scholarly journals Treatments for chronic psychosis

2001 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-292

Psychosis is a mental condition characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder; it spans diagnostic entities that respond to similar therapeutic approaches. Psychosis has no fully described tissue pathology, as vet, but is still identified and assessed symptomatically. The first generation of antipsychotic drugs was developed in the middle of the 20th century. The second generation of drugs arrived in the 1990s. This new group of antipsychotic drugs has potent therapeutic actions on the positive symptoms of psychosis with far fewer side effects, especially motor effects. However, each of the new drugs has its own characteristic clinical and pharmacological features that affect individual patient response. Understanding these individual drug characteristics can promote optimal drug choice and use in conditions of chronic psychosis.

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (19) ◽  
pp. 2129-2142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Płocinska ◽  
Malgorzata Korycka-Machala ◽  
Przemyslaw Plocinski ◽  
Jaroslaw Dziadek

Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), the causative agent of tuberculosis, is a leading infectious disease organism, causing millions of deaths each year. This serious pathogen has been greatly spread worldwide and recent years have observed an increase in the number of multi-drug resistant and totally drug resistant M. tuberculosis strains (WHO report, 2014). The danger of tuberculosis becoming an incurable disease has emphasized the need for the discovery of a new generation of antimicrobial agents. The development of novel alternative medical strategies, new drugs and the search for optimal drug targets are top priority areas of tuberculosis research. Factors: Key characteristics of mycobacteria include: slow growth, the ability to transform into a metabolically silent - latent state, intrinsic drug resistance and the relatively rapid development of acquired drug resistance. These factors make finding an ideal antituberculosis drug enormously challenging, even if it is designed to treat drug sensitive tuberculosis strains. A vast majority of canonical antibiotics including antituberculosis agents target bacterial cell wall biosynthesis or DNA/RNA processing. Novel therapeutic approaches are being tested to target mycobacterial cell division, twocomponent regulatory factors, lipid synthesis and the transition between the latent and actively growing states. Discussion and Conclusion: This review discusses the choice of cellular targets for an antituberculosis therapy, describes putative drug targets evaluated in the recent literature and summarizes potential candidates under clinical and pre-clinical development. We focus on the key cellular process of DNA replication, as a prominent target for future antituberculosis therapy. We describe two main pathways: the biosynthesis of nucleic acids precursors – the nucleotides, and the synthesis of DNA molecules. We summarize data regarding replication associated proteins that are critical for nucleotide synthesis, initiation, unwinding and elongation of the DNA during the replication process. They are pivotal processes required for successful multiplication of the bacterial cells and hence they are extensively investigated for the development of antituberculosis drugs. Finally, we summarize the most potent inhibitors of DNA synthesis and provide an up to date report on their status in the clinical trials.


2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Hoover ◽  
John Erramouspe

Objective: To review and summarize topical oxymetazoline’s pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, efficacy, safety, cost, and place in therapy for persistent redness associated with erythematotelangiectatic rosacea. Data Sources: Literature searches of MEDLINE (1975 to September 2017), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1975 to September 2017), and Cochrane Database (publications through September 2017) using the terms rosacea, persistent redness, α -agonist, and oxymetazoline. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Results were limited to studies of human subjects, English-language publications, and topical use of oxymetazoline. Relevant materials from government sources, industry, and reviews were also included. Data Synthesis: Data support the efficacy of oxymetazoline for persistent facial redness. Little study beyond clinical trials cited in the drug approval process has been conducted. Current data suggest that oxymetazoline is similar in safety and efficacy to brimonidine. Head-to-head comparisons of topical α-agonists for erythema caused by rosacea are needed. Conclusion: The topical α-agonist, oxymetazoline, is safe and effective for reducing persistent facial redness associated with erythematotelangiectatic subtype of rosacea. Health care practitioners selecting among treatments should consider not only the subtype of rosacea but also individual patient response, preference, and cost.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 333-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Stone ◽  
Simon Roux ◽  
David Taylor ◽  
Paul D. Morrison

