Does McCain have Tardive Dyskinesia?

[Indenturedebtor]

Symptoms of Tardive Dyskinesia
Tardive Dyskinesia is characterized by coordinated, constant movements of the mouth, tongue, jaw, and cheeks.

Jaw movements may sometimes be from side-to-side, or they may look like chewing motions. The tongue movements may be squirming or twisting. If trunk movements are present, they are typically in the form of rapid forward motions of the lower abdomen and hips (pelvic thrusting) or twisting or flicking movements of the arms and legs. The involuntary abnormal repeated movements of TD may also include lip smacking, cheek puffing, tongue thrusting, finger flicking, and trunk twisting.

Tardive Dyskinesia symptoms can range from mild to severe, based on the frequency and intensity of the movements.

When severe, abnormal movements of the tongue may occur up to 66 times per minute. The numbers of these movements are often reduced when the patient moves affected body parts. Movement may be increased when the patient moves unaffected body parts. The abnormal movements usually decrease with emotional arousal, increase with relaxation, and disappear during sleep.

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From - http://www.schmidtandclark.com/Tardive-Dyskinesia/ - Best easy to understand summary of it I found
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Tardive Dyskinesia can develop from long term or massive short term use of drugs that affect Dopamine levels in the brain... IE most drugs for depression, many for pain, drugs for Parkinsons, etc. Dopamine is one of those "everywhere" neurotransmitters.

Tardive Dyskinesia isn't a threat to a person's judgement, but it does develop when people have been treated for things like Schizophrenia, etc. My question is - if he does have it, then why did he get it? What has he been treating?

Just some speculation here, but that tongue movement thing when he gets stressed is wierd. It's not a normal tic, and I don't remember seeing it during his previous campaigns. :shrug:

Would be nice if we could really have some docs look over his medical records.

[whistle]

1. No wonder Cindy stays close to John

[babylonsister]

2. Who will ever know since his records are off limits?

I imagine he's hiding lots, just like his running mate.

[FSogol]

3. I dunno, is that the medical term for being a complete asshole? n/t

[Indenturedebtor]

5. LOL actually you're thinking of Republicanus Domesticalis

fortunately there is treatment... full Neo Cortex transplant. Though it's expensive and you have to find a Democratic donor.

[hootinholler]

16. Rectal-Cranium inversion.

No wait, that's head up the ass.

-Hoot

[Warpy]

4. I doubt it. Given the size of the incision on his face,

I'm putting my money on trigeminal nerve damage. That would explain both the tics and the pauses in speaking when he gets them. It would be horribly painful and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, not even a Repug.\

On edit: if he were tardive, we'd probably never see it. They'd just control it with Cogentin.

[Indenturedebtor]

6. What other things make people flick their tongues like lizards?

That behavior is just plain wierd... so is the BLEH face he seems to making all the time. What in the hell is that? That can't be intentional.

[Warpy]

12. Check out what the trigeminal nerve controls

while it seems strange that there is tongue involvement, it might be involuntary and a reaction to what the rest of his face is doing to him.

This is just a guess. The only reason I can think of for tardive dyskensia would be if he were on massive amounts of Compazine or Inapsine to control vomiting during his chemo. Even then, it just doesn't make any sense to me.

[Indenturedebtor]

13. What about drugs to control parkinsons, delay alzheimers, or treat PTSD?

Like old school dopaminergic anti-depressants?

[Warpy]

14. I doubt he's on any of that stuff

He's an iron man who wouldn't admit to being an emotional wreck after 5 years in a POW camp. He'd just suck it up in public and lash out in private, nothing wrong with him, no sir.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. If it were TD it could probably be helped by applying orthomolecular

medicine.

