RESUMO
Data about the use of pain relieving drugs in 411 patients, collected during 24 months are presented. The patients were interviewed personally by one of the authors during a selection process. Demographic data were obtained as well as information about headaches and other pains, duration of the disease, previous headache treatment, clinical characteristics of the headache and a diagnostic hypothesis was formulated. Regarding the use of medication the following factors were considered: amount and quality of medication taken, duration of disease, person responsible for the prescription and awareness of side effects. The results showed that 82% of the patients used substances for immediate relief to headache. Eighty per cent of these patients used commercial products without ergot derivatives, 9% with ergot derivatives and 12%, both. At the same time, 27% of the patients used 3 or more commercial products. The most frequently used substance was dipyrone. Several patients used, as PRD, substances without these properties. Forty eight per cent of the patients used PRD daily or more than once a day and 63% used them for over 90 days. Thirty two per cent of the patients used 5 or more doses of PRD during one single crisis of pain. Seventy four per cent of the patients used self-medication and 81% were not aware of side effects. The present data indicate that the use of PRD is high and chronic. The main implications of this fact and preventive measures are discussed.
Assuntos
Assistência Ambulatorial , Analgésicos/uso terapêutico , Cefaleia/tratamento farmacológico , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Dipirona/uso terapêutico , Feminino , Cefaleia/epidemiologia , Hospitais Universitários , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Automedicação , Fatores Sexuais , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Data on the use of pain relieving drugs in 339 patients who used medication to relieve their headache are presented. One hundred sixty eight (49%) of them were considered as abusers based on Diamond and Dalessio's criteria modified by Saper. The most common form of abuse was the daily use of PRD, observed in 90 (54%) of the patients (criterion A) followed by: abuse by criterion A plus use of more than 100 doses of analgesic/month (criterion B) observed in 18 (11%) and finally criterion A plus daily use of compounds containing barbiturates or other tranquilizing drugs, in 18 (11%) of the patients. The abuse by psychotropic drugs was observed in 11 (7%) of the patients. The data suggest that the abuse of PRD is high and must be regarded as a public health problem.
Assuntos
Analgésicos , Cefaleia/epidemiologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/epidemiologia , Analgésicos/uso terapêutico , Cefaleia/tratamento farmacológico , HumanosRESUMO
A study was designed to develop a measure of both acute and chronic effects of THC administration on memory in the rat. Errors in an 8-arm radial maze, before and after two delay intervals (5 s and 1 h, introduced between the fourth and the fifth arm choice), constituted the principal dependent measures. The first experiment involved testing the animals shortly after administration of 1.25 mg/kg THC. The drug did not affect performance in the pre-delay tests, although a significant effect was observed after the 5-s delay but not after 1-h delay. In the second experiment, 5 mg/kg THC or saline were administered 6 days/week for 90 days. Testing was conducted 18 h after each drug administration. During chronic administration the pre-delay performance did not differ between groups but the post-delay performance of the THC group deteriorated in a gradual manner, relative to their controls, in both the 5-s and 1-h delay conditions. After discontinuation of drug administration, the differences between groups reversed only after 30 days. The results provided evidence that both acute and chronic administration of THC affected working-memory in the radial arm maze test, although it did not interfere with the general cues of the task (reference memory). Chronic drug effects on memory were reversible after prolonged abstinence. Thus, the 8-arm radial maze task proved to be a useful measure of THC effects on memory and could be further used to investigate more thoroughly the mechanisms involved in such drug effects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Assuntos
Aprendizagem por Discriminação/efeitos dos fármacos , Dronabinol/farmacologia , Rememoração Mental/efeitos dos fármacos , Orientação/efeitos dos fármacos , Animais , Masculino , Atividade Motora/efeitos dos fármacos , Ratos , Ratos Endogâmicos , Tempo de Reação/efeitos dos fármacos , Retenção Psicológica/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
Interviews were conducted with 59 former intensive users of illicit drugs with no evidence of current social or behavioural dysfunction. Data were gathered by in-depth standardized interviews through which, past and current psychoactive substance use (including alcohol, tobacco and tranquillizers) were assessed. Special attention was given to the subjects' attributions as to what had caused the change in the drug use pattern. Events attributed for ending or substantially decreasing drug use were categorized as follows: 'physical-mental problems/disliked side effects' (27.1% of respondents), 'developmental/maturational/existential reasons' (27.1%), 'formal or informal drug treatment system' (11.8%), 'interpersonal reasons' (10.2%), