The dosage ranges between 2 and 4 tablets daily. Dosage should be adapted individually and started gradually as follows: first week –1 tablet daily. second week –1 tablet every morning and evening. third week –1 tablet three times per day. An appreciable beneficial effect may sometimes be manifest after a few days or weeks of treatment but the full therapeutic result can usually only be assessed after 6 months of treatment. If no marked improvement is noticeable after 3 months then the dosage may gradually be increased to 6 tablets per day using as guidelines the therapeutic response, possible non-transient side-effects and ECG controls. Tablets are preferably taken during meals. Gastrointestinal disturbances can be avoided by taking an antacid con-currently. Clinical findings indicate that uninterrupted therapy, at the optimum dosage level, must be maintained indefinitely to consolidate the favourable results.

The neuronal cell degeneration was Ca+(+)-dependent because, in the absence of extracellular Ca++, 16 hr of exposure to 30 microM veratridine failed to produce release of LDH. Ca++ antagonists, nonselective for slow Ca++ channels (flunarizine, cinnarizine, lidoflazine, prenylamine and bepridil) inhibited veratridine-induced release of LDH with IC50 values between 0.11 and 0.47 microM.