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/td.htm
In the September 2001 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry vitamin B6 (aka. pyridoxine) demonstrated significant benefit for the troublesome movement disorder tardive dyskinesia (TD) 1. For those people unfamiliar with this painful & crippling problem, TD is a neurological problem associated with antipsychotic or neuroleptic medications. Some abnormal movements characteristic of TD include grimacing, sticking out the tongue, smacking and sucking of the lips, and sometimes, rapid movements of the arms and legs. Recent evidence suggests that symptoms may begin as early as one month after beginning medications, affecting more than 1 in four older patients annually 2. The belief is these psychiatric medications cause some sort of change and/or damage to the brain & nervous system. Treatments are poor and involve additional medications (which also have their limitations).

In the B6 study of TD, fifteen patients with schizophrenia who met research criteria for tardive dyskinesia were randomly given treatment with either vitamin B6 or placebo for 4 weeks in a double blind cross over fashion. The patients were given 100mg of B6 daily, increasing weekly in 100 mg increments to a total of 400 mg/day by the fourth week. The study found significant improvements in various movement scores (i.e. parkinsonism, dystonia, and dyskenetic movement) beginning in the third week (at 300 mg/day). No adverse effects were noted. It is important to mention that B6 in TD is not new. One of the first positive reports of B6 for TD was a small study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry back in 1978 3. Four out of 5 patients improved using 1000-1400 mg/day. Responses were noticed within as little as 1 week of treatment (as compared to 3 weeks in the previous study); the high doses were well tolerated. Why has there been an over 20-year delay with this single vitamin and TD? Supporters of nutritional medicine have reported significant benefit not only with B6, but also with additional nutrients for TD. Kunin demonstrated dramatic results in treating TD with the mineral manganese and vitamin B3 4,5. Hawkins reported the successful prevention of TD in a total of 61,508 patients using vitamins B3, C and B6 6. These findings have yet to be explored in "mainstream" psychiatry journals. Several other nutrients such as vitamin E, lecithin, tryptophan, & essential fatty acids have also demonstrated benefit in TD.

The findings reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry are long over due for such a devastating problem. Vitamin B6 is readily available, cheap, and safe. Higher doses (>400 mg/day) may have greater advantages for TD, however in such cases I recommend the supervision from a qualified healthcare provider.

Another recent study, reported in the November 2001 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, examined using melatonin for TD. The study found significant improvements with 10mg/day in 22 schizophrenic patients using a 6 week double bind,cross-over design. This study makes sense when considering the improvements noted with tryptophan, and also when considering the connections between the pineal gland, calcifications & and TD (Archives General Psychiatry 2001;58:1049-52)

Along with B6 and melatonin, additional nutrients should be utilized for TD and also for its prevention. Nutritional medicines demonstrate lower side effect profiles and greater safety margins when compared to standard psychiatric & neuro-active medications. In addition to supporting neurotransmitter & hormone function, nutritional intervention help protect the body & brain from damaging medications, infections, environmental exposures, and other harmful agents.

[Blue Belle]

8. I don't know if McCain has it...

but it sounds like "W" does.

[PDJane]

9. "W" definitely does...........

from a combination of things, one suspects.

Frankly, I can't look at McCain long enough to figure it out.

[IDemo]

10. Cranio-rectal inversion

[Myrina]

11. Senile Dementia, Stage 1.5

:scared:

[TWWP]

15. TD as chemo side effect

Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) can also result from chemotherapy. When my partner was diagnosed with lymphoma, I researched all the drugs in his chemo "cocktail" and several had a lifetime maximum dosage that cannot be exceeded without risk of permanent, systemic damage. TD was specifically listed as likely.

If McCain has had multiple rounds of chemo for melanoma, he may indeed have TD.

[Generic Other]

17. bet william F buckley had it

he had that lizard lip thing...always flicking his tongue out, blinking his eyes in myopic surprise...

[Lifetimedem]

18. Tardive Dyskinesia

usually is tongue trusting, eventually speech and even eating is affective .

An early symptom is "pill rolling" that is a a movement involving the thumb and the index or middle finger.. as if you are rolling a pill (lol thus its name)

Something is going on with Mccain, but I do not know if this is what it is. I would love to know the meds he is on for PTS