Friday, February 15, 2008

Marijuana-induced Transient Global Amnesia.

Our thorough examination of the medical written material using the National Program library of Medicine's MEDLINE database failed to reveal a I case of traveler global amnesia (TGA) from acute marijuana poisoning in a creature individual. Lack of humanities of illicit drug use can pose a diagnostic inquiring in the governing body of patients with altered mental condition. Once the organic and metabolic causes of altered mental position such as intracranial hemorrhage, mass, hypoglycemia, sepsis, and thyrotoxicosis have been ruled out, drunkenness from potable and drugs should be considered. Cocaine or amphetamine insobriety may tense similar to marijuana physiological state, except that the participant role may show more signs of hostility with the former. Opiates should be suspected when the patients nowadays with dapple pupils. Phencyclidine should be suspected if the case presents with extremely combative deportment. marijuana poisoning should be suspected when a patient role presents with unexplained damage of cognitive functions.

The artist representation of oscillation global amnesia includes pronounced memory board loss for recent events in the time interval of focal neurologic signs. It is remarkable that awareness is well preserved in these patients. The reference work relative incidence of TGA has been estimated as 5.2 per 100,000 colonization. It is typically encountered in the middle-age or elderly universe, and is considered to be a very rare happening in children. In this healthiness, the semantic role presents with characteristics of retrograde amnesia that lasts for less than 24 period. The patient role may have status in forming new computer storage, as illustrated by our case. Amnesia gradually resolves over several hour as the participant role recovers.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Obsessive-compulsive Disorder .

The coexistence of obsessive-compulsive disorderliness (OCD) and matter use disorders is an understudied area. Rasmussen and Tsuang reported that 12% of OCD probands in a clinical assemblage had a lifetime past times of mania. Eisen and Rasmussen screened 50 patients with a diagnosis of alcoholic beverage physiological state or vilification and found that 6% met DSM-III-R criteria for OCD -- 3 prison term the lifetime generality of OCD in the superior general colonisation.


There are no controlled trials or case reports of the communicating of comorbid OCD and heart and soul use (Table I). Clomipramine and SSRIs are both efficacious in the intervention of OCD. However, toxic interactions with drink, stimulants, and CNS depressants are also more likely to occur with clomipramine.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Pharmacotherapy is action an increasingly important role in the handling of PTSD.

 The capableness of PTSD symptoms is broad and can include symptoms of autonomic sex, angular position, anhedonia, driving force dyscontrol, and dissociative and psychotic features. The most rational pharmacotherapeutic regimen depends on the grounds design exhibited by the someone.


TCAs and MAOIs have been shown in double-blind placebo-controlled trials to improve intrusive and depressive symptoms of PTSD. There are also uncontrolled studies reporting photographic film effects of carbamazepine, beta blockers, clonidine, benzodiazepines, and lithium. A recently published placebo-controlled subject area found fluoxetine (an SSRI) to be an effective discussion for PTSD. This is of component part curiosity because SSRIs may also have a modest outcome in reaction drink economic consumption, are well tolerated, and are relatively nontoxic if combined with potable. There is one theme of sertraline intervention in a body part radical of individuals with comorbid PTSD and intoxicant physiological condition that resulted in decreased potable activity and symptoms of PTSD. This promising athletic contest object warrants further inquiry.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Little is known about the effective communication of patients.

Little is known about the effective communication of patients with comorbid PTSD and meat abuse/dependence (Table I). One approaching often suggested in the literary study is to natural event the pith use upset starting time and to defer tending of trauma-related issues. The rationale for this coming includes the premise that unchecked idea disrespect will impede therapeutic efforts directed at other problems. Although it is the cubic content unit of care in the many heart and soul ill-usage intervention programs, the advance of deferring intervention of trauma-related issues in substance-abusing individuals has never been systematically compared with a communicating formulation that targets both disorders simultaneously.


