bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Addicted mothers
Authors: Mark I.
Published: August 2007

An investigation of 50 addicted, Danish mothers is presented. The addicted mothers were found to have a poor social background, social group 5 occurring twice as frequently as in the normal population. In general, they had poor schooling and frequent changes of both school and of the people responsible for their upbringing. Their poor social status became even worse as a result of their addiction. In most cases they had never worked, had no educational qualifications and had supported themselves by social aid, prostitution and crime. The addicted women had 140 pregnancies resulting in 79 live born children. Their children were brought up in even worse conditions than those in which they themselves were brougth up. This situation was worsened further by poor living conditions and by marked malnutrition also during pregnancy. The children were often born prematurely or had a low weight at birth. The resistance of the women against disease appeared to be weakened and they often suffered from gynaecological diseases, including venereal disease and menstrual disturbances, and from serumhepatitis, phlebitis and many skin infections. The fathers of the children were usually also addicts. An attempt is made to outline a programme of pre‐ and post‐natal prophylaxis for children of addicted women.
Can drug abuse treatment be adequately evaluated?
Authors: Wilson Stephen
Published: August 2007

This paper jumps off from the observation that after ten years of experience we are still unable to say whether the treatment given by British Drug Clinics cures addicts or makes them worse! Four categories are created in order to explore possible reasons for this situation. Descriptive problems revolve around finding a way to conceptualise drug dependence, to grasp the complexity of different treatments and to formulate meaningful outcome criteria. Measurement problems include difficulties in quantification and the creation of operational definitions as well as practical issues connected with establishing the truth. Design problems include questions as to the ideal way of discovering the relationship between variables and the compromise forced by practical constraints. Interpretive problems include difficulties in arriving at the meaning of results, questions relating to causality and drawing the limits which apply to our conclusions.

There are many problems at a variety of different levels and it may not be astonishing that we are unable to come out with a clear‐cut causal statement regarding the efficacy of drug abuse treatment. The conditions under which a given evaluative study is to be considered “adequate” remain a matter of taste.
Therapeutic Sex Drive Reduction
Authors: Freund Kurt
Published: August 2007

Sex drive reducing therapies are employed in those cases of anomalous erotic preferences in which the patient's sexual behaviour is dangerous (certain forms of sadism, or a preference for forcing intercourse or similar interaction) or while not really dangerous, is utterly unacceptable to the community (pedophilia and pedohebephilia) or is an embarrassment to the patient himself (exhibitionism). Three sex drive reducing therapies are in use, all designed for male patients: (1) pharmacological reduction of circulating testosterone, (2) orchydectomy, (3) deletion of certain brain structures by stereotaxic surgery. The main indication for pharmacological sex drive reduction is exhibitionism but here it should be used only temporarily, as a first emergency measure, and after that only intermittently, during periods when the patient can not manage his urges by techniques he should be taught by a behaviour therapist. In cases of unmanageable and dangerous sadism, orchydectomy is the method of choice ‐ and the same would appear to be true for particular cases of pedohebephilia. Brain surgery in this realm is not yet based on sufficient knowledge and should be thoroughly studied on infrahuman primates, before use with humans could be seriously considered.
Late (4–8 years) outcome of treatment with megadoses of fluphenazine enanthate in drug‐refractory schizophrenics
Authors: Dencker S. J. , Enoksson P. , Johansson R. , Lundin L. , Malm U.
Published: August 2007

Fourteen schizophrenics who did not respond to standard doses of neuroleptics have been treated with megadoses of fluphenazine enanthate during a period of 4–8 years. Repeated attempts have been made to reduce the dose to the standard dosage. Some of the patients have gradually been transferred to maintenance treatment with standard doses, with megadoses given only during psychotic relapse. The megadose treatment has led to substantial reduction in social disablement, enabling the patients, for instance, to leave the hospital or live in an open ward.

These patients have been evaluated with rating scales for psychopathology and side effects, and subjected to EEG, ECG, chest X‐ray, and examinations for skin and eye changes and local infiltrations. Laboratory tests, including anti‐DNA examination, have also been performed. These patients, treated with high total doses of different oral neuroleptics and fluphenazine depot, showed some EEG and ECG abnormalities, eye changes, slight leucopenia, a low number of staff nuclei neutrophils and infiltrations at the injection site, but these reactions did not result in any practical handicaps. The rating scales showed dyskinetic movements, usually slight, in six out of the 14 patients studied.
Depression and cerebrospinal fluid citrate
Authors: Mellerup E. T. , Rafaelsen O. J.
Published: August 2007

In relation to studies of calcium metabolism in manic‐melancholic patients, the calcium binding metabolite citrate was analyzed in cerebrospinal fluid from 163 psychiatric and non‐psychiatric patients. Patients with symptoms of depression, irrespective of whether the origin of the depression was endogenous or exogenous, had significantly higher cerebrospinal fluid citrate concentrations than non‐psychiatric patients. Manic patients and other psychiatric patients without symptoms of depression were not significantly different from the non‐psychiatric patients. When the mood was normalized after various treatments, cerebrospinal fluid citrate decreased in all groups of depressed patients.
Outcome of neurotic disorders in African patients
Authors: Binitie A.
Published: August 2007

