Showing papers on "Psychotropic drug published in 1975"

A primer of drug action

Abstract: A comprehensive gyide to the actions, uses, and side effects of psychoactive drugs wm,

Pills for personal problems.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to call attention to what appears to be the relentless march of the psychotropic drug juggernaut. At a recent symposium, at which the prescribing habits of general practitioners came under scrutiny, Harman stated, "Opinion is growing that in the use of psychotropic drugs we may be evolving a dangerous monster, not by intent but by unplanned increments."' How justified this alarm call was is a matter for debate, which must necessarily be based on an examination of available statistics.

Inhibition of prostaglandin synthetase by psychotropic drugs.

Abstract: Psychopharmaka mit neuroleptischer, antidepressiver und/oder tranquillisierender Wirkung, die eine trizyklische Struktur besitzen, hemmen in vitro dosisabhangig die Prostaglandin-Synthetase, welche aus Ochsensamenblase isoliert wurde. Hingegen weist das Neuroleptikum Haloperidol, das sich strukturell von den anderen untersuchten Praparaten wesentlich unterscheidet, kaum einen solchen Effekt auf. Die pharmakologische Bedeutung dieser Befunde wird diskutiert.

Inpatient and outpatient patterns of psychotropic drug prescribing by nonpsychiatrist physicians

Abstract: The authors found that among 228 general hospital patients, minor tranquilizers were prescribed most often and with the least justification and that major tranquilizers were prescribed sparingly and by and large judiciously. Antidepressants were given less often than would be justified by the incidence of depressive illness among these patients. Nonrecognition of depression in patients with somatic complaints and autonomic signs of depression contributed to this lack of treatment.

Enhancement of the antitumor effect of 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea by various psychotropic drugs in combination with caffeine.

Abstract: Certain psychotropic drugs when combined with caffeine significantly enhanced the antitumor effect of 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea in murine leukemia L1210. Enhancement required that all three drugs be given together and optimal results were obtained when the psychotropic drug was given 6 hours before 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea and caffeine. Thus, 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea alone or with caffeine resulted in 5% cures. Addition of chlorpromazine increased the cure rate to 51% while prochlorperazine gave 30% cures. Chlordiazepoxide produced 39% cures while the dibenzazepine compounds studied were ineffective. For the phenothiazine, benzodiazepine and dibenzazepine compounds studied, tentative conclusions could be drawn on the relationship of chemical structure to enhancing activity. For phenothiazines, the substituent in the R2 position of the phenothiazine ring determined activity to a greater extent than did the substituent in the R1 position. For the benzodiazepine compounds, chlordiazepoxide was superior to diazepam. Although the mechanism of action of psychotropic drugs in this system is unknown, these preliminary results suggest the possibility of a change transfer reaction between the free radical form of the psychotropic drug and one or more intracellular constituents.

Accidents and Drug Treatment in a Psychiatric Hospital

Abstract: A survey of 351 accidents occurring in a two-year period in a psychiatric hospital showed that 77 per cent of the accidents involved female patients and 48 per cent involved patients with organic psychoses; 236 accidents were falls and 280 occurred in the ward setting. In 277 instances adequate controls were available. Seventy-five per cent of the accident patients had received a psychotropic drug on the day of the accident as opposed to 61 per cent of the controls. The possibility that the side-effects of psychotropic drugs may have contributed to some of these accidents is discussed.

The effects of drugs on psychiatric patients' performance on the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological test battery.

Abstract: The relationship between the type and amount of psychotropic drug ingestion was evaluated for 184 psychiatric patients using a complex battery of cognitive-sensory-motor tests (Halstead-Reitan). The total patients' group included 68 psychotic patients who were being treated with either phenothiazines or "another drug," and 80 neurotically depressed patients who were taking either no drugs, phenothiazines, minor tranquilizers, tricyclic antidepressants, or sedatives. Little, if any, effect was noted in terms of psychological test performance when individual drug types were combined and considered in terms of dosage. However, upon a more specific analysis of the data, several suggestive trends occurred, demonstrating that individual drugs have variable effects and that some age groupings are more sensitive to drug effects than other groupings. As these trends were a result of a secondary analysis, further investigation was recommended in order to delineate the variables involved. For the present, this investigation has demonstrated the important influence of age and drug type variables upon patient neuropsychological test performance.

Drug induced dyskinesia: reality or myth?

