ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Since the efficacy is similar among different antidepressants, side effects, costs, and overdose toxicity are considered preferentially as factors to choose antidepressant. Recently, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are more frequently prescribed than tricyclic antidepressants because of their less frequent side effects. Also the use of noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (NaSSA) are increasing. These new antidepressants have characteristic side effect profiles in terms of gastrointestinal side effects, weight gain and sexual dysfunction which serve as direct cause of noncompliance. In the present study, we compared the drug side effects of patients with major depressive disorder who have taken either mirtazapine or SSRIs. METHODS: Among those patients who were treated at Department of Psychiatry, St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, from Jun, 2002 to July, 2002, we included patients who met DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder. Patients who reveive either mirtazapine or SSRIs (fluoxetine, paroxetine) monotherapy as an antidepressant were enrolled. Patients with physical illnesses or poor drug compliance were excluded. A self-rating questionnaire was used to assess the drug side effects. RESULTS: Total 86 patients (mirtazapine;24, SSRIs;62 (fluoxetine 18, paroxetine 44)) were participated in this study. There was no difference at age (mirtazapine;48.0+/-14.0 years, SSRIs;43.3+/-15.6 years), sex ratio (mirtazapine;male 12: female 12, SSRIs;male 24: female 38), and mean duration of administration (mirtazapine;20.2+/-21.5 weeks, SSRIs;32.1+/-50.9 weeks) between two groups. Patients taking mirtazapine have significantly less side effects in terms of decreased appetite, yawn, decreased libido, and anorgasmia. Patients taking SSRIs have significantly less side effects in terms of peripheral edema than mirtazapine. CONCLUSION: Mirtazapine and SSRIs showed differences in some side effects. Mirtazapine showed more favorable side effect profiles in the gastrointestinal and sexual side effects than SSRIs. This data was thought to be useful guidelines in selecting antidepressants hereafter.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Antidepressive Agents , Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic , Appetite , Compliance , Depressive Disorder, Major , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Edema , Korea , Libido , Paroxetine , Surveys and Questionnaires , Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors , Sex Ratio , Weight GainABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: As the limitation of lithium that is representative of the treatment in bipolar disorder is known, the use of other mood stabilizers such as carbamazepine, valproate have been increased. And with the development of pharmacotherapy, combinations of atypical antipsychotics and other drugs are a general tendency in the treatment of bipolar disorder. This study was to investigate the prescription trends in psychiatric inpatients with bipolar disorder at a university hospital and to put knowledge to practical use. METHODS: Data of 118 cases with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder according to DSM-IV from January 1998 to December 2001 were collected. Data on demographic data, duration of hospitalization, and kinds and dosages of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics were analyzed. RESULTS: In 118 subjects, 52 were male and 66 were female. In term of diagnosis, subjects with bipolar I disorder were 116 (98.3%) and subjects with bipolar II disorder were 2 (1.7%). And subjects with manic episode were 96 (81.4%), subjects with depressive episode were 17 (14.4%), subjects with hypomanic episode were 3 (2.5%) and subjects with mixed episode were 2 (1.7%). From 1998 to 2001, 95.8% of total cases were treated with the combination therapy of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics, and only 4.2% were treated with the monotherapy of a mood stabilizer. Considering mood stabilizers, the use of single mood stabilizer was 54.2% and two or more mood stabilizers combination was 45.8%. Lithium was the most commonly used mood stabilizer, and the combination of lithium and carbamazepine was the second. The mean dosage was 1060+/-207 mg/day for lithium, 665+/-131 mg/day for carbamazepine, 1056+/-258 mg/day for valproate. There was no significant change in terms of dosages used in every year. Comparing year 1998 to year 2001, the combination of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics has been increased from 90.3% to 100%. The ratio of using two or more antipsychotics decreased from 38.7% to 10.3%, but the ratio of single antipsychotics use increased from 54.8% to 89.7%. Considering the ratio of antipsychotics, typical antipsychotics decreased from 38.7% to 6.9%, but atypical antipsychotics increased from 61.3% to 93%. CONCLUSION: With the rapid and dramatic progress of psychopharmacology, the prescription trend of the pharmacotherapy in the bipolar disorder has been changed. This study suggest that the use of atypical antipsychotics has increased profoundly. We think it reflects the current progress of the treatment in the bipolar disorder.