Among 130 patients who attended the neurotic diseases clinic in Benin 1963–1965, it was possible to follow‐up 60 patients 8–9 years later. Thirty‐four patients were diagnosed as anxiety cases and of these 21 had recovered and a further five were considerably improved. Nineteen patients were considered cases of neurotic depression and of these only three had recovered whereas 14 had residual symptoms, although five showed considerable improvement. Two of the depressive patients had died, one during the civil war, the other presumably committed suicide. Of five patients with hysteria, one had recovered and one had become worse, one patient with hypochondriasis had also recovered whereas one patient with obsessional neurosis did not recover. The results are in line with similar European and American follow‐up studies of neurotic disorder except that the depressive patients showed a less satisfactory outcome.
Computerized tomography of the brain in schizophrenic patients
Authors: Tanaka Y. , Hazama H. , Kawahara R. , Kobayashi K.
Published: August 2007

Computer tomography (CT) of the brain was carried out in 49 schizophrenic patients and 38 controls in order to study the organic characteristics of the brain in schizophrenia.

Between the schizophrenic and control groups aged 21 to 40 years, there was no marked difference in ventricular size or cortical atrophy. In the groups aged 41 to 60 years, however, enlargement of the ventricular system and cortical atrophy were highly significant in the schizophrenic group. Positive correlation was observed (P < 0.05) between enlargement of the third ventricle and duration of illness. There was a high frequency of cortical atrophy in the frontal and temporal lobes in the schizophrenic group.
The frequency of XYY and XXY men among criminal offenders
Authors: Schröder J. , Chapelle A. de la , Hakola P. , Virkkunen M.
Published: August 2007

Among 1,040 consecutive male criminals remitted for mental examination nine had the karyotype 47.XYY, one 48.XXYY and eleven 47.XXY.

The types of crime in the XYY men were much like those in the XXY men, the proportion of sexual crimes possibly being greater than among other criminal offenders. The reasons for these findings are discussed.
Luria's neuropsychological investigation in organic brain syndrome
Authors: Sharma S. , Nandkumar V. K. , Mazumdar M.
Published: August 2007

A controlled study was conducted on 25 patients diagnosed to be suffering from organic brain syndrome. Luria's Neuropsychological Investigation was administered to detect organicity and to determine its locus.

The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test served as a control. Luria's test confirmed organicity in all of the proband population and in none of the controls. It also indicated probable locus of the lesion.

Administration of Luria's test on a larger population with equivocal cases is suggested.
Genetic independence of manic‐depression and schizophrenia
Authors: Loranger A. W.
Published: August 2007

Increasingly sophisticated twin and adoption research has demonstrated major genetic contributions to the etiology of manic‐depression and schizophrenia. But studies disagree concerning whether the two are genetically related illnesses. This lack of consensus could be due to individual, regional, and temporal differences in the criteria used to diagnose the two conditions. This study is the first to employ the new DSM‐III criteria. Schizophrenia was no more common in the 1,098 first‐degree relatives of 100 male and 100 female manic‐depressives than it is in the population at‐large. This would appear to strengthen the view that manic‐depression and schizophrenia are genetically unrelated diseases.
Beta‐adrenergic stimulation and antidepressant activity
Authors: Lecrubier Y. , Puech A. J. , Frances H. , Jouvent R. , Widlöcher D. , Simon P.
Published: August 2007

The results presented here, together with the literature data, support the noradrenergic hypothesis of depressive states, and especially the involvement of beta‐adrenergic receptors:

– In animals, beta stimulants have the same spectrum of activity as other antidepressants.

– These effects of both classical antidepressants and beta‐adrenergic stimulants are antagonized by beta blockers.

– Chronic administration of antidepressants results in a decrease of beta receptors.

– Salbutamol, a beta‐adrenergic stimulant has, in depressed patients, a clear and rapid antidepressant effect.
Controlled cross‐over study of a 5‐HT uptake inhibiting and an NA uptake inhibiting antidepressant
Authors: ÅBerg A.
Published: August 2007

A double‐blind comparison of zimelidine, a potent and fairly selective 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) uptake inhibitor, and desipramine, a nor‐adrenaline (NA) uptake inhibitor, was carried out in hospitalized patients with endogenous depression. The patients were randomized into parallel groups receiving either zimelidine 100 mg b.i.d. or desipramine 75 mg b.i.d. Forty patients completed the study, twenty in each treatment group. Patients who did not respond adequately to one drug after 4 weeks were treated with the other drug (cross‐over design) after a washout period.

For evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale for Depression, Beck's Inventory and Global Rating Scales were used. All ratings indicated greater effectiveness for zimelidine as compared with desipramine, although the differences were not generally statistically significant. Only “somatic anxiety” on the Hamilton scale was significantly (P<0.05) in favour of zimelidine. Although both zimelidine and desipramine were well tolerated, the zimelidine patients reported significantly less severe anticholinergic adverse reactions.

Of five patients who did not improve on zimelidine, three were then given desipramine but only one recovered completely. Of 10 patients who were switched over to zimelidine, 6 recovered completely and one moderately.

