Dr. Pier Vincenzo Piazza: Addiction is a vague concept that is generally used to define a pathological drug taking. There are different levels of severity of this pathological behavior. The mild condition is mostly characterized by an escalation in drug intake that goes from a sporadic recreational drug use to a more sustained and regular drug intake. This behavior starts becoming a problem for...

Tamoxifen is the drug of choice in the treatment of breast cancer.   Recent reports show an increased incidence of endometrial carcinoma in patients taking tamoxifen.   In this article, we report a case of malignant mixed mullerian tumor after tamoxifen use.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in hypertensive patients with aortic valve stenosis (AS). DESIGN Observational, drug withdrawal, single blinded study, with randomisation of the order of tests. SETTING Hypertension and asymptomatic AS. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS 20 patients (aged 73 (9) years, valve area 0.7 (0.3) cm2, left ventricular e...

Background: High prevalence of risky behaviors in alcohol dependents have been shown in several studies, but correlation between alcohol abuse and risky behaviors and relapse in patients with opiate dependence has been less investigated. This study aimed to determine the effect of alcohol abuse in rate of risk-taking behaviors in opiate dependents patients treated on maintenance program in Nort...

BACKGROUND TO THE DEBATE Isotretinoin is an effective treatment for severe acne, a condition which can be physically, emotionally, and socially disabling. Because the drug is teratogenic, causing severe birth defects, women taking the drug are directed to avoid pregnancy. In the United States, a series of risk reduction programs have been implemented that aim to prevent pregnant women from taki...

Introduction. Taking psychoactive substances constitutes a significant problem for Public Health, particularly in preventing drug abuse and addiction. Objectives. To estimate the amount and incidence of drug consumption in middle and high school pupils, including the circumstances in which drug taking first started, and to determine pupils' knowledge about the consequences of taki...

Reports of sudden unexpected death in pediatric patients taking selected psychotropic drugs have raised the possibility of ventricular dysrhythmias as the cause of these deaths. The use of psychotropic drugs in the pediatric population has increased significantly in recent years with increasing reports of electrocardiogram abnormalities, particularly prolongation of the corrected QT interval. M...

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS The number of illicit drug users incarcerated in Sri Lanka has been growing over the last decade. This paper presents drug-use characteristics and risk-taking behaviours among a group of male incarcerated drug users. DESIGN AND METHODS An interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was completed by 278 drug users in three prisons in Sri Lanka. RESULTS The majorit...