Essential tremor (ET) the most common movement disorder, affecting 1% of the population across all ages and a significantly higher proportion of older adults [1]. However, ET also affects children, and, although often described as “benign”, the condition interferes with activities of daily living in over 90% of individuals [2]. Pharmacological therapy remains first-line ET treatment, with propr...

Despite the recent entry into the market-place of a range of new pharmacological treatments for epilepsy, most patients still receive the standard antiepileptic drugs. This review considers the clinical place and practical use of these agents. Detailed consideration is given to carbamazepine, phenytoin, sodium valproate, phenobarbital and ethosuximide, with lesser emphasis on primidone, clobaza...

ansemia, was caused by the barbiturates she was taking. Both amylobarbitone sodium and quinalbarbitone sodium, the constituents of tuinal, are closely related chemically to primidone, sodium phenytoin, and phenobarbitone, but a megaloblastic anaemia has not previously been described in association --ith their use. The doses that this patient was taking (gr. 18-20 for 6-8 months) were, however, ...

We describe a routine method for determining concentrations of the antiarrhythmic drug procainamide and its active metabolite, N-acetylprocainamide, in plasma. A simple extraction of 1.0 ml of plasma is followed by separation and chromatographic analysis by use of a column containing microparticulate silica. p-nitro-N-(2-diethylaminoethyl)benzamide hydrochloride was synthesized and used as the ...

Case report An 83-year-old man with previous cerebral abscess (surgically resected 55 years prior) and postoperative seizure disorder presented with headache, scalp tenderness and reduced left eye visual acuity. His medications were: phenytoin 400mg daily, cilazapril 1.5mg daily, omeprazole 40mg daily, melatonin 3mg nightly, bendrofl uazide 2.5mg daily and primidone 500mg daily. Examination rev...

Essential tremor is the most common of the movement disorders, being 20 times more common than Parkinson's Disease. It is characterised by postural and kinetic tremor which maximally affects the hands. It can be assessed by physiological techniques, subjective clinical methods, objective clinical methods and handicap/disability scales. Accelerometry, spirography and handwriting assessment, volu...

Essential tremor is a common neurological disorder characterised by postural and kinetic tremor. In the American Academy of Neurology 2011 evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of essential tremor, propranolol and primidone were the only two medications for which Level A recommendations were issued. Both medications are usually well tolerated. We recently prescribed propranolol to a 34-ye...

A simple, rapid, quantitative, low-cost UV-differential spectrophotometric method for the routine monitoring of phenobarbital in serum and cerebrospinal fluid is described. This method can also be used for monitoring methylphenobarbital (Phemiton) and primidone (Mysoline), since the major active metabolite of both drugs is phenobarbital. The basis for our procedure is Goldbaum's method (Anal. C...

Essential tremor is a common movement disorder in adults that interferes with the performance of functional and social activities. Differentiation of essential tremor from other tremor syndromes is important in order to provide appropriate patient education and therapy. The mainstays of pharmacotherapy are propranolol and primidone; however, in selected patients, agents such as alcohol, benzodi...