Zimelidine produced strong inhibition of the uptake of 5‐HT in platelets and a decrease in blood 5‐HT after 2 weeks or longer treatment. The uptake of 5‐HT in rat hypothalamic synaptosomes was reduced by about 50% and that of NA about 20% when incubated in the patients’ plasma. All these effects seem to be mainly due to norzimelidine. Desipramine produced strong inhibition of the uptake of NA in hypothalamic synaptosomes but weak effect on the 5‐HT uptake. Urinary MHPG tended to decrease during desipramine treatment but was not affected or tended to increase during zimelidine treatment.
Safety data on zimelidine hydrochloride following an overdose
Authors: Georgotas A. , Mann J. , Bush D. , Gershon S.
Published: August 2007

Zimelidine, a new antidepressant, has proved to be a potent and selective inhibitor of 5‐HT uptake into central 5‐HT neurons. Due to its structural differences from the tricyclic antidepressants, it has also been suggested that it might have a different pharmacological profile, and be devoid of anticholinergic and noradrenaline potentiating properties.

During the treatment with zimelidine hydrochloride, as a part of an open trial, one of our patients, a 38‐year‐old chronically depressed woman, overdosed herself with more than 10 times the actual therapeutic dose of zimelidine with no undesirable side effects.

Previous studies have indicated that zimelidine in comparison with imipramine and chlorimipramine has no, or at most, a slight effect on peripheral adrenergic neurons, and has less pronounced anticholinergic properties than imipramine. The findings of our overdose case provide some support for these findings.
Anxiety and/or the depressive syndromes
Authors: Kline Nathan S.
Published: August 2007

The relationship of anxiety to depression in a number of the depressive and neurotic syndromes (agitated depressive syndrome, affective hypochondriacal syndrome, depressed obsessive‐compulsive syndrome, phobic and obsessive‐compulsive syndrome, anxiety state, depressive neurotic syndrome) is far from clear.

Are anxiety and depression entirely separate disorders which may co‐exist in the same patient? Does anxiety give rise to the depression? Does depression give rise to the anxiety? Are anxiety and depression manifestations of a single underlying disorder, dysphoria?

Therapeutic responsivity to specific drugs suggest: relief of anxiety may reveal an underlying depression; anxiety syndromes which fail to respond to anxiolytics may respond to antidepressants; short‐term relief of depression may occur at times with anxiolytics.

Proposed mechanisms of action of depression and anxiety also involve overlap of the elements and Systems involved. The basic sensations of pain, anticipation, depression and euphoria alone or in combination are sufficient to account for the dysphoric feelings and emotions when these sensations are associated with specific mental content. These may be related in turn to biogenic amines, beta‐endorphins, diazepam receptors and possibly cocaine receptors.
Sedative/anxiolytic effects of antidepressants in animals
Authors: ÖGren S. O. , Cott J. M. , Hall H.
Published: August 2007

The sedative effects of several different structural types of antidepressants were investigated in mice. Six different models of sedation were used and the results were averaged. The rank order of sedative potency was: amitriptyline > mianserin > maprotiline > imipramine > desipramine > clomipramine > alaproclate > zimelidine > norzimelidine. Sedative potency of the antidepressants was found to be significantly correlated with their affinity for four different brain amine receptors. The rank order of correlation of sedation with receptor affinity was: histamine (H1) > serotonergic > muscarinic > α1‐adrenergic. These findings appear to be associated with clinical side effects observed during treatment with antidepressants.

While scant literature is available concerning specific anxiolytic effects of antidepressants, pharmacological evidence for the role of central 5‐HT systems in the anxiolytic effect is plentiful. Our preliminary findings show a marked antagonism of isolation‐induced aggression by low doses of the specific 5‐HT uptake inhibitor, zimelidine, and the 5‐HT releasing agent, p‐chloramphetamine, thus supporting the hypothetical importance of 5‐HT in the pharmacology of anxiolytic agents.
Critical flicker fusion (CFF) test for sedative effect of antidepressants
Authors: Holmberg Gunnar
Published: August 2007

It is important to know in which direction and to what extent a drug affects cerebral arousal. Critical flicker fusion (CFF) is a most reliable method for measuring this particular quality of various drugs. A semi‐automatic apparatus was used under standardized conditions, and double‐blind technique was employed. Only acute experiments are described here. Dose‐effect relationships can be demonstrated.

The effect on cerebral arousal varies greatly from one antidepressant to another. Amitriptyline and doxepin were found to exert strong sedative effect, and amitriptyline‐N‐oxide an intermediate one, while imipramine and imipramine‐N‐oxide lacked this quality. Nomifensine in large doses has a significant stimulant action.

Zimelidine in a low dose (75 mg) slightly, but significantly, lowered the CFF level, but at a dose of 150 mg no significant effect was obtained. At the doses 225 and 300 mg a slight increase was seen (about 2%).

