Clinical Observations on the Effect of Benzedrine Sulfate

Pharmacologic studies¹of benzedrine (beta-aminopropylbenzene or benzyl methyl carbinamine) indicate that it has a sympathomimetic action and a profound stimulating effect on the central nervous system. Clinically its sympathomimetic action has been utilized particularly in the treatment of congestion of the nasal mucosa,²in maintaining blood pressure during spinal anesthesia³and in orthostatic hypotension,⁴and for the relief of spasm affecting the gastro-intestinal tract.⁵The stimulating effect on the central nervous system has led to observations on the effect of benzedrine in many psychiatric and neurologic conditions, including narcolepsy,⁶disorders of mood and affect (chiefly depression⁷), postencephalitic parkinsonism,⁸psychoneurosis,⁹and to observations on its effect on normal persons and on those¹⁰suffering from states of exhaustion.¹¹ The method by which benzedrine produces a stimulating action on the central nervous system and the part of the brain which it stimulates is