Earlier articles in this series have examined the indications for prescribing in a wide range of diseases and for defined problems in the hospital setting and in general practice. They have highlighted the side effects of most relevance to the patient and to try to repeat or even summarize this information would be regarded as unnecessary. My intention is to focus on three selected topics, each...

The prevalence of psychotropic drugs usage is growing in the general population. Moreover, patients with dyspeptic symptoms are increasingly referred to the use of psychiatric and antianxiety drugs in addition to the primary medical treatment. The focus of this observational retrospective study was to investigate the burden of psychotropic drugs usage in a cohort of patients with uninvestigated...

Intercalation of drugs in the platelet membrane affects phospholipid-requiring enzymatic processes according to the drugs' intercalation capability. We investigated effects of Promethazine, Citalopram, Ziprasidone, Risperidone, and Diazepam on phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) and polyphosphoinositide (PPI) metabolism in thrombin-stimulated human platelets. We also examined effects of the drugs on mo...

Weight gain associated with the use of psychotropic drugs may be related to their blockade of serotonin receptors which mediate satiety. Obese individuals whose weight gain followed psychotropic drug use, or control nondrug-treated obese subjects, were treated with a 12-week weight loss program that included a carbohydrate-rich, protein-poor beverage thought to increase brain serotonin.The 38 p...

Saskatchewan residents over 65 years of age (16% of population) consume 47% of all prescription medications. The elderly are especially susceptible to drug-induced cognitive impairment partly due to polypharmacy and renal/hepatic dysfunction. Preexisting cognitive problems make it difficult to detect the role of drugs in causing new symptoms or making old ones worse. ♦See also additional RxFile...

Among the wide range of symptoms neglected or resistant to conventional treatments in clinical practice, itch is emerging gradually as a theme to be studied. Itch complaints and the negative effects in the quality of life are observed in several medical fields. Although the partially obscure pathophysiology, some researchers decided to check and test the use of psychotropic drugs in resistant i...

BACKGROUND Psychotropic drugs are prescribed to approximately 30-40% of adults with intellectual disability (ID) and challenging behaviour, despite the limited evidence of effectiveness and the potential of adverse events. AIMS To assess the prevalence of adverse events in association with psychotropic drug use in adults with ID and challenging behaviour and to examine the relation of these a...

Psychotropic drugs with hepatotoxic potential can be classified based on their intended use: 1) antipsychoticsneuroleptics including phenothiazines, butyrophenones, and clozapine; 2) antidepressants including tricyclics, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors; 3) anti-anxiety drugs such as benzodiazepines; 4) acetylcholinesterase inhibitors such as tacrine; and 5)...

Aaron Kesselheim and colleagues examine potential strategies to promote greater prescribing of generic drugs and follow-on biologics.