Various aspects of the findings are discussed in the paper.
Double‐blind comparisons of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, zimelidine, and placebo on quantified EEG parameters and psychological variables
Authors: Schenk G. K. , Filler W. , Ranft W. , Zerbin D.
Published: August 2007

A double‐blind crossover comparison of three different single doses of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, zimelidine, and a placebo on quantified EEG parameters and psychological variables was carried out in ten healthy male volunteers. Each subject randomly received 100 mg, 200 mg and 300 mg of zimelidine as well as placebo. C4‐P4, P4‐O2, C3‐P3, P3‐O1 and Fz‐O1 EEG samples were taken by means of collodium Ag/AgCl stick on electrodes. 3 min average Fast Fourier Transformation power spectra based on 5 sec epochs were established. Additionally, performance tests and a subjective self‐rating were carried out. The measurements, performed according to a strictly controlled schedule, were repeated 1,2,4 and 6 h post baseline (i.e. 8 a.m.). The data analysis was performed by means of two‐way variance analysis for repeated measurements.

Administration of three different single oral doses of zimelidine was found to significantly stabilize the average vigilance behaviour in terms of reduced slow wave EEG activity and of increased monorhythmic alpha activity. Simultaneously, concentration ability was improved and mild feelings of activation were reported. The results are discussed in the light of biochemical aspects and with regard to neurophysiological vigilance concepts.
The treatment of phobic anxiety by zimelidine
Authors: Evans L. , Moore G.
Published: August 2007

Seven patients who were diagnosed as suffering from phobic anxiety were treated with a new antidepressant which causes relatively selective inhibition of serotonin uptake. This compound, zimelidine, was given for five weeks in doses of up to 300 mg per day. One patient dropped out of the study. Of the remaining six patients all but one made an improvement, which in most cases is thought to have been a drug effect. One patient relapsed some months following treatment and responded again to treatment with zimelidine having failed to respond to other psychotropic drugs.
Saliva secretion following long‐term antidepressant treatment with nortriptyline controlled by plasma levels
Authors: Bertram U. , Kragh‐Sørensen P. , Rafaelsen O. J. , Larsen N. E.
Published: August 2007

Eight patients undergoing antidepressant therapy with nortriptyline for 1–4 years were investigated. The period of the investigation was 7 weeks and included a 2‐week placebo period, blind for the patients. Total saliva secretion measurement, the nortriptyline plasma level, and signs and symptoms of depression and side effects were obtained once a week during the study. The results of the investigation were: (1) long‐term treatment with nortriptyline is followed by hyposecretion or xerostomia, (2) the reduction of the secretion is reversible, (3) re‐establishment of treatment with dosage leading to the same serum level of nortriptyline is immediately followed by a drop in saliva secretion, and (4) the changes in salivary secretion are useful as an indicator of side effects. The practical importance of the investigation is discussed.
Sex‐role patterns, paternal rearing attitudes and child development in different social classes
Authors: Nettelbladt P. , Uddenberg N. , Englesson I.
Published: August 2007

Sex‐role patterns, the father's rearing attitude and the child's intellectual and emotional development in different social classes were studied in a randomly selected sample of 58 Swedish unbroken families of a small child. Working class men and women married younger and the women were more often house‐wives. Working class men had more often been reared in an “authoritarian” way and more often reared their children in the same way. Upper middle class men had taken a more active part in the care of the child. Working class children scored lower on the intelligence tests, especially the verbal ones and were more often estimated as socially immature.
Parental loss and reported childhood stress in young women who attempt suicide
Authors: Goldney R. D.
Published: August 2007

For young women aged 18 to 30 years who attempted suicide, and whose suicide attempts were of widely differing physical threat to life, the experience of parental death and separation or divorce, and of reported childhood stress, was similar, irrespective of the lethality of the suicide attempt. Taken as a group, the suicide attempters reported significantly greater childhood stress and more often had experienced parental loss through separation or divorce than young women in a control group. The association between parental loss and suicidal behaviour did not appear to be an artefact of a primary relationship between parental loss and depression.

Five of eight reported childhood stress factors significantly distinguished the suicidal and control subjects. Those who attempted suicide were more likely to report a childhood broken home, that their parents quarrelled often, that they had frequent disagreements with their parents, that they had poor physical health, and that they perceived their parents' character negatively.
Adversity and mental health: an empirical investigation of their relationship
Authors: Surtees P. G. , Kiff J. , Rennie D.
Published: August 2007

Life event and symptom severity data were obtained from both a community and a hospital population approximately 6 months following initial study contact. The relationship between adversity and symptoms was then explored using a model in which the stressful impact of life events was assumed to decay with the passage of time. The period of decay of event stress was allowed to vary. The results demonstrated that a maximal association between the measure of residual adversity based upon the decay model, and symptomatic disability could thus be obtained. Variation Within and between the sampled populations, revealed by the analyses, in terms of their respective maximising decay periods may act as potential indicators of differences in the ability of those populations to cope with and adapt to adversity.
Triazolam (Halcion) versus flunitrazepam (Rohypnol) against midwinter insomnia in Northern Norway
Authors: Lingjærde O. , Bratlid T.
Published: August 2007

In a double‐blind, cross‐over trial, triazolam (0.25 mg) was tested against flunitrazepam (1 mg) in the typical midwinter insomnia which is often seen among otherwise healthy people in Northern Norway. Each drug was given for five nights, in random order, with a five‐night placebo period between the active drugs (providing for a single blind comparison with placebo). A total of 22 outpatients started the trial; 19 completed. There were highly significant differences between each active drug and placebo on the subjectively scored variables sleep latency, duration of sleep, and total evaluation of sleep, and also significant differences for feeling in the morning, number of awakenings, and quality of sleep; all differences were in favour of the active drugs. Generally, the sleep variables were rated on the same level in the placebo period as they were for the last five nights prior to the trial.

