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Robert D. Currier, MD

Arch Neurol. 1995;52(5):449.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

HOW CAN a medication work on one side of the Rhine and not the other? The articles by Trouillas et al¹ and Wessel et al² in this issue of the ARCHIVES illustrate in many ways the causes and types of disagreement about the effect of an experimental drug on a constellation of symptoms. The levorotatory form of hydroxytryptophan (L-5-hydroxytryptophan), a serotonin precursor, has been used for a decade or more by Trouillas et al¹ and others in an attempt to treat ataxia of various causes. Studies have evolved from early unblinded attempts to these two double-blinded studies.^1,2 Trouillas and coworkers originally found the most benefit in treating those patients with noninherited ataxia. In the present study,¹ they concentrated on 19 persons with Friedreich's ataxia from 11 centers, whereas the study by Wessel and coworkers² included 39 patients from three centers: 19 with Friedreich's . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
The University of Mississippi Medical Center 2500 N Jackson St Jackson, MS 39216-4505

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