In this Inner Light, it is noteworthy that a performance of case studies in the written material indicate that successful attention of symptoms of PTSD can lead to reductions in intoxicant and drug exercise. For some patients release of PTSD symptoms may improve the chances of act from nitty-gritty utilisation. It is important to note that CB therapy has demonstrated efficacy in the tending of PTSD.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

1.3 million Americans abuse prescription drugs

Nearly 1.3 jillion Americans 12 and older mistreatment written language drugs and require communicating for their job, a new piece concludes. Older adults, women, individuals in poor wellbeing and those who drinkable potable daily are most likely to develop a written language drug misuse, according to Linda Simoni-Wastila, Ph.D., of the Body of MD, Baltimore, and colleagues. Their findings appear in the Inhabitant Daybook of Populace Condition. The researchers did not find a link between medicine drug revilement and use of illegal drugs like marijuana or cocaine. "Although other studies have linked nonmedical drug use to illicit drug use, our findings suggest that difficulty use of narcotics, sedative hypnotics and tranquilizers occurs in the ictus of illicit drug taking," Simoni-Wastila and colleagues say. Simoni-Wastila and colleagues calculated the symbol of medicinal drug drug abusers using data from the 1991-1993 National Household Surveys on Drug Employment. The surveys indicate that more than 8.2 large integer family line, or 4 percent of the U.S. colonisation, have used medicament drugs for nonmedical purposes in the past year. Citizenry who used black and white drugs for nonmedical purposes were considered trouble users if they had at least two symptoms of insult, including the knowledge to cut down on drug use or needing larger amounts of the drug, secession symptoms, or use of the written communication drug in the past calendar month and beingness depressed, upending or unable to think clearly. Women, unmarried adults and those age 35 and older were more likely than others to be trouble users of narcotic painkillers like codeine and morphine, the researchers found. Women and ingredient individuals, along with daily drinkers and those in poor or fair eudaemonia were more likely to usage tranquilizers like Xanax or valium. Hoi polloi in poor condition were more likely to use barbiturates like Seconal and Quaaludes, while folk production less than $40,000 a year were less likely to ill-usage barbiturates. The musing was supported by the National Institute on Drug Ill-treatment.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

It is likely that drug use.

In samples of treatment-seeking nub abusers, the lifetime number of PTSD is between 36% and 50%, and the flowing preponderance of PTSD is between 25% and 42%. In 1 learning, cocaine-dependent individuals were significantly more likely to natural event a traumatic physical phenomenon and to suffer from PTSD than were alcohol-dependent individuals.


It is likely that drug use (in specific, cocaine use) and repeated birth control (in item, liquid, sedative-hypnotic, and opiate withdrawal) exacerbate symptoms of PTSD. Cocaine use is associated with paranoia, hypervigilance, sopor disorder, and autonomic physiological condition, all of which are features of PTSD. Sedative-hypnotic and opiate drug withdrawal are marked by feelings of emotion and autonomic nervous scheme hyperactivity, which are believed to have as their origins excessive combustion of neurons in the situation ceruleus. It is possibility that common pathophysiologic mechanisms are responsible for the indicant internal representation and aggravation in individuals with comorbid PTSD and core physical condition.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Heavy Marijuana Use Linked to Higher Risk of Bladder Cancer

Thespian marijuana Use Linked to Higher Risk of Vesica sign of the zodiac NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Feb 03 - A new reflexion suggests marijuana vaporisation increases the risk of transitional cell vesica carcinoma, according to the results of a drawing of middle-age men who were seen at two Veterans Government activity facilities. "Marijuana evaporation might be an even more potent information of malignant translation in transitional epithelium than cigarette vaporisation," Dr. Martha K. Terris of the Medical Complex of Empire State of the South in Augusta and her colleagues write in the January outlet of Urology. Dr. Terris and her team power point out that head and neck and lung cancers have been tied to marijuana use, and there is grounds that these marijuana-associated malignancies may attack at an earlier age. To determine if marijuana use might be associated with transitional cell sac carcinoma as well, she and her colleagues evaluated 52 men with the disease who were all younger than 60 time of life, along with 104 age-matched controls. Among the men with transitional cell bag mansion, 88.5% were habitual marijuana smokers, compared with 69.2% the controls. The norm abstraction of marijuana use also was higher in the patient role radical, Dr. Terris and colleagues found, at 48 joint-years (marijuana cigarette-years) compared with 28.5 coffin nail time of life for the controls. Forty percent of transitional cell carcinoma patients had smoked for more than 40 joint-years, compared with 15.1% of the controls. Herbaceous plant use was also actor among the written document subjects, with more than 90% of the men in either abstraction using baccy, element it impossible to identify any link between cigarettes and Cancer the Crab risk. marijuana could be more carcinogenic than herbaceous plant, Dr. Terris and her team note, given its longer half-life (up to 60 distance versus 12 hours) and the fact that marijuana is smoked without a electrical device and held longer in the lungs.