There were no significant differences between triazolam and flunitrazepam on any variable. However, eight patients stated a preference for triazolam and eight for flunitrazepam. These two groups of patients did not differ significantly with regard to sex, age, previous use of hypnotics, or severity of insomnia.

Only three patients complained about side effects. Notably, the feeling of being alert and refreshed in the morning was significantly superior in the active drug periods as against the placebo period.

It is concluded that both active drugs were highly effective, with a minimum of side effects, in this type of insomnia and with the relatively low dosage used.
Lithium therapy in China BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Authors: Shanming Yan
Published: August 2007

A questionnaire survey among Chinese psychiatrists in June 1980 revealed that lithium treatment is being used in a little over half of the Chinese psychiatric hospitals, mainly for the treatment of mania and schizo‐affective illness and only to a limited extent prophylactically. The relatively restricted use of lithium as yet may be due to infrequency of the diagnosis of mania, to fear of toxicity, and to lack of laboratory facilities for monitoring serum lithium levels.
Lithium kinetics in single daily dosing
Authors: Perry P. J. , Dunner F. J. , Hahn R. L. , Tsuang M. T. , Berg M. J.
Published: August 2007

The feasibility of single daily dosing of lithium carbonate was tested in eight recurrent manic‐depressives being treated with lithium prophylaxis. The patients received their entire 24‐h maintenance dose at 8:00 p.m. for 12 consecutive days. The suitability of single daily dosing was determined by comparing 1) lithium trough levels', 2) lithium kinetic parameters of half‐life, clearance, and volume of distribution; and 3) renal function parameters of serum creatinine, creatinine clearance, and mean 24‐h urine output during the initial divided daily dosage trial and the subsequent single daily dosage trial. The observation of no significant changes in either serum half‐lives or renal lithium clearance levels supports the conclusion that the average steady‐state lithium serum concentration (Cp88) is unchanged by conversion to single daily doses. No significant changes were observed in either serum creatinine or creatinine clearance. However, a significant decrease in the 24‐h urine output was noted on the single daily dose.
Age‐of‐onset and genetic transmission in affective disorders
Authors: Baron M. , Mendlewicz J. , Klotz J.
Published: August 2007

Age‐of‐onset data were gathered on first‐degree relatives of 252 probands with bipolar and unipolar affective disorders. Early onset probands (younger than 40 at onset) had more early onset relatives and a greater risk for affective disorder among their relatives than late onset probands (40 or older). This indicates that age‐of‐onset is a familial factor correlated with the liability to affective illness.

Multiple threshold models of inheritance were applied to the data using age‐of‐onset as a liability‐threshold determinant. The hypothesis of autosomal single‐major locus was ruled out. Multi‐factorial‐polygenic inheritance provided a better fit to the data. The data suggest that early and late onset affective disorders can be placed at different thresholds on a genetic environmental continuum and that the early onset form is more deviant genetically than the late onset type. The implications for genetic research in affective disorder are discussed.
Double‐blind comparative clinical trial of pimozide and chlorpromazine in mania
Authors: Cookson J. , Silverstone T. , Wells B.
Published: August 2007

Pimozide (PMZ), a relatively specific dopamine (DA) receptor blocking drug, was compared to chlorpromazine (CPZ) in a double‐blind, between‐patient clinical trial in mania. The trial lasted 14 days. Twenty‐three patients who fulfilled Feighner's criteria for mania entered the trial (one patient entering on two separate occasions). Both drugs led to clinical improvement, with a significant effect being noted within 24 hours. According to one of the two rating scales used, initial improvement was greater with chlorpromazine, probably due to its greater sedative effect. By 7 days both drugs were equally effective. Sedative side effects were more frequent in patients on CPZ; extrapyramidal side effects were more frequent with PMZ. The finding that the relatively specific DA receptor blocking drug PMZ was as effective as CPZ in the treatment of mania is consistent with the view that hyperactivity of central DA pathways is involved in the pathogenesis of this condition.
Coffee consumption, cigarette smoking and reporting of drowsiness in anxious patients treated with benzodiazepines or placebo
Authors: Downino R. W. , Rickels K.
Published: August 2007