Abstract: Psychotropic medication employed in the long-term therapy of mental patients is etiologically linked to oral dyskinesia Although the term "oral dyskinesia" is used interchangeably with "drug-induced dyskinesia" this author doesn't find sufficient scientific evidence from published studies to implicate the psychotropic drugs solely responsible for "oral dyskinesia" All the previous studies attempting to link drugs etiologically with oral dyskinesia suffered from lack of adequate information and methodological difficulties inherent in the question involved In this paper the concept of "drug-induced dyskinesia" is rejected despite the fact that dyskinesia, from whatever etiology, is observed in certain individuals with high anxiety level and its dependent variable, the history of a psychotropic drug usage

The use of psychotropic drugs in developing countries

Abstract: Psychotropic drug therapy combined with other forms of treatment provides an effective means for the control and treatment of a number of mental disorders. In developing countries a wide range of health workers must be prepared to use psychotropic drugs if there is to be a significant improvement in mental health care. A number of problems are involved: not all mental disorders respond to drug treatment; the range of available drugs is very wide; side effects are relatively common; patients may not take prescribed drugs regularly; and there are dangers of overuse, abuse, and overdose. Some of the problems could be overcome by: (a) focusing on a limited number of conditions of public health importance; (b) establishing a clear policy as to which drugs should be available at various points in the health service and limiting the range of such drugs; (c) adopting a more flexible system of task sharing in psychotropic drug therapy; (d) coordinating training programmes; and (e) setting up a central policy body concerned with mental health in health ministries.

Evaluation of combined pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment in patients with functional abdominal disorders.

Abstract: 78 patients suffering from various functional abdominal complaints have been treated in a 2 × 2 double-blind design: (a) psychotherapy with Ro 5-3350 (TH/Ro); (b) psychotherapy with placebo (TH/P); (c) Ro 5-3350 without psychotherapy (NTH/Ro); (d) placebo without psychotherapy (NTH/P). Results show that a considerable amount of improvement cannot be ascribed to the two critical factors or the interaction of both, but are due to unspecific influences in the course of treatment. Some of the results concerning the combination of TH and the psychotropic drug pose interesting questions for further research and bare implications for double-blind trials of psychotropic drugs. The results suggest that possibly properties of any psychotropic drug have to be related to a doctor-patient relationship within which the personal problems of the patient are dealt with. In order to evaluate such properties, special methodological precautions have to be taken. These will be briefly discussed.

Psychotropic drugs and impairment of psychomotor functions.

Abstract: The present work deals with the effects of psychotropic drug therapy on the operation of psychomotor functions used in a clinical examination of suspected drunken drivers. 100 psychiatric mental, but otherwise healthy, patients were examined; the type of medication and the number of drugs used varied greatly. In 71 cases the mean degree of error in the clinical examination was higher, and, in several of these, markedly higher than the reference values obtained earlier on suspected drunken drivers when the blood contained very small amounts of alcohol or none at all. In 18 cases coarsely-divided nystagmus was registered in patients on psychotropes. This is an obvious sign of a marked side-effect of medication but was present more infrequently than in subjects with after ingestion of alcohol. The present results indicate that application of the clinical examination method, which was originally developed for and related to the examination of alcohol cases, to subjects on psychotropes is adequate, and it is possible with clinical examination to obtain valuable medicolegal information on the impairment of physiological functions. The present review of suspected dragged drivers examined in Helsinki in 1969–1972 also supports this view.

Pharmacological properties of 6,7-tetramethylene-5-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-thieno[2,3-e](1,4)-diazepin-2-one (QM-6008, thiadipone), a new psychotropic drug.

Abstract: The pharmacological actions of 6,7-tetramethylene-5-phenyl-1,2,-dihydro-3H-thieno]2,3-e](1,4)-diazepin-2-one (QM-6008, thiadiapone), a new psychotropic drug, have been studied. QM-6008 shares many of the psychosedative effects in rodents of benzodiazepines. The electroencephalographic actions in rats and rabbits of QM-6008 and chlordiazepoxide are also rather similar. This new compounds is endowed with clear conflict attenuating properties in an approach-avoidance schedule and can be considered, in consequence, as a new potentially useful anxiolytic drug. In other operant conditioning procedures in rats--Variable Interval and Discriminated Avoidance--QM-6008 induces an increase in response rate which is not generally shared by chlordiazepoxide. The psychopharmacological data collected in the present work leal to classify this new thienodiazepine derviative within the fram of tranquilizers of the benxodaizapine type. The sedative effects of QM-6008 appear howerer to be less potent and the psychostimulatn effects more markde than those ofchlordiazeposide.

Clinical laboratory test standards for a sample of schizophrenics.

Abstract: The normal ranges for 15 clinical laboratory tests for a pooled sample of 325 schizophrenics, largely chronic and hospitalized, are presented. Laboratory data came from pretreatment blood samples of subjects who were all participants in clinical psychotropic drug trials conducted through the Early Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit (ECDEU) Program of the National Institute of Mental Health. Both parametric means and ranges (mean ± 2 standard deviations) and nonparametric medians and percentile ranges (2.5 and 97.5 percentiles) are reported. The results generally confirm the finding of increased variability in schizophrenic laboratory test data noted in the past. This, and implications of the method are discussed.

[Proceedings: Sulpiride effects on plasmatic gonadotropins in women (author's transl)].