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Male , Antipsychotic Agents , Bipolar Disorder , Carbamazepine , Diagnosis , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Drug Therapy , Hospitalization , Inpatients , Lithium , Prescriptions , Psychopharmacology , Valproic AcidABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Since the efficacy is similar among different antidepressants, side effects, costs, and overdose toxicity are considered preferentially as factors to choose antidepressant. Recently, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are more frequently prescribed than tricyclic antidepressants because of their less frequent side effects. Also the use of noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (NaSSA) are increasing. These new antidepressants have characteristic side effect profiles in terms of gastrointestinal side effects, weight gain and sexual dysfunction which serve as direct cause of noncompliance. In the present study, we compared the drug side effects of patients with major depressive disorder who have taken either mirtazapine or SSRIs. METHODS: Among those patients who were treated at Department of Psychiatry, St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, from Jun, 2002 to July, 2002, we included patients who met DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder. Patients who reveive either mirtazapine or SSRIs (fluoxetine, paroxetine) monotherapy as an antidepressant were enrolled. Patients with physical illnesses or poor drug compliance were excluded. A self-rating questionnaire was used to assess the drug side effects. RESULTS: Total 86 patients (mirtazapine;24, SSRIs;62 (fluoxetine 18, paroxetine 44)) were participated in this study. There was no difference at age (mirtazapine;48.0+/-14.0 years, SSRIs;43.3+/-15.6 years), sex ratio (mirtazapine;male 12: female 12, SSRIs;male 24: female 38), and mean duration of administration (mirtazapine;20.2+/-21.5 weeks, SSRIs;32.1+/-50.9 weeks) between two groups. Patients taking mirtazapine have significantly less side effects in terms of decreased appetite, yawn, decreased libido, and anorgasmia. Patients taking SSRIs have significantly less side effects in terms of peripheral edema than mirtazapine. CONCLUSION: Mirtazapine and SSRIs showed differences in some side effects. Mirtazapine showed more favorable side effect profiles in the gastrointestinal and sexual side effects than SSRIs. This data was thought to be useful guidelines in selecting antidepressants hereafter.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Antidepressive Agents , Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic , Appetite , Compliance , Depressive Disorder, Major , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Edema , Korea , Libido , Paroxetine , Surveys and Questionnaires , Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors , Sex Ratio , Weight GainABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: As the limitation of lithium that is representative of the treatment in bipolar disorder is known, the use of other mood stabilizers such as carbamazepine, valproate have been increased. And with the development of pharmacotherapy, combinations of atypical antipsychotics and other drugs are a general tendency in the treatment of bipolar disorder. This study was to investigate the prescription trends in psychiatric inpatients with bipolar disorder at a university hospital and to put knowledge to practical use. METHODS: Data of 118 cases with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder according to DSM-IV from January 1998 to December 2001 were collected. Data on demographic data, duration of hospitalization, and kinds and dosages of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics were analyzed. RESULTS: In 118 subjects, 52 were male and 66 were female. In term of diagnosis, subjects with bipolar I disorder were 116 (98.3%) and subjects with bipolar II disorder were 2 (1.7%). And subjects with manic episode were 96 (81.4%), subjects with depressive episode were 17 (14.4%), subjects with hypomanic episode were 3 (2.5%) and subjects with mixed episode were 2 (1.7%). From 1998 to 2001, 95.8% of total cases were treated with the combination therapy of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics, and only 4.2% were treated with the monotherapy of a mood stabilizer. Considering mood stabilizers, the use of single mood stabilizer was 54.2% and two or more mood stabilizers combination was 45.8%. Lithium was the most commonly used mood stabilizer, and the combination of lithium and carbamazepine was the second. The mean dosage was 1060+/-207 mg/day for lithium, 665+/-131 mg/day for carbamazepine, 1056+/-258 mg/day for valproate. There was no significant change in terms of dosages used in every year. Comparing year 1998 to year 2001, the combination of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics has been increased from 90.3% to 100%. The ratio of using two or more antipsychotics decreased from 38.7% to 10.3%, but the ratio of single antipsychotics use increased from 54.8% to 89.7%. Considering the ratio of antipsychotics, typical antipsychotics decreased from 38.7% to 6.9%, but atypical antipsychotics increased from 61.3% to 93%. CONCLUSION: With the rapid and dramatic progress of psychopharmacology, the prescription trend of the pharmacotherapy in the bipolar disorder has been changed. This study suggest that the use of atypical antipsychotics has increased profoundly. We think it reflects the current progress of the treatment in the bipolar disorder.