Data obtained from anxious outpatients treated with either chlordiazepoxide or diazepam (n= 533) or placebo (n= 285) were used to explore the impact of coffee/tea and cigarette consumption upon the frequency of reporting of drowsiness after 2 weeks of treatment. Strong evidence was provided that both cigarette smoking and coffee drinking afiect the frequency with which drowsiness is reported by patients receiving the two benzodiazepines. However, not only the magnitude but also the direction of the impact of coffee consumption upon drowsiness depends upon the level of cigarette smoking and vice versa. For patients smoking ≦ 1 pack of cigarettes/day, drowsiness is reported less frequently by heavy coffee users while for patients smoking > 1 pack of cigarettes/day, drowsiness is reported more frequently by heavy coffee users. Similarly, for patients drinking ≦ 2 cups of coflee/day, drowsiness occurs less frequently among heavier smokers while for patients drinking > 2 cups of coffee/day, drowsiness occurs more frequently among heavier smokers. These results are consistent with reports that particular substances contained in coffee and tea and in cigarette smoke stimulate the synthesis of hepatic enzymes which metabolize both the benzodiazepines here studied and the substances which have stimulated enzyme synthesis.
The role of neuroleptics in an integrated treatment program for chronic schizophrenics
Authors: Gottfries I. , Rüdeberg K.
Published: August 2007

An integrated treatment programme for patients with psychoses and hospitalization syndromes is presented. Most of the patients are schizophrenics with many years of hospital care. Neuroleptics are used in conventional doses and since 1971 flupenthixol decanoate is the drug of choice. The residual states are analyzed as well from a medical as from a social psychological point of view. Psychotherapy and social training inside and outside the hospital were means to reach treatment progress. Behaviour therapy was successful on the most deteriorated patients and in younger patients a more psychodynamic approach was used including family therapy. Forty‐two patients were activated to a life in flats. In 21 patients living near the hospital and economic analysis was made. The economic benefits of the treatment are large. The results show that patients suffering from chronic mental diseases must be treated with a composed programme including medical, social, and psychological parts.
Oral versus depot medication in schizophrenia
Authors: Johnson D. A. W.
Published: August 2007

More recent experience and research may well have modified the original claims and expectations of the advantages of depot injections over oral medication, and these observations are almost certainly valid. However, for long‐term maintenance therapy there remain certain clear advantages which have been outlined, and in the circumstances of normal clinical practice, with all its variations, these advantages would seem to be overwhelming. In the absence of any specific disadvantages, it is fair to conclude that even if the two methods of administraion lead to no pharmacological differences, clinically, depot injections remain the better treatment in long‐term maintenance therapy. It represents an organised management of the patient, his illness and his treatment far beyond the simple administration of a drug.
DSM‐III: rationale, basic concepts, and some differences from ICD‐9
Authors: Skodol A. E. , Spitzer R. L.
Published: August 2007

This paper reviews the major innovations in approach to psychiatric diagnosis incorporated into DSM‐III. These include the classification of mental disorders according to shared descriptive clinical features, the use of specified diagnostic criteria for making psychiatric diagnoses, and the multiaxial system of patient evaluation. It describes the principal revisions of diagnostic concepts in DSMIII from several areas of classification, such as Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders, that account for some of the differences between DSM‐III and ICD‐9. The rationale for the changes in approach and in basic diagnostic concepts at the time of DSM‐III's publication is presented. More recent evidence concerning the validity of newly‐conceptualized categories is also included.

To summarize, the differences in diagnostic categories that exist between DSM‐III and ICD‐9 may not be as extensive as would appear at first glance. Those that do exist are more with respect to diagnostic concepts that underlie the classification than between the rubrics themselves. One task now is to assess the extent of differences that would have an effect on statistical comparisons between the United States and other countries, and to answer the question can DSM‐III categories and codes be easily and reliably translated into the corresponding ICD‐9 code? But beyond statistical evaluations, the conceptual differences in major areas such as Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders should be assessed for their validity. Our hope is that the innovations in approach incorporated in DSM‐III and the revisions in diagnostic concepts will prove helpful in making psychiatric diagnosis a more rational and clinically useful enterprise.
Short‐term social prognosis of schizophrenia
Authors: Mantonakis J. E. , Jemos J. J. , Christodoulou G. N. , Lykouras E. P.
Published: August 2007

Two groups of schizophrenic patients with diametrically opposed illness outcomes were compared, 14 months after discharge, with respect to 21 parameters. The first group comprised patients who relapsed and were readmitted into hospital and the second group comprised patients who achieved satisfactory occupational rehabilitation in the community. Satisfactory occupational rehabilitation was positively associated and relapse was negatively associated with the following parameters: compliance to maintenance pharmacotherapy, satisfactory work record, compulsory admission into hospital, living apart from parents or spouse after discharge, illness precipitated by stressful events, longer duration of hospitalization and more advanced age at onset of illness. The authors express the view that awareness of the parameters influencing short‐term social outcome might contribute to a more efficient management of schizophrenic patients.
Cannabis psychoses in south Sweden
Authors: PPålsson Å. , Thulin S. O. , Tunving K.
Published: August 2007