Background: The development of long-acting injectable formulations (LAIs) of second-generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAs) has been suggested as having advantage over first-generation antipsychotic (FGA) LAIs. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that there was a longer time to relapse in patients with schizophrenia started on SGA LAI versus FGA LAI. Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who were started on an SGA LAI while on an inpatient ward were identified through searching of the anonymised historical medical records at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Patients starting FGA LAIs matched for diagnosis, age and date of hospital admission were identified. Time to readmission, discontinuation of LAI or death were identified. Kaplan–Meier plots were generated for each group, and the difference between groups analysed using log-rank methods. Results: There were 157 patients identified in each group. There was no difference in time to readmission, medication discontinuation or death in patients on SGA LAI versus FGA LAI. Conclusions: We found no evidence of advantage in terms of maintaining response in SGA LAI versus FGA LAI. Prescriber choice should be guided by other factors such as side-effect profile, patient acceptability and price.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-156
Author(s):  
Vladislav B. Bakovsky ◽  
Sergey I. Golovkin ◽  
Tatyana V. Kukharova ◽  
Vladimir A. Utkin ◽  
Elena N. Chalaya ◽  
...  

Introduction. The treatment of polytrauma in children requires identifying the signs that characterize the severity of the acute period and quantifying the priorities of the parameters. Collectively, these reflect the direction of drift of the leading pathophysiological manifestations at each stage of the patient withdrawal program from a state of severe shock. Purpose. This study uses discriminant analysis to clarify the tactics of children with polytrauma in the first days of overcoming its consequences. It is based on the pathogenetically sound idea that each of the observed parameters role, together in the form of a vector, reflects injury severity and the childs prognosis. Materials and methods. This analysis included 45 children (34 boys and 11 girls) with polytrauma aged from 2.5 to 17 years and hospitalized in Kemerovos intensive care unit. Two groups were analyzed: the survivors and those who were deceased. Both were dominated by severe traumatic brain injury (PMT). The injury severity score (ISS) scale was used for clinical assessment of injury severity. Results. Combined with objectively obtained data on the structure of polytrauma in the direction of drift, a successful outcome is defined as a whole. It borders on the day to day priorities, potassium, PH, white blood count, and hematocrit. Also, the vector orientation pattern was observed to increase organ failure. This progressive decline occurred despite timely surgical intervention to stop internal bleeding, very active efforts to compensate for hypovolemia, acidosis, and the use of adequate means of detoxification. The deterioration in the child's condition manifests itself by increased potassium losses against the background of almost no reaction from leukocytes. Conclusions. The application of discriminant analysis enables the better revelation of the peculiarities of a polytraumas multidimensional dynamics in children in the first few days of resuscitation. It also permits the numerical expression of the priorities of individual parameters that describe their state, and by the severity and individual patient response in real-time to optimize treatment.


Author(s):  
Matthew Florczynski

Schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by increased function of dopamine in the brain.  Dopamine release is a natural response to reward.  It promotes incentive learning (IL), a process by which neutral stimuli acquire the ability to elicit approach and other responses.  A recent model characterizes dopamine‐mediated IL as a progressive process with early and late stages accompanied by a shift in neural control from the nucleus accumbens (NAc) to the dorsolateral striatum (DLS).  A parallel can be drawn to differences in regionally specific neural responses generated by first‐ and second‐generation antipsychotic drugs (APDs) used to treat schizophrenia.  APDs are dopamine receptor antagonists, but first‐generation APDs affect the NAc and DLS while second‐generation APDs affect primarily the NAc.  We compared the effects of APDs on IL. Rats (N = 48) were trained to press a lever forfood pellets in an operant chamber.  Intraperitoneal injections (1 hr before testing) of the first‐generation APD haloperidol (0,0.05,0.10,0.20 mg/kg) or of the second‐generation APD risperidone (0,0.20,0.40,0.80 mg/kg) induced dose‐dependent suppression of lever pressing on days 1‐4, with the highest dose groups failing to demonstrate any evidence of previous learning on day 5 when tested drug‐free.  On days 16‐20 haloperidol induced a day‐to‐day suppression not seen with risperidone.  The results suggest that the effects of first‐ and second‐generation APDs on learning processes putatively mediated by the NAc and DLS can be differentiated experimentally.  The findings imply that APDs may differentially affect IL inpatients with schizophrenia.  