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Male , Antipsychotic Agents , Bipolar Disorder , Carbamazepine , Diagnosis , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Drug Therapy , Hospitalization , Inpatients , Lithium , Prescriptions , Psychopharmacology , Valproic AcidABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The atypical antipsychotics are being increasingly used to control acute episode of bipolar disorder, and data are emerging to support their mood-stabilizing and antidepressant properties. This study investigated the short-term efficacy of quetiapine as a combination therapy in the treatment of acute bipolar I disorder. METHODS: This study was a 4-week, open-label, combination, prospective investigation using quetiapine in addition to mood stabilizers. Data of 18 patients fulfilling DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for bipolar I disorder were analyzed. The Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), the Hamilton Scale for Depression (HDRS), the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale (ESRS) were applied at baseline and at week 1, 2 and 4. The Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) was evaluated at baseline and week 4. RESULTS: The addition of quetiapine produced a statistically significant improvement on the YMRS, HDRS, BPRS and CGI score at week 4 from baseline (p<0.01). Significant improvement on the ESRS-Parkinsonism subscore was observed at week 1, 2 and 4 from baseline (p<0.05). Quetiapine was well tolerated, with no subjects discontinuing because of side effects. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that combination of quetiapine was an effective and safe treatment in patients with acute episode of bipolar disorder. Randomized placebo-controlled prospective studies with increased sample size are needed.
Subject(s)
Humans , Antipsychotic Agents , Bipolar Disorder , Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale , Depression , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Drug Therapy , Prospective Studies , Sample Size , Quetiapine FumarateABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Immediate early gene (IEG), c-fos is known to encode a 62 kDa nuclear protein (Fos) which has a critical role in the stimulus response process of many cells. c-fos can be activated in the central nervous system by a variety of physiological and pharmacological treatment. Recently evidences has been reported suggesting that glucocorticoid hormones, which are released from adrenal cortex in response to stress, may regulate IEG expression. We observed whether immobilization stress or corticosterone altered the induction of c-fos by haloperidol in the nucleus accumbens, lateral striatum, and prefrontal cortex. METHODS: Twenty-four healthy Wistar rats of male sex, weighing 300-450 g, were divided into 6 groups according to injection agents [vehicle (1 mg/kg), haloperidol (1 mg/kg), corticosterone (1 mg/kg), immobilization stress, haloperidol (1 mg/kg) and corticosterone (1 mg/kg), haloperidol (1 mg/kg) and immobilization stress] respectively. Fos-immunoreactivity was measured by counting of Fos-positive neurons in the nucleus accumbens, lateral striatum, and prefrontal cortex. RESULTS: (1) The number of Fos-positive neurons in the nucleus accumbens was significantly decreased in the haloperidol plus immobilization stress group and haloperidol plus corticosterone group compared with that in the haloperidol group (p<0.05). (2) The number of Fos-positive nurons in the lateral striatum was significantly decreased in the haloperidol plus corticosterone group compared with that in the haloperidol group, but the number of Fos-positive neurons in the lateral striatum was not significantly different between the haloperidol plus immobilization stress group and the haloperidol group (p<0.05). (3) The number of Fos-positive neurons in the prefrontal cortex was significantly increased in the haloperidol plus immobilization stress group and haloperidol plus corticosterone group compared with that in the haloperidol group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that regulatory process exerted by corticosterone may alter the antipsychotic effect of haloperidol.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Male , Rats , Adrenal Cortex , Antipsychotic Agents , Brain , Central Nervous System , Corticosterone , Haloperidol , Immobilization , Neurons , Nuclear Proteins , Nucleus Accumbens , Prefrontal Cortex , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study was carried out to explore the relationship between major depressive disorder and CTLA-4 which is related to the immunologic function such as T cell regulation. METHODS: Among the Korean patients diagnosed as major depressive disorder according to DSM-IV, 77 patients without neurological illness, hormonal disorder, or comorbid mental illness were selected. The stored data of 149 normal Koreans from the Catholic Hemopoietic Stem Cell Bank of Korea, were used as a normal control group. The data of Korean control group were compared with those of the studies of different ethnics. DNA was extracted from whole blood and the exon 1 region of CTLA-4 gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Gene typing was performed by using SSCP and then, the results were assessed. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in genotype frequencies of CTLA-4*G/G, CTLA-4*G/A, and CTLA-4*A/A between the patients with major depressive disorder and the control group in Korean population(48.1% vs 46.3%, 41.6% vs 39.6%, 10.3% vs 14.1%, respectively).There were no significant differences in allelic frequencies of CTLA-4*G and CTLA-4*A between the patients with major depressive disorder and the control group in Korean population(68.8% vs 66.1%, 31.2% vs 33.9%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Considering negative result for the association of the exon 1 polymorphism of CTLA-4 gene with major depressive disorder in this study, the exon 1 polymorphism does not appear to be possible candidate gene for major depressive disorder. Moreover, further systematic researches including diverse clinical variables would be required.
