C AFFEINISM, a diagnosis recently included in the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III),’ is characterized by a constellation of affective, sleep, and psychophysiological manifestations.2 Because symptoms of caffeinism might be confounded or masked by simultaneous ingestion of other drugs, it is pertinent to ask w...

DERMATOLOGIC MEDICATIONS. By M. R. Lerner and A. B. Lerner. Chicago, The Yearbook Publisher, 1960. 208 pp. $6.00. The renaissance in dermatology which is being led by a small group of research-trained clinical dermatologists has produced much new basic scientific knowledge and a distinct improvement in patient care. The achievements of the authors of the present volume place them in the forefro...

The section on tranquilizers comprises three chapters: (1) Phenothiazine derivatives by P. B. Bradley, (2) Rauwolfia derivatives by J. J. Lewis and (3) Diphenylmethane derivatives by T. R. Sherrod. The first two are, quite justifiably, restricted to detailed accounts of the pharmacology of chlorpromazine and reserpine respectively, which are treated as model compounds representative of their ch...

Background: The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) published findings in 2002 that changed the perception of the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for the reduction of cardiovascular risks. Menopausal women using HRT for the relief of vasomotor symptoms were advised to use the lowest possible dose of HRT over the shortest possible duration. Objective: This study sought to examine patterns o...

The therapeutic objectives for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients are to improve their functioning in society. Accordingly, recommended management is to develop a logical strategy including a positive diagnosis, consideration of the patient's agenda and emotional state, critical appraisal of the efficacies of various drugs and a graded therapeutic response. Unfortunately, none of the curre...

Background and Purpose: The purpose of the present analysis was to determine how lifestyle influences the risk of cerebrovascular disease in women participating in the Copenhagen City Heart Study. Methods: A random sample of a white, lower and middle-class, urban population selected in 1976 was invited to two cardiovascular examinations at 5-year intervals. The present analysis was based on 706...

BACKGROUND Frequent reporting of cases of hysterical conversion reaction (HCR) among hospitalized female medical patients in Bangladesh's public hospital system led us to explore the prevalence of "HCR" diagnoses within hospitals and the manner in which physicians identify, manage, and perceive patients whom they diagnose with HCR. METHODS We reviewed admission records from women's general me...

Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) is a marker for apoptosis, and its protein level is known to be increased in post-mortem Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease brains. tTG is increased in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's disease. However, the influence of psychotropic medication on acute cell death has not been studied so far in vivo, although some experiments performed in vitro...

BACKGROUND Metoclopramide is a centrally acting antiemetic and ketamine is a general anesthetic used with sedatives, tranquilizers and analgesics. Metoclopramide has analgesic effects and its combination with ketamine causes sedation and hypnosis. The contribution of metoclopramide to the analgesic effect of ketamine is not known. The purpose of the present study was to explore the analgesic ef...

BACKGROUND Self-harm is a major health care problem and changes in its prevalence and characteristics can have important implications for suicide prevention. The objective was to describe trends in the epidemiology of self-harm based on emergency department (A&E departments) visits over a 26-year period in Ghent, Belgium. METHODS We analyzed data on all self-harm presentations from the three ...