Piracetam in the Treatment of Chronic Aphasia

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  • 慢性期失語症に対するピラセタムの投与経験

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Piracetam is a nootropic agent (noos=mind; tropein=towards) that improves cognitive functions such as learning and memory. Piracetam is well known for its effectiveness in improving speech in aphasic patients in Europe and the United States, but it is not available in Japan. Early double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in patients suffering acute stroke showed improvement in aphasia, but there has been no suggestion of clinical improvement in chronic aphasic patients to whom it is administered more than 3 years after onset of stroke. This pilot study in post-stroke patients has shown that piracetam, when administered to patients with chronic aphasia who were not receiving intensive language treatment, improved speech in those patients. The mode of action of piracetam is not well understood. Piracetam acts at the level of the cell membrane to which it binds. The findings of this study suggest that piracetam may also exert its effects not only at the damaged telen-cephalon but also at the telencephalon on the opposite side by activating neuro-transmission.

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