Subject(s)
Humans , Depressive Disorder, Major , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , DNA , Exons , Genotype , Korea , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational , Stem CellsABSTRACT
There had been few reports of arachnoid cyst accompanying psychiaric disturbance and no report treated with low-dose resperidone administration. We report a patient, developed first-transient psychotic episode considered to be provoked by an arachnoid cyst, responsive to risperidone, which was found in the middle cranial fossa as follows. A 57-year-old man was admitted by suddenly developed headache, auditory hallucination, delusion of persecution and, an arachnoid cyst in the anteromedial aspect of middle cranial fossa was found on MRI after admission. The psychotic episode was first to him and he was also negative to other clinical evaluation including endocrine abnormality, his psychotic symptom was suspected to be induced by arachnoid cyst and was well controlled to low-dose risperidone administration. He left hospital free from psychotic symptoms on 14 hospital days.
Subject(s)
Humans , Middle Aged , Arachnoid , Cranial Fossa, Middle , Delusions , Hallucinations , Headache , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Psychotic Disorders , RisperidoneABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to evaluate the prescription patterns, overall efficacy, and safety of atypical antipsychotics for inpatients with bipolar I disorder. METHODS: Inpatients with bipolar I disorder, who had received adjunctive treatment with olanzapine or risperidone, beyond 1 month, along with mood stabilizers were selected for a retrospective study. The charts of those patients(N=56) were reviewed for the details of efficacy, safety, and other pharmacological variables of the two drugs. RESULTS: Olanzapine and risperidone showed equivalent efficacy by the evaluation in accordance with clinical global impression scale (CGI) and global assessment of functioning scale(GAF) score. Different side effect profiles were noted between two drugs. CONCLUSION: These limited results suggested that the efficacy and safety of risperidone and olanzapine were similar for the treatment of inpatients with bipolar I disorder. Prospective controlled study for efficacy and safety of risperidone and olanzapine in the treatment of bipolar I disorder should be conducted in future.
Subject(s)
Humans , Antipsychotic Agents , Inpatients , Prescriptions , Retrospective Studies , RisperidoneABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenia is known to have high genetic influences. Recently, the main focus of etiologic study in schizophrenia has been concentrated on molecular genetic approach including polymorphism analysis. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between schizophrenia and immunologic influences by analyzing polymorphism of TNFB that is involved in interaction between immunologic system and CNS. METHOD: 146 schizophrenic patients diagnosed by DSM-IV criteria were included and data of 206 normal population from the Catholic Hemopoietic Stem Cell Information Bank(Seoul, Korea) were used as a control group in this study. DNA was extracted from whole blood, thereafter amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and digested by NcoI. We obtained and assessd RFLP of two alleles, TNFB1 which has a NcoI restriction site generating 555bp and 185bp fragments, and TNFB2 which lacks the NcoI restriction site. All data were analyzed by K 2 test. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in frequency of TNFB1/1, TNFB1/2, and TNFB2/2 between the schizophrenic patient and the control group. Alleric frequencies of TNFB1 and TNFB2 were significantly different between schizophrenic patient and control group. CONCLULSION: We found the possible association between alleles of TNFB and schizophrenia in this study. To clarify the influences of TNFB on schizophrenia, further systematic studies should be conducted.