Abstract: The study of longitudinal evolution of plasmatic gonadotropins in women receiving sulpirid, a psychotropic drug with a strong anti-ovulatory effect, shows the coexistence of anovulation and the peristance of a physiological pattern of gonadotropins during the first cycle of treatment. It also shows the persistance of LH peaks comparable to preovulatory levels more than one year after the initiation of therapy. However, the basal line became very unsteady. This study suggests the presence of two types of perturbations with sulpirid. A hypothalamic-hypophyseal mild action and, an ovarian resistance to gonadotropins resulting from the hyperprolactinism induced by sulpirid.

The role of clinical psychiatry in the development of new drugs

Abstract: A survey is given from a clinically working psychiatrist's point of view on principal aspects of the development of new psychotropic drugs. The comparison with the other medical branches shows, that clinico-pharmacological investigations and clinical trials play an important role in the development of new psychotropic drugs. 1. The importance of clinical screenings for the development of new psychotropic drugs is stated by means of a comparative analysis of the pre-clinical and clinical screening methods. In this connection, the importance of animal experiments, biochemical and pharmaco-psychological findings is reported. 2. The particular difficulties of characterizing the effectiveness of potential psychotropic drugs are explained based on the problems of placebo effects, of the unspecific influence on psychotropic drug effects and by means of the socalled "main and side" effects of these drugs. 3. The principles of psychiatric ratings and of data documentation are explained with the aid of different examples.

Methylphenidat (Ritalin) as a psychotropic drug in children with minimal brain dysfunction and epilepsy

Abstract: In the USA children with minimal brain dysfunction and with epilepsy have been treated with stimulants for some years now, whereas this type of treatment is not current in Switzerland and western Germany. The problems of treatment with amphetamines in children are discussed on the basis of 2 years' experience with methylphenidate (Ritalin). In children with minimal brain dysfunction methylphenidate acts against excessive motor and affective impulsivity and inability to concentrate. In epileptic children amphetamines act against drowsiness or irritability. There is no danger of addiction in the pediatric age group. No toxic side effects occur, except for growth inhibition when high doses of amphetamines are administered. Drug interaction with anticonvulsants occurs only in the case of hydantoins. Methylphenidate is given in 1-3 daily doses; treatment is commenced with small doses, and after 2-4 days the dosage is increased until behaviour changes. Dosage must be adapted to the individual, the recommended daily dose being 0.3-1.0 mg/kg. Depressive or autistic behaviours are symptoms of overdosage. In childhood treatment with amphetamines should be considered only if other types of treatment have failed. drug therapy should be accompanied by continuous advice to parents on educational and school problems. It should not be attempted if the parents are not wholly reliable.

A Course in Psychotropic Drug Therapy for First-Year Psychiatry Residents

Abstract: A course in psychotropic drug therapy for first-year psychiatry residents at the University of Connecticut Health Center is described. The course is taught by a pharmacist with training and experience in the psychiatric patient care setting. During the 8-week, 16-hour course, emphasis is placed on the practical aspects of selection and use of psychotropic drugs, including antipsychotic agents, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety agents. A major objective of the course is to familiarize the residents with current psychotropic drug literature. Within the context of this course offering, the role of the pharmacist as an educator of the physician is discussed.

The Effect of Psychotropic Drugs on Serum Anti-Epileptic Levels in Psychiatric Patients with Seizure Disorders

Abstract: One of the most difficult problems in the treatment of epilepsy is to achieve seizure control in epileptic patients institutionalized in psychiatric hospitals. The patients in these institutions are usually suffering from epilepsy either secondary to trauma or associated with psychoses.

Some Drug-Drug Interactions Involving Psychotropic Agents

Abstract: The idiosyncracies of drug response and drug-drug interaction are often secondary to the idiosyncracies of individual organ systems because they are affected by such factors as age, youth, disease, or genetically transmitted characteristics. With the multiplicity of psychopharmacologic agents now available, and with the tendencies of many psychiatrists toward prescription of poly-pharmacy, the frequency and variety of psychotropic drug interactions are increasing faster than our ability to discover and adequately analyze the causative components. Our knowledge of the genetic factors influencing these activities is particularly deficient, and the necessary body of animal data upon which to base careful human studies has not yet been suitably developed. Reports of unanticipated psychotropic drug-drug interactions in which genetic factors appear to figure significantly are few and tentative. Some cases of genetically influenced responses involving singly administered agents interacting with organ systems have been reported (Kalow, 1971). Well documented instances of one drug altering the activity of another as a result of genetic factors, such as the inhibition of diphenylhydantoin metabolism by iproniazid in slow acetylators (Kutt and McDowell, 1968) are particularly scarce. Rather than attempt a compendium of annecdotal reports of such cases here, we will devote this brief chapter to an outline of some of the broader mechanisms which we can state with some assurance are fairly consistent components in the interactivity of multiple drugs within living organisms. As further information concerning the role of genetics in these processes is developed in the future, it will probably have to be done with reference to the patterns with which we have thus far seen drug-drug interactions occur when they are influenced by advanced age, disease or trauma to effected organs and tissues, or matters of biochemical compatibility. The following information is presented, therefore, as a construct of both established and theoretically possible occurrences.