Aggression among psychiatric inpatients in Greece.

We studied, during 5 consecutive days, the prevalence, types and demographic, historical and clinical correlates of overt aggression in a population of 136 acute and chronic inpatients with mainly a diagnosis of psychotic disorder. Almost one fourth of them exhibited some sort of aggressive behavior. Verbal aggression was by far the most frequent type followed-in decreasing order-by physical aggression, aggression against property and self-aggression. Past threats of violence and attacks on others as well as concurrent motor excitement, agitation, low tolerance of frustration, difficulty in delaying gratification, depressive feelings, anger, hostility, affective lability and antisocial behavior differed significantly across the aggressive and the nonaggressive groups. The best short-term clinical predictors of aggression were different for each type, anger being their sole common predictor, and accounted for various proportions of the corresponding variances ranging from only 13.3% for self-aggression to 39.2% for verbal aggression.

Nandrolone decanoate (deca-durabolin) in primary Sjögren's syndrome: a double blind pilot study.

The efficacy and side-effects of Deca-Durabolin (DD) were tested, in a double blind fashion, in twenty female primary Sjögren's syndrome (1 degree SS) patients. Ten randomly assigned patients received DD (100 mg IM bi-weekly) for six months, and ten others placebo, for the same period. Analysis of the results revealed that the DD-treated patients showed a moderate improvement of subjective xerostomia, a significant decrease of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and an overall improvement of their feeling of well-being, -judged by themselves and the investigator subjectively-, when compared with the placebo group. All the sicca objective parameters (results of Schirmer's I test, slit lamp eye examination after rose bengal staining, stimulated parotid flow rate measurements and labial minor salivary gland histopathology) were not significantly altered in either group. The clinical side-effects were the expected ones, i.e. hirsutism, hoarseness and an increase in libido, more pronounced in the DD-treated group. At the end of the study, one DD-treated patient, developed a diffuse well-differentiated B-lymphocytic lymphoma, which regressed spontaneously three months later.

Nifedipine treatment of patients with bronchial asthma.

Nifedipine, 30 mg/day for 4 weeks, was compared to placebo in a double-blind, randomized, crossover study, as an additional drug added to the usual treatment of 14 patients with bronchial asthma. Nifedipine did not significantly change peak expiratory flow rates or subjective symptoms like cough, sputum, wheezing, shortness of breath, or disturbed sleep. Nifedipine did not decrease the number of salbutamol rotacaps inhaled per day. Arterial blood pressure significantly decreased (p less than 0.01) after nifedipine treatment, and side effects (headache and flushing) were not uncommon. In this study, long-term treatment with nifedipine had essentially no effect on subjective symptoms at peak expiratory flow rates.