Anti-anxiety drug Pagodone - Treatment for Stutters?

Dopamine is a hormone and neurotransmitter that transmits signals between nerve cells. Pagoclone is a drug that blocks a chemical that controls speech timing called dopamine in the brain.

Stuttering is a speech disorder in which the normal flow of speech is disrupted by frequent repetitions or prolongations of speech sounds, syllables or words or by an individual's inability to start a word.

Indevus Pharmaceuticals has just completed a study to determine the effects of pagoclone on the symptoms of Persistent Developmental Stuttering

Many people who stutter have had promising results taking pagoclone. The studies also show that while Pagoclone can reduce stuttering significantly, it does not stop it altogether.

Pagoclone is becoming a more common treatment for stuttering. It was originally developed as an anti-anxiety drug. It blocks a chemical called dopamine in the brain. Research has suggested that people who stutter have an excess of dopamine in the area of the brain that controls speech timing.

Since pagoclone was originally developed as a social anxiety medication, it also helps to relax people who stutter while they are speaking in front of people.

If Food and Drug Administration approved, pagoclone would be the first medical treatment for stuttering. Further studies will take place later in the year.

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