How does theophylline work to improve function of respiratory muscles either weakened or completely paralyzed by spinal cord injury?
Theophylline belongs to the same family of drugs as caffeine and just like caffeine, theophylline is found naturally in coffee, tea and cocoa. We all know that coffee is a natural stimulant that can help keep us awake and more alert. This happens because nerve cells in the brain are stimulated by the drugs that are in coffee. When theophylline is taken as a pill or when the doctor administers the drug intravenously, the concentrated medicine works in much the same way by actually stimulating different types of nerve cells in the brain. The nerve cells in the brain that control breathing are one of the types of cells that theophylline stimulates. When these cells are stimulated, the impulses are increased over the pathway connecting the brain cells with the spinal cord cells that make the respiratory muscles contract. Thus, the theophylline-induced increase of respiratory command impulses down into the spinal cord from the brain activates previously latent connections between the brain
