BACKGROUND To date, no screening tools for alcohol withdrawal syndromes (AWS) have been validated in the medically ill. Although several tools quantify the severity of AWS (e.g., Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol [CIWA]), none identify subjects at risk of AWS, thus missing the opportunity for timely prophylaxis. Moreover, there are no validated tools for the prediction of com...

A STUDY of serum electrolyte bevels in the alcoholic was undertaken in view of the reports from Flink and his associates 1,2 of the frequent occurrence of low serum magnesium levels in the chronic alcoholic with delirium tremens, with the improvement of the tremor, handwriting, and hallucinations in these patients occurring with magnesium therapy. As other electrolyte changes were not documente...

alcohol, to try this simple expectant treatment, which, if successful, has so much to recommend it. There are few diseases that have been treated on more entirely contrary plans than the one now under notice, chiefly because different pathologists have, taken such opposite views of its essential nature. It has often been considered as an inflammatory affection and treated antiphlogistically, th...

Disulfiram, a useful medication to deter the relapse of alcohol dependence, has been associated with a number of neuropsychiatric adverse effects. Disulfiram induced delirium is rare in the absence of an ongoing psychosis or a disulfiramethanol reaction. We present the case of an alcohol dependent patient who had a past history of both an alcohol-induced psychotic episode (which had resolved co...

INTRODUCTION Delirium tremens (DT) is most severe neurological complication of alcohol withdrawal with high mortality rate. DT is related to an altered balance of excitatory and inhibitory amino-acid neurotransmitters, which is basically due to upregulation of glutaminergic neurotransmission induced by chronic ethanol exposure. Lamotrigine (LTG) is believed to act by reducing excitatory glutama...

Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is gaining popularity as a drug of abuse. Reports of toxicity and lethality associated with GHB use have increased. This survey study was designed to identify patterns of GHB use, its effects, and withdrawal syndrome. A survey inquiring about the effects of GHB was administered to 42 users. The results showed that GHB was used to increased feelings of euphoria, r...

Delirium tremens is recognized as a potentially fatal and debilitating complication of ethanol withdrawal. Research thus far has primarily focused on the prevention of delirium tremens.

OBJECTIVE To identify specific alcohol-related predictors of postoperative delirium. DESIGN Inception cohort, logistic regression with step-wise selection. SETTING Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus. PATIENTS A total of 774 patients undergoing major resection of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The correlation of 19 variables with pos...

A 43-year-old woman with chronic back pain found relief by taking carisoprodol, a centrally acting skeletal muscle relaxant. She had acquired large amounts of the prescription medication through the Internet and was taking approximately three hundred 350 mg tablets each week, at times up to fifty tablets per day. She then abruptly stopped the medication and presented to the emergency room one w...

Copyright © 2014 Massachusetts Medical Society. At some time in their lives, 20% of men and 10% of women in most Western societies will have an alcohol-use disorder, which is defined as repetitive alcohol-related problems in at least 2 of 11 areas of life.1,2 These conditions can decrease the life span by a decade and are associated with severe impairments in social functioning, as well as high...