphetamine can improve outcome in experimental models of stroke , and several small clinical trials have assessed its use in stroke .