Eleven patients with a psychosis in connection with cannabis abuse admitted to two mental hospitals during 1 year were examined. Patients with a preexistent psychosis or a mixed abuse were excluded. The patients were divided into three groups: acute, sub‐acute and chronic. The features of the disease were essentially similar in all patients, with a mixture of affective and schizophrenia‐like symptoms, confusion and a pronounced aggressiveness. The course as a rule was self‐limiting leaving no residual symptoms. There was almost no heredity of severe mental disease. The symptoms were very similar to those seen in cycloid psychosis, and a possible relationship between the two diseases is discussed. As regards the widespread abuse of cannabis we conclude that psychosis is a rare complication but that in unclear psychotic states it is recommended to actively search for a cannabis psychosis.
EEG during combined administration of lithium and neuroleptics
Authors: Prakash R. , Manov G.
Published: August 2007

Some investigators have indicated the clinical usefulness of EEG monitoring during treatment with lithium‐neuroleptic combination. Nine patients who were maintained on this combined therapy, were investigated with EEG. The authors report their negative findings.
Who become long‐stay patients in a psychiatric hospital?
Authors: Rud J. , Noreik K.
Published: August 2007

The present study was undertaken at Dikemark Hospital where the authors studied all first‐time admissions in 1970, over a period of 4–5 years. The aim was to study the course of the illness, focusing on the problem: who become long‐stay patients in a psychiatric hospital? Which factors relate to prolonged hospital stay and chroni‐city? Is it possible, at an early stage, to predict the “chronic”? Is it possible to do more to prevent chronicity of patients in psychiatric hospitals? These were some of the questions to be studied.

We present here some of the results of the inquiry. The conclusion is: it is important to make greater efforts to diagnose patients in danger of becoming long‐stay patients. The following proposal is put forth and argued for: all patients staying in hospital for more than 6 months should be examined and reassessed by an interdisciplinary team with regard to intensive treatment and possible rehabilitation.
Clonidine treatment of schizophrenia
Authors: Freedman R. , Kirch D. , Bell J. , Adler L. E. , Pecevich M. , Pachtman E. , Denver P.
Published: August 2007

Antipsychotic effects of clonidine were evaluated in one schizo‐affective and seven schizophrenic patients, using a double‐blind, cross‐over design to compare placebo, clonidine, and standard neuroleptic drugs. Mean improvement on clonidine and neuroleptics was equal, and improvement scores on the two treatments were closely correlated for individual patients. Clonidine was selected because it blocks noradrenergic but not dopaminergic neurotransmission. Patients were selected because of co‐existing psychosis and tardive dyskinesia, a movement disorder thought to be caused by the antidopaminergic properties of the neuroleptics. For all patients, dyskinesia improved when neuroleptics were discontinued during clonidine and placebo periods of the study. The data provide preliminary evidence that clonidine may be an effective alternative to neuroleptics, particularly for patients for whom the dopaminergic blocking action of the neuroleptics is undesirable. The study also prompts re‐evaluation of theories of a unique role for dopamine in schizophrenia.
ABO blood groups in obsessional illness – state and trait
Authors: McKeon J. P. , McColl D.
Published: August 2007

Evidence for an association between ABO blood groups and obsessive‐compulsive neurosis has been reported (Rinieris et al. (1978)). Our study examines this hypothesis and the relationship between ABO phenotypes and personality traits in obsessive‐compulsive neurosis.

ABO blood types in 70 patients with obsessive‐compulsive neurosis was determined and their distribution compared with that of a blood donor population. Premorbid personality was rated in 56 of the patient sample using a close relative as informant

This study failed to show an association between ABO phenotypes and obsessive‐compulsive neurosis or premorbid personality traits. These results are discussed in the light of previous positive findings and in the context of the general criticisms of blood groupdisease association studies.
Comparison of nitrazepam with triazolam in insomniac outpatients
Authors: Dahl L. E. , Dencker S. J. , Lundin L. , Kullingsjö H.
Published: August 2007

The short‐acting hypnotic, triazolam 0.5 mg, was compared in a 7‐day double‐blind study with the longer acting drug, nitrazepam 5 mg. Of the 60 patients enrolled, 29 in each drug treatment group completed the study and were evaluated.

All significant differences found favoured triazolam. On the first night, triazolam was found to be significantly more effective than nitrazepam in inducing and maintaining sleep and in increasing its overall duration. The patients' subjective preference, reflecting the depth of sleep experienced and the effect of the medication, reached highly significant levels in favour of triazolam. Later in the study the differences between the drugs disappeared although the depth of sleep as judged in the study was better with triazolam.
Bromocriptine in the treatment of the alcohol‐withdrawal syndrome
Authors: Borg V. , Weinholdt T.
Published: August 2007

A 10‐day random double‐blind study on the effect of bromocriptine versus placebo in severe alcohol‐withdrawal symptoms was conducted in 60 alcoholics. The effect of bromocriptine – a dopamine agonist – was significantly better than placebo in ameliorating the following symptoms: anxiety, restlessness, depression, tremor, sweating and nausea as well as the total score of these symptoms. Also in the evaluation of specific symptoms according to a symptom check list of psychiatric, behavioural and social aspects, and in a global evaluation, bromocriptine was clearly superior to placebo. Serum prolactin studied on the first and tenth day of the survey showed a significant increase occurring in the placebo‐treated patients. Side effects related to the use of bromocriptine were negligible.

