does smoking affect ataxia
For my Ataxia no medications make much difference but I don't get stress related ailments like I used to before Ataxia.
I just take vit B, E Co Enzyme,a large Omega general capsule.I don't thinkk they touch the Ataxia but my general health is good.I also take 40 mg of Citalopram for depression which is the only prescribed medication .As has been said we have different ataxias and respond differently .I am currently looking for something to reduce the action tremors that will not clash with the Citalopram.
I've heard this too. My friend who is a complimentary health practitioner, and is doing a Masters degree at the moment, is going to do some research for me about supplements and give me some advice as my diagnosis (not symptoms) are new. I'll be happy to share what she finds. Her recommendations will be tailored for me, but it might be helpful in your own information gathering. Lucy :)
I'm not sure that this is directed at me but I'm just going to act as though it is. Tells you something about my personality!
That would be great. Thank you
Lucy said:
I've heard this too. My friend who is a complimentary health practitioner, and is doing a Masters degree at the moment, is going to do some research for me about supplements and give me some advice as my diagnosis (not symptoms) are new. I'll be happy to share what she finds. Her recommendations will be tailored for me, but it might be helpful in your own information gathering. Lucy :)
fahareen said:
does smoking affect ataxia
Nicotine lozenges make ataxia worse temporarily at least.
So the answer to your question is "yes".
Yes Willow it was :)
willow said:
I'm not sure that this is directed at me but I'm just going to act as though it is. Tells you something about my personality!
That would be great. Thank you
Lucy said:I've heard this too. My friend who is a complimentary health practitioner, and is doing a Masters degree at the moment, is going to do some research for me about supplements and give me some advice as my diagnosis (not symptoms) are new. I'll be happy to share what she finds. Her recommendations will be tailored for me, but it might be helpful in your own information gathering. Lucy :)
Unfortunately for some symptoms can interfere with activities of daily living so much you have no choice but to try meds and carry out research. For me, being happily married and engaged in life activities didn't stop a progression in symptoms, when I can I do, when I can't I rest.
Eric said:
I kinda did the same research years ago and gave up on it.
Becoming fully engaged with living and relationships gives me no time to think about meds or cures. Sure I am unstable and fall over sometimes but I have just get on with it. No use crying over spilt milk.
I am 55 years and have SCA 6, I am in the early stages, I have been having, at first monthly and now 3 monthly injections of vitamin B 12, I also take Caltrate Plus tablets (calcium, Vit D, Magnesium, zinc, copper and maganese) and now I feel like I am in some type of remisson. I only notice a problem with my balance at night when I am tied, or having to negotiate steps ( have to hold on) and I cannot use escalators.
Seasons effect me as well, in the warmer months I feel great, I love the heat. Cold weather I feel like hibernating, my body does not like the cold. It the begining of spring and the temp is already 32.Celcius, loving the heat.
That's funny about the weather Gail, my balance gets worse as the day goes on, but my functioning in the heat is awful and I hang out for winter! I'm EA 2 though!
Technically yes, placebo is treatment using a dummy treatment of some kind. I was assuming a non-technical audience. Useful to know about the nicotine though, thanks for that. Glad the tobacco industry never got me hooked.
Brian1952 said:
Placebo isn't "null treatment". It's treatment, but treatment by using a dummy pill (and so on).
Incidentally nicotine (not necessarily in tobacco, can be just patches) makes all forms of ataxia temporarily much worse.
FYI...I'm currently reading a book called, "Mind Over Medicine", by Lissa Rankin, M.D. It's about the placebo effect, as well as scientific proof that you can heal yourself. Dr. Rankin shows how thoughts, feelings and beliefs can alter the body's physiology. I bought it on Amazon. I think it's a good read, if you're interested in this, as I am! My best to all..., ;o)
Thanks Very informative N
Lute said:
There are a few difficulties in answering your question:
1. For any medication there's no perfect answer to "are they effective or not". Everyone's different. What works for some people doesn't work for other people; what causes side effects in some people doesn't in others. So a treatment which fails clinical testing, because it doesn't meet statistical significance requirements over the full set of treated patients, may still work for a very small percentage of people; and a treatment that is effective for most people may not work for some.
2. The efficacy of placebo (null treatment) is poorly understood. For lots of people, if they think a treatment is going to help, it does, even if there's no medical reason for it to work.
The combination of 1 & 2 means that you can't rely on glowing reviews of some particular treatment from friends or people online as evidence that that treatment will work for you.
3. Clinical testing costs money. Most clinical testing is done by pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical companies don't bother testing drugs they can't licence, because they can't make a profit off them. Therefore, tests for the efficacy of vitamin supplements are usually done by public or charity-funded academics, and there's less of such testing done. The question of whether vitamins are effective or not for a range of conditions therefore takes time. Ataxia in general is such a rare disease that it's not usually top of the funding list for public money, and sub-types of ataxia are rarer still.
4. As mentioned above for the Vitamin B3 treatment for Freidrich's Ataxia, there are genetic and symptomatic differences between ataxias. What works for one sort isn't necessarily going to work for another. So some vitamin treatment may be effective for some ataxias, but it may not necessarily be effective for your particular ataxia.
I know that's all very unsatisfactory. For some conditions it's possible, with the help of a friend, to do a double-blind test on yourself, but with a long-term condition and long-term treatments that doesn't really work. The best I can suggest is continuing to be your own advocate and reading up the medical literature on your condition - see if there's a local medical library that may give you access to electronic journals.