A shot of Ritalin could reverse a general anaesthetic

[qubit]

ANAESTHETICS leave people groggy, but a dose of Ritalin could wake them up. Anaesthetised rats injected with the drug, which is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, awoke almost immediately, suggesting that the drug could be used to reverse the effects of general anaesthesia.

Currently, there is no way to reverse anaesthesia. "We just sit and let the drugs wear off," says Emery Brown of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Since general anaesthetics seem to suppress the firing of neurons in the brain's cortex, Brown's team reasoned that boosting their activity might have the opposite effect. Ritalin increases levels of dopamine in the brain's arousal pathways. The anaesthetised rats given the drug came to in an average of 90 seconds, compared with 280 seconds when left to wake up naturally (Anesthesiology, DOI: 10.1097/ALN.0b013e31822e92e5).

If replicated in humans, Ritalin could enable patients to feel wide awake in minutes, rather than hours. Similar drugs are being investigated to help rouse people from coma.

This sounds very interesting and I'm sure will help lots of people to recover better from operations. Could it also help to avoid potential brain damage from anaesthetics?

New Scientist

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I think most anesthesiologists would rather not introduce another drug into the body unless it is absolutely necessary. In other words, they shouldn't use it unless they aren't waking up.

 

[ShiBDiB]

Useless research..

Like ford said, why use another drug when theirs absolutely no need too.

 

[Wile E]

This is like saying coke wakes you up from being drunk. No shit. You're wide awake, but you're still also still drunk too.

 

[twilyth]

I'm sorry for being critical, but it's hard for me to understand how this is much of a revelation. As someone who has taken everything from psylert to desoxyn and everything in between, to say this is obvious is an understatement.

Of course why this isn't already something that is common practice is certainly odd. My bet is that the stigma associated with drugs of abuse is so strong that it probably never occurred to anyone in the medical field - at least not as a serious option. I'm sure it's something that has been joked about though.

As long as there are no drug interactions that would be of concern and waking someone up sooner wouldn't impede their recovery in any way, it might be useful. Of course part of the Hippocratic oath I believe is something like 'do no harm' and amphetamines can be very dangerous since they have a host of side effects such as higher blood pressure, constricted arteries, higher heart rate, etc.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

This is why they won't...

Drugs.com

Common side effects: Dizziness; drowsiness; headache; loss of appetite; nausea; nervousness; stomach pain; trouble sleeping.

Severe side effects: Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue; joint pain; purple or brownish red spots on the skin); behavior changes (eg, aggression, hostility, restlessness); blurred vision or other vision problems; chest pain; confusion; dark urine; fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills, or sore throat; hallucinations; mental or mood changes (eg, agitation, anxiety, depression, irritability, panic attacks, persistent crying, unusual sadness); one-sided weakness; seizures; severe or persistent dizziness or headache; shortness of breath; slurred speech; suicidal thoughts or attempts; tremor; uncontrolled speech or muscle movements; yellowing of the eyes or skin.

Is it worth risking all of that for 3.16 minutes? Yes, you can't drive for 1-3 hours but if you've just been under with Propofol, you shouldn't no matter what. Ritalin could give a false-sense of your impaired ability, not unlike drunkeness. Propofol usually isn't the only drug in you either that can cause impairment (often includes strong pain meds and relaxants). It just smells of "bad" all around.

 

[zithe]

This is why they won't...

Is it worth risking all of that for 3.16 minutes?

Pretty sure it's hours, but that's beside the point. I tried pretty much every ADHD med under the sun when I was in school and let me tell ya.. The first day on any of these meds, even in small doses, left me extremely agitated and hyper. I also took clonodine with it, which makes you very tired. Mix them together and you dread every morning.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Propofol is the most common general anesthetic used and, once it is no longer being pumped into the body, you can be re-awakened in as little as two minutes and fully aware in 1-3 hours.

 

[Vincy Boy]

Propofol is the most common general anesthetic used and, once it is no longer being pumped into the body, you can be re-awakened in as little as two minutes and fully aware in 1-3 hours.

Tell that to MJ.

 

[ShiBDiB]

Tell that to MJ.

Ya when your addicted and OD'ing on it its a different story

 

[twilyth]

Pretty sure it's hours, but that's beside the point. I tried pretty much every ADHD med under the sun when I was in school and let me tell ya.. The first day on any of these meds, even in small doses, left me extremely agitated and hyper. I also took clonodine with it, which makes you very tired. Mix them together and you dread every morning.

That's because you probably didn't have ADHD. It's not much of a surprise that you would have been misdiagnosed either.

People with ADD find stimulants soothing and calming. When I used to take desoxyn (pharm grade meth), a couple of 5mg tablets would put me right to sleep. No lie. I don't have that problem as much with Focalin XR.

 

[f22a4bandit]

I think the important thing to take away from this story is the possibility of using some sort of drug to wake people from comas. That's the only useful thing I found in this article.

 

[ShiBDiB]

I think the important thing to take away from this story is the possibility of using some sort of drug to wake people from comas. That's the only useful thing I found in this article.

It hints at it, more like the author is trying to make something out of nothing. I'm sure plenty of drugs have been tried to take people out of coma's, the thing is a coma alot of the time is the body protecting itself from something and often taking them out of a coma early could do alot more harm then good.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Tell that to MJ.

We'll see what happens with the trial. They might be able to prove Murray intentionally overdosed him making it murder. At bare minimum, he's going to get voluntary manslaughter for giving him drugs outside of a surgical environment, leaving MJ unattended, and being dishonest to emergency responders. They may be able to even prove him negligent by not contacting emergency services until after MJ was dead. The moment there was signs of trouble, he should have been moved an ER.

I think the important thing to take away from this story is the possibility of using some sort of drug to wake people from comas. That's the only useful thing I found in this article.

It's not talking about coma at all. It's talking about waking people up from general aesthesia (like propofol). Coma is a completely different ball of wax that often involves brain damage.