Galantamine - For the Mind Upon first inspection, I thought the word galantamine was a compound word of two chemicals or a word that meant a combination of two substances. Much to my surprise, Galantamine is a plant…a herb, if you will, that has been around for many, many centuries. Galantamine Novalis is the botanical name for the Caucasian Snowdrop, a medicinal plant referred to in great detail way back in the times of Old Medline. But even before that…in Greek history, galantamine has been mentioned and was used by Odysseus, the champion of memory and an activist against forgetfulness. Isn’t it amazing that something so simple, used by many people thousands of years ago, has just been rediscovered and claimed as a new substance. The large pharmaceutical firms immediately label it a drug (meaning it’s not for individual people to buy off the shelf but must be dispensed by a medical doctor) and claim it as their own! In Bulgarian herbal medicine, it has been used since the early fifties. I shouldn’t be surprised at this turn of events…such a promising remedy found to treat Alzheimer’s Disease. Of course, the drug companies want it to be categorized as a drug! They want to be able to claim patent rights to the remedy for the next 20 years or so…it just stands to reason. There is a major tug-of-war going on to turn the herb into a prescription since natural substances cannot be patented and cannot be sold as a single owned entity. It is really amazing to see so much information on drug trials on this benign herb since traditionally, drug companies stay away from herbal remedies. But the most interesting point is that there is very little information anywhere on how to use the herb even though it’s been known throughout the ages. Can one just cut the snowdrop from its place in the early spring garden, pop it into a teapot and brew a great cup of tea that will allow us to remember where we left the car keys and what time our meeting is tomorrow morning? I think that route may be worth a try. However, it may be the bulb that has the active ingredient, or maybe it’s the stamens or pollen, but I’d be willing to wager that all parts of the plant contain the active ingredient. Now I´ll just have to remember where I planted the snowdrops and keep any eye on the the departure of the snow. I have had a variety of mild cognitive lapses over the past few years and have become very aware of mental function in my family. It may be genetic or it may be environmental, but I’m not taking any chances. There are a number of substances that have helped many elderly people with cognitive difficulties. Some of these have been put into combination products such as Vincaclear (vinpocetine supplement,) Galantamind (galantamine with Choline and B6.) There are many individual nutrients that can be purchased to enhance brain function. Gingko Biloba, Germanium, SAM-E, Piritinol, NADH, DMAE, Serrapeptase, Monolaurine, Camosine, Pregnenolone, Huperzine, Lipoic Acid, CoEnzymeQ10, and the list goes on. Out of all the above nutrients, Galantimine will surely be the winner as it’s been embraced so wholeheartedly by mainstream medicine. The double blind studies proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the cognition of subjects taking the placebos dropped by two whole points (on a brain function scale) while the folks on the active substance increased their mental acuity by almost two points, making a four point difference…very dramatic. Since Alzheimer’s incidence has increased so dramatically over the past few years Galantamine will be available much sooner than any of the other brain function supplements now on trial. After a five-month, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of galantamine, the trials were reported in the Galantamine USA-10 Study Group, Neurology June 27, 2000. Reports have been published in Italy after a Pharmacognostic study of self-sown Galanthus nivalis, Efficacy and safety of glanatamine in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. There were multicentre randomised controlled trials in The British Medical Journal, Dec 9, 2000. At least eleven medical journals have reported on this phenomenon in recent years and as far back as 1960. The most important point to remember in all this hoopla is that the mainstream medical community does not care about synergy and when they latch onto a promising substance, they tear it apart and extract only the one element that they feel is effective. This can be dangerous as the plant contains other factors that give the complete effect. The drug dispensed by the pharmacy will be effective, but there may be untoward side effects, which they simply have to list on the paper that comes with the drug. Nausea and diarrhea have been noted, but these seem to subside quickly. The upbeat news is that Galantamine will be effective and available for most of the 22 million people in the U.S. who will suffer from this debilitating disease by the year 2025 (right now approximately 50% of people over the age of 85 have some form of Alzheimer’s.) And it will be pushed for all it’s worth…which, in the drug world is “worth” more because of much higher prices at the Pharmacy. In the long run, that´s too bad, because if Galantamine remains a herbal substance, the cost will be considerably lower. Well, we can always grow our own snowdrops and daffodils, but will the "medicine police" show up on our doorsteps one of these days? Who knows. 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