Subject(s)
Humans , Alleles , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , DNA , Molecular Biology , Necrosis , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length , Schizophrenia , Stem CellsABSTRACT
A 56 year-old female patient with major depressive disorder, single episode with unremarkable findings on past medical and psychiatric history visited due to various depressive symptoms. Mirtazapine of 15 mg/day at evening was administered for the control of her depressive symptoms along with alprazolam of 0.5 mg/day at morning and evening for the control of anxiety. On fifth hospitalized day, she complained of creeping and crawling sensation on both legs which was aggravated at night after about one hour of mirtazapine intake and improved with movement. She also had a difficulty in falling a sleep as well as onset of discomfort on both legs. We rendered her discomfort as restless legs syndrome (RLS) due to mirtazapine disposition. Therefore, we maintained mirtazapine of 15 mg/day at evening and added clonazepam of 1 mg/day at morning and evening for the control of RLS. After 7 days observation, the patient complained of aggravated natures of RLS and wanted to stop the drug. Though the effectiveness of mirtazapine for control of depressive symptoms, the drug was switched to paroxetine of 20 mg/day at 16th hospitalized day and 4 days later the RLS was completely terminated.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Alprazolam , Anxiety , Clonazepam , Depression , Depressive Disorder, Major , Leg , Paroxetine , Restless Legs Syndrome , SensationABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to analyze the sociodemographic characteristics of participants in '1998 Korean Depression Screening Day' and to evaluate the results of the screening test. METHODS: By using the survey results of 619 volunteers from 8 hospitals, the authors examined the prevalence of depression detected at the screening test and sociodemographic characteristics and the psychiatric treatment history of respondents. The assessment measure was the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. RESULTS: The mean depression score of all participants was 57.5+/-13.8 and it came under mild depression. Of all participants, 69.5% (N=430)had at least mild depressive symptoms, 43.1% (N=267)had at least moderate symptoms, and 18.4% (N=114)had severe symptoms. Never have 56.8% of respondents in the severely depressed range and 63.9% of those in the moderately depressed range had psychiatric treatment. The results suggest that the age group of 29-year-old or younger (relative to 60-year-old or older group)and full-time employment status (relative to unemployment)are protective factors of depression. CONCLUSIONS: By '1998 Korean Depression Screening Day', many depressed patients were detected and their depressive symptoms had statistically significant relationships with some sociodemographic characteristics. The results suggest that the education and screening test programs for depressive illness facilitated by Depression Screening Day are useful to the patients regardless of being under current treatment or not.
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Middle Aged , Surveys and Questionnaires , Depression , Education , Employment , Mass Screening , Prevalence , VolunteersABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: In spite of being an atypical antipsychotic which has serotonergic(5HT2) biocking activity in addition to the dopaminergic(D2) antagonistic action, risperidone elevates serum prolactin level. Hyperprolactinemia secondary to neuroleptic treatment have an obvious impact on fertility. We investigated the prolactin response after oral administration of risperidone and compared the prolactin responses between male and female subjects. METHOD: Subjects included 10 male and 7 female patients who met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia(n=17), Blood samples(4 ml/sample) were taken on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 14th, 28th and 42nd days, twice, at 8:00 AM and at 10:00 AM in the morning after an overnight fast. The daily medication was administered after the first blood sampling at 8:00 AM. After baseline sampling, the same dose of risperidone was administered to each patient until the end of the 3rd day. The dose of risperidone was then decided by clinical evaluation. Serum prolactin concentrations were measured by standard double-antibody radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Administration of risperidone significantly increased serum prolactin levels (p<0.05). After administration of risperidone, the elevations of serum prolactin level in women was significantly higher than those in men (p<0.05). There were significant reductions in positive symptom stores (21.7+/-.8, vs 11.4+/-.0) and negative symptom score (20.5+/-.2, vs 14.6+/-.8), general symptom store (44.3+/-.4, vs 30.9+/-.0) of PANSS by risperidone administration for 6 weeks(p<0.05). All patients developed hyperprolactinemia and one of the ten men developed women developed menstrual disturbance during observation period. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that administration of risperidone results in a significant increase of prolactin and the elevation of serum prolactin levels were significantly higher in women, therefore clinicians should be vigilant to possible reactions in female patients with psychotic symptoms upon treatment with risperidone.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Male , Administration, Oral , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Fertility , Hyperprolactinemia , Prolactin , Radioimmunoassay , Risperidone , SchizophreniaABSTRACT
