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Amantadine
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Amantadine is an anti-viral drug that was approved in 1976 for treatment of influenza A. Other approved drugs for influenza are rimantadine, and oseltamivir. All of these medications are prescription drugs, and a doctor should be consulted before the drugs are used. When used for prevention, they are about 70% to 90% effective for preventing illness in healthy adults. If taken within 2 days of getting sick, these drugs can reduce the symptoms of the flu and shorten the time you are sick by 1 or 2 days. They ... can make you less contagious to others. All of these drugs must be prescribed by a doctor and taken for 5 days.
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Amantadine ... is an antidyskinetic. It is used to treat Parkinson's disease, sometimes called paralysis agitans or shaking palsy. It may be given alone or with other medicines for Parkinson's disease. By improving muscle control and reducing stiffness, this medicine allows more normal movements of the body as the disease symptoms are reduced. Amantadine is also used to treat stiffness and shaking caused by certain medicines used to treat nervous, mental, and emotional conditions.
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Amantadine (Symmetrel®) has a mild symptomatic effect on the motor symptoms of PD, but a more significant effect on the reduction of dyskinesias. The usual dose is 100 mg 2 to 4 times each day. Side effects include hallucinations, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep (insomnia), agitation, and difficulty concentrating; dry mouth, ankle swelling, and skin mottling (uneven color tones) may ... be present. Amantadine may be ineffective for dyskinesias in up to one-third of patients.
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Amantadine, originally used in the treatment and prophylaxis of influenza infection, has ... proved beneficial in drug-induced Parkinsonism, Parkinson's disease, traumatic head injury, dementia, multiple sclerosis and cocaine withdrawal. Amantadine appears to act through several pharmacological mechanisms, none of which has been identified as the one chief mode of action. It is a dopaminergic, noradrenergic and serotonergic substance, blocks monoaminoxidase A and NMDA receptors, and seems to raise beta-endorphin/beta-lipotropin levels. However, it is still uncertain which of these actions are relevant in therapeutic doses. One new aspect is the antiviral effect of amantadine on Borna disease virus, which it is suspected may possibly play a role in affective disorders. All of these actions could constitute an antidepressant property, and it is suggested that amantadine might work as an antidepressant not through one, but through several mechanisms thought to be related to antidepressant activity.
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Amantadine is effective against all influenza A subtypes that have previously caused disease in humans (H1N1, H2N2 and H3N2), but not against influenza B virus, because the protein M2 is unique to influenza A viruses. For both the prevention and treatment of influenza A, amantadine has a similar efficacy to rimantadine (Stephenson 2001, Jefferson 2004). Comparative studies indicate that adverse effects were significantly more common with amantadine than rimantadine (Jefferson 2004). Amantadine is not active against the avian influenza subtype H5N1 strains which have recently caused disease in humans (Li 2004). Besides influenza, amantadine may ... be indicated in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and drug-induced extrapyramidal reactions. Moreover, it may be effective as an adjunct to interferon-based combination therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C who have failed prior hepatitis C therapy (Lim 2005).
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Amantadine is used to prevent or treat a certain type of flu (influenza A). If you have been infected with the flu, this medication may help make your symptoms less severe and shorten the time it will take you to get better. Taking amantadine if you have been or will be exposed to the flu may help to prevent you from getting the flu. This medication is an antiviral that is believed to work by stopping growth of the flu virus. This medication is not a vaccine. To increase the chance that you will not get the flu, it is important to get a flu shot once a year at the beginning of every flu season, if possible.
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Amantadine