Free Republic

There is new evidence that a 50-year-old blood pressure drug could find new purpose as a treatment to mitigate PTSD, scientists say. Clonidine is commonly used as a high blood pressure medication and for ADHD. It's also already been studied in PTSD because clonidine works on adrenergic receptors in the brain, likely best known for their role in "fight or flight," a heightened state of response that helps keep us safe. These receptors are thought to be activated in PTSD and to have a role in consolidating a traumatic memory. Clonidine's sister drug guanfacine, which also activates these receptors, also...

An 8-year-old boy in Colorado died this month after a local pharmacy made a massive error in his medication dosage. Jake Steinbrecher overdosed on his usual medication of Clonidine used to treat his sensory processing disorder — a drug his parents didn't want him to take to begin with. ... "Drugging our child definitely wasn't something we wanted to do," his mother Caroline Steinbrecher told the Daily News. "The Clonidine was a compromise I could live with, because it was a non-addictive drug," she added. Steinbrecher said that the drug is usually considered safe for children under the age of...