This study was designed to examine the mianserin effects on the negative symptoms of chronic schizophrenia. The chronic schizophrenics(N= 14) diagnosed by DSM-III-R, who were treated at the Catholic University St. Mary Hospital from March 1, 1993 to August 31, 1995, were divided into two groups. One group was composed of 7 patients who were treated with a single classical antipsychotic agent(monotherapy group, MG), and another was composed of 7 Patients treated with combined medications(combined therapy group, CG), including classical antipsychotics plus fixed dose of mianserin 30 mg/day at bed time. Symptoms were evaluated by BPRS(Brief psychiatric Rating Scale) and PANSS(Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) biweekly for 6 weeks, i.e., total 4 times(at baseline, at 2 weeks, at 4 weeks, and at 6 weeks). The results were as follows: 1) Assessed by PANSS, the negative symptoms of CG were statistically significantly improved more than those of MG at 2 weeks, at 4 weeks, and at 6 weeks. 2) Assessed by PANSS, the positive symptoms of CG were not statistically different from those of MG. In both of CG and MG, there was no difference of the positive symptoms across time intervals. 3) Assessed by PANSS, the total symptoms of CG were statistically significantly improved more than those of MG at 2 weeks, at 4 weeks, and at 6 weeks. But, assessed by BPRS, the total symptoms of CG were not statistically different from those of MG. 4) Assessed by PANSS, the general psychopathology symptoms of CG were not statistically different from those of MG. In CG, the general psychopathology symptoms at 6 weeks were statistically significantly improved more than those of baseline. In summary, mianserin, when combined with classical antipsychotic agent, appears to be effective in diminishing negative symptoms of chronic schizophrenic patients. However, it did not influence positive symptoms.
Subject(s)
Humans , Antipsychotic Agents , Mianserin , Psychopathology , SchizophreniaABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: We attempted to investigate the relation between naturally occurring hypnotic experiences and hypnotizability. We examined the correlations among hypnotic induction profile scores, natural hypnotic scores, induction scores and MBTI personality types. METHODS: Sixty-three medical students completed NHQ(natural hypnotic questionnaire) developed from a list of naturally occurring hypnotic-like experiences and MBTI(Myers-Briggs Type Inventory), HIF(Hypnotic Induction Profile) was also administered to all the subjects. HIF score and IND(induction score) were obtained. RESULTS: 1) The NHS(natural hypnotic score) was significantly correlated with IND in all the subjects. The IND also showed significant correlation with HIF score. 2) There was no significant correlation between NHS and HIP scores. 3) HIF scores were positively correlated with induction scores in all types of MBTI. 4) Natural hypnotic scores were positively correlated with HIF scores and induction scores in introvert and thinking types. 5) There were positive correlations between natural hypnotic scores and induction scores in intuition and judgment types. CONCLUSION: The natural hypnotic scores were correlated with induction scores. It is suggested that the more the naturally-occurring hypnotic experience is experienced, the better the hypnotic induction is induced In introvert and thinking types of MBTI personality types.
Subject(s)
Humans , Hip , Intuition , Judgment , Students, Medical , ThinkingABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of methysergide(serotonin receptor antagonist) on serum growth hormone response after electroconvulsive therapy(ECT). METHODS: We studied the changes of the serum growth hormone levels of the day before ECT(No ECT), ECT without methysergide pretreatment(ECT alone), and ECT with methysergide pretreatment(M+ECT) by radioimmunoassay method in 14 psychiatric patients. ECT was induced by the application of 110 volts for a period 0.3-1.0 second, using bitemporal electrodes. RESULTS: 1) Serum growth hormone levels at 15, 30, and 60 minutes after ECT were significantly increased in the ECT alone group than in the No ECT group(p<0.05). 2) Serum growth hormone levels at 15, 30, and 60 minites after ECT were significantly decreased in the M+ECT group than in the ECT alone group(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the response of growth hormone after ECT seems to be mediated by the activation of serotonergic system.
Subject(s)
Humans , Electroconvulsive Therapy , Electrodes , Growth Hormone , Methysergide , RadioimmunoassayABSTRACT
Atenolol is a beta1-selective adrenoreceptor blocking agent which is generally thought of as cardioselective, with little CNS action, because it has hydrophilic solubility rather than lipophilic. But recently, it has been reported that atenolol also can cause CNS side effect, especially in the patient with past neuropsychiatric history, old age, or underlying cerebral lesion. This 59-year-old female case demonstrated that atenolol could be an etiological agent of visual hallucination in a elderly patient with cerebral infarction.