Author(s):  
Matthew Florczynski

Schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by increased function of dopamine in the brain.  Dopamine release is a natural response to reward.  It promotes incentive learning (IL), a process by which neutral stimuli acquire the ability to elicit approach and other responses.  A recent model characterizes dopamine‐mediated IL as a progressive process with early and late stages accompanied by a shift in neural control from the nucleus accumbens (NAc) to the dorsolateral striatum (DLS).  A parallel can be drawn to differences in regionally specific neural responses generated by first‐ and second‐generation antipsychotic drugs (APDs) used to treat schizophrenia.  APDs are dopamine receptor antagonists, but first‐generation APDs affect the NAc and DLS while second‐generation APDs affect primarily the NAc.  We compared the effects of APDs on IL. Rats (N = 48) were trained to press a lever for food pellets in an operant chamber.  Intraperitoneal injections (1 hr before testing) of the first‐generation APD haloperidol (0,0.05,0.10,0.20 mg/kg) or of the second‐generation APD risperidone (0,0.20,0.40,0.80 mg/kg) induced dose‐dependent suppression of lever pressing on days 1‐4, with the highest dose groups failing to demonstrate any evidence of previous learning on day 5 when tested drug‐free.  On days 16‐20, haloperidol induced a day‐to‐day suppression not seen with risperidone.  The results suggest that the effects of first‐ and second‐generation APDs on learning processes putatively mediated by the NAc and DLS can be differentiated experimentally.  The findings imply that APDs may differentially affect IL inpatients with schizophrenia.


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anissa Abi-Dargham ◽  
Marc Laruelle

AbstractMultiple lines of evidence including recent imaging studies suggest that schizophrenia is associated with an imbalance of the dopaminergic system, entailing hyperstimulation of striatal dopamine (DA) D2 receptors and understimulation of cortical DA D1 receptors. This DA endophenotype presumably emerges from the background of a more general synaptic dysconnectivity, involving alterations in N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) and glutamatergic (GLU) functions. Equally important is the fact that this DA dysregulation might further impair NMDA transmission. The first generation antipsychotic (FGA) drugs are characterized by high affinity to and generally high occupancy of D2 receptors. The efficacy of FGAs is limited by a high incidence of extrapyramidal side-effects (EPS). Second generation antipsychotic (SGA) drugs display reduced EPS liability and modest but clinically significant enhanced therapeutic efficacy. Compared to FGAs, the improved therapeutic action of SGAs probably derives from a more moderate D2 receptor blockade. We will review the effects of SGAs on other neurotransmitter systems and conclude by highlighting the importance of therapeutic strategies aimed at directly increasing prefrontal DA, D1 receptor transmission or NMDA transmission to enhance the therapeutic effect of moderate D2 receptor antagonism.


Author(s):  
Marek J. Gawel ◽  
Irene Worthington ◽  
Anne Maggisano

ABSTRACT:Objective:A systematic review of the literature was undertaken, to consolidate evidence concerning the efficacy and safety of triptans currently available in Canada (sumatriptan, rizatriptan, naratriptan, zolmitriptan), and to provide guidelines for selection of a triptan.Methods:Data from published, randomized, placebo-controlled trials were pooled and a combined number needed to treat (NNT) and number needed to harm (NNH) was generated for each triptan. Direct comparative trials of triptans were also examined.Results:The lowest NNTfor headache response/pain-free at one/two hours is observed with subcutaneous sumatriptan. Among the oral formulations, the lowest NNT is observed with rizatriptan and the highest NENT with naratriptan. The lowest NNH is observed with subcutaneous sumatriptan.Conclusions:Triptans are relatively safe and effective medications for acute migraine attacks. However, differences among them are relatively small. Considerations in selecting a triptan include individual patient response/tolerance, characteristics of the attacks, relief of associated symptoms, consistency of response, headache recurrence, delivery systems and patient preference.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S562-S562
Author(s):  
S. AlDakheel

BackgroundThere has been significant increase in prescription of antipsychotic medication in the community for females in childbearing age the problem is we do not have clear guidelines because we do not have a control group.ObjectivesTo evaluate maternal psychiatric, medical and perinatal outcomes associated with antipsychotic drugs in pregnancy.AimTo use wisdom when the risk is minimal for both mother and child.MethodWe study 3 pregnant women, one with a 6 years old, one with a 2 years old child and one still pregnant. We measure their blood sugar, blood pressure, fetal heart, movement, ultrasound using first generation antipsychotic (FGA).ResultsPatient became less psychotic then back to normal and fetal development is normal till now, no diabetes mellitus or hypertension, no malformation or abortion.ConclusionIt is still too early to reach a clear and absolute use of safe antipsychotic drugs in pregnancy. A large sample is needed for a study and a control should be needed.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.


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