Our findings support recent experimental evidence that alcohol‐withdrawal symptoms, at least in part, are related to a transient dopaminergic dysfunction in the brain.
Rehabilitation of schizophrenics by the extended family
Authors: EL‐Islam M. F.
Published: August 2007

Patterns of care by extended and nuclear families for their patients were studied in relation to 540 Arab schizophrenic outpatients in Qatar. The extended family differs from the nuclear family not only in its larger size but also in the greater emotional commitment of its members to each other's well being. The extended family is more tolerant of patients' minor behavioural abnormalities and temporary protective withdrawals. It is more helpful in the supervision of patients' medication and their social adjustment and leisure‐time occupation. Being more traditionally oriented, the extended family helps patients to understand their illness experiences in terms of cultural belief systems once they lose the components that cannot be contained in these systems. Extended family members are less likely than nuclear family members to tax the patients' emotional resources and limited repertoire of social skills.
The benzodiazepine/GABA receptor complex during severe ethanol intoxication and withdrawal in the rat
Authors: Hemmingsen R. , Braestrup C. , Nielsen M. , Barry D. I.
Published: August 2007

The benzodiazepine/GABA (gammaaminobutyric acid) receptor complex was investigated during severe ethanol intoxication and withdrawal in the rat. The intragastric intubation technique was used to establish physical ethanol dependence in the animals. Cerebral cortex from male Wistar rats was studied 1) after 3 1/2 days of severe ethanol intoxication, 2) during the ethanol withdrawal reaction and 3) in a control group.

The effect of GABA‐ergic activation by muscimol and THIP (4,5,6,7‐tetrahydroisoxazole(5,4‐c)pyridin‐3‐01) on 3H‐diazepam binding was unchanged during ethanol intoxication and withdrawal, as was the affinity constant (KD) and the maximal number of binding sites (Bmax) for 3H‐flunitrazepam. In conclusion, the benzodiazepine/GABA receptor complex is unlikely to play any causal part in physical ethanol dependence.
Catecholamines and anxiety
Authors: Mathew R. J. , Ho B. T. , Francis D. J. , Taylor D. L. , Weinman M. L.
Published: August 2007

Plasma catecholamines and heart rate were determined in drug‐free groups of anxious patients and normal controls before and 20 min after intramuscular injection of 0.01 mg/kg of 1/1000 diluted epinephrine. Levels of anxiety after the injection were determined via the State Anxiety Scale of State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Both groups showed substantial increases in plasma levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine and heart rate after the injection. However, there were no significant differences between anxious patients and controls on plasma catecholamines and heart rate before or after the injection and post injection levels of State Anxiety. The anxious subjects showed a significant correlation between post injection heart rate and State Anxiety.
A controlled trial of diazepam withdrawal in chronically anxious outpatients
Authors: Laughren T. P. , Battey Y. , Greenblatt D. J. , Harrop D. S.
Published: August 2007

Twenty‐four middle‐aged male chronically anxious outpatients who were taking diazepam at a mean dose of 17 mg/day for a mean duration of 5 years were assigned to maintenance (M), gradual withdrawal (GW) or abrupt withdrawal (AW) and followed weekly. No differences were seen in two self‐report anxiety measures or in withdrawal symptoms between groups. Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores were slightly elevated (F = 2.34, P < 0.05) in the AW patients at a mean duration of 4 weeks off diazepam. Thus, withdrawal from chronic diazepam (10–30 mg/day) use produced no prominent withdrawal syndrome, but the suggestion of graduai anxiety recurrence indicates the need for longer‐term follow‐up studies to adequately assess maintenance efficacy.
Aggressive conduct disorder of children
Authors: Behar D. , Sttewart M. A.
Published: August 2007

We studied 58 children with aggressive conduct disorder who had been admitted to a psychiatric ward and 33 with other disorders, excluding autism and organic syndromes, who were also inpatients. Nurses' observations of the children's behavior on the ward sharply separated the two groups and confirmed the parents' and teachers' descriptions of the conduct disorder children's behavior at home and in school. Items in the clinical history also separated the two groups; for example, conduct disorder began at a much earlier age than the other disorders. Our evidence gives further support to the validity of aggressive conduct disorder as a psychiatric syndrome.
Schizoaffective illness, schizophrenia and affective disorders: morbidity risk and genetic transmission
Authors: Baron M. , Gruen R. , Asnis L. , Kane J.
Published: August 2007

Data on schizoaffective illness, schizophrenia and affective disorders were gathered on first‐degree relatives of schizoaffective probands and matched controls (bipolars, unipolars and schizophrenics). The familial pattern of affective and schizophrenic subtypes of schizoaffective disorder resembled the familial pattern of affective and schizophrenic probands, respectively. The overall risk for the spectrum of schizoaffective and affective disorders was higher among relatives of schizoaffective‐manic as compared to relatives of schizoaffective‐depressive probands, although the difference fell short of significance. When tested for consistency with multiple threshold hypotheses of genetic transmission, schizoaffective illness did not qualify as either a more extreme form of affective illness nor as a disorder that occupies an intermediate position between bipolar and unipolar disorders or is genetically milder than affective disorder. The implications of diagnostic subtyping for genetic research in the major psychoses were discussed.