# another nasal spray to help you get over fear



## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

Nasal spray helps people fight their fears
By Nicole Martin
Last Updated: 2:56am BST 22/10/2007

A nasal spray containing an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis may help people to overcome their fears of public speaking, attending work parties or even performing karaoke.

Psychologists found that sprays emitting D-Cycloserine (DCS) significantly reduced the symptoms of people afflicted with chronic social phobias.

Patients suffering from irrational fears normally undergo "exposure therapy", which involves people confronting the things they are frightened of the most.

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In the latest study, an Australian researcher asked 23 sufferers to make a speech after taking small doses of DCS and having exposure therapy.

He then compared the results with patients who also made a speech but without having had any treatment for their phobias.

Dr Adam Guastella, from the University of New South Wales, said the difference between the two groups was astonishing.

"These people were so shy they could not enter a crowded room or speak in public," he said.

"However, those who received DCS showed a great reduction in fear and also reported lasting improvements in work and social relationships."

Research in America suggests that as many as 13 in 100 people suffer from a social phobia and are worried about being watched, judged or criticised in public.

People usually show the first symptoms of social phobias at the age of 15, but they can continue for a long time if left untreated.

Scientists say that DCS has no effect on fear on its own, but enhances the therapy sessions by changing the neurotransmitters in the brain associated with learning to overcome fear.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... ray121.xml

where to get it?


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

related article from 2003, same product as above in tablet form.

Scientists: Pill helps people unlearn fears
Monday, November 10, 2003 Posted: 3:39 PM EST (2039 GMT)

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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Scientists say a pill may help people overcome their worst phobias.

In a small study released Monday, a drug already on the market for tuberculosis helped people who were terrified of heights get over that fear with only two therapy sessions instead of the usual seven or eight.

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The study, led by Michael Davis, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine, was described at a session about unlearning fears at the Society for Neuroscience meeting.

Davis based his work on research that had found the transmission of a certain protein to a brain receptor were critical to overcoming fear. He found that the TB drug, D-cycloserine, aids the transmission of the crucial protein.

The drug, sold by Eli Lilly and Co. under the brand name Seromycin, doesn't dissolve fear. But in rats, it helped them unlearn fears faster, Davis said. Since it was already approved for use in people, he and Barbara O. Rothbaum, director of the school's trauma and anxiety recovery program, tested it on 28 acrophobics, people afraid of heights.

Each got a pill just before their two virtual reality therapy sessions, in which computerized goggles are used to simulate going up a glass elevator in a hotel lobby. Nobody knew whether the pill was a dummy or one of two doses of D-cycloserine, the 500 mg used for TB or one-tenth that dose.

One participant dropped out. When checked one week after and three months after the second session, the 10 patients who had gotten placebos did slightly better than they had at the start. But the 17 on drug -- the dose didn't seem to matter -- did as well as or better than people who had finished the usual course of eight treatments, Davis said.

"That's pretty powerful stuff, and pretty convincing," said Alan Steinberg, associate director of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress at UCLA.

And those who had taken the drug were twice as likely as those on the placebo to be going up in elevators, driving over high bridges and doing other things that fear of panic attacks had kept them from doing before the therapy.

"That's an especially positive aspect of these results," said Mark Bouton, a psychology professor at the University of Vermont. Many times, he noted, fear unlearned in one situation -- elevators, for instance -- may still show up in other areas, such as high bridges or rooftop restaurants.

However, David Kupfer, a Falls Church, Virginia, cognitive behavioral therapist with a specialty in phobias and other anxiety disorders, said that even if larger studies confirm the findings, he probably would use it only in a few patients.

Other research has indicated that people who go through therapy unmedicated for such problems do better, in the long run, he said.

"People learn ... that they are the powerful agent of change, not the medication," he said.

However, Kupfer said, it could be useful for people who have trouble with exposure therapy, whether it is virtual reality, imagination or going out to face the fear.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/11/10/fear.pill.ap/


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

geez not a single reply! Aren't people excited about these new discoveries? I thiught people would be interested in learning more about the nasal spray or the prescription medicine. 
Maybe you all in the natural supplements forum, aren't interested in the medicine side of things. I put the news here because I don't know where the nasal spray would fall (supplement? prescription?)


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## sprinter (Nov 22, 2003)

I've read about this a while ago. It's interesting. Is it being used now or is widespread use years off?


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

sprinter said:


> I've read about this a while ago. It's interesting. Is it being used now or is widespread use years off?


I really don't know but would like to know too.


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

ag said:


> .....
> However, David Kupfer, a Falls Church, Virginia, cognitive behavioral therapist with a specialty in phobias and other anxiety disorders, said that even if larger studies confirm the findings, he probably would use it only in a few patients.
> 
> Other research has indicated that people who go through therapy unmedicated for such problems do better, in the long run, he said.
> ...


I don't believe this guy. If they had posted the evidence as to why people who go thru therapy unmedicated are better off (instead of just stating "other evidence"), I would be more inclined believe him.
This pill, if it works, reduces number of therapy sessions needed drastically. Am I the only one thinking this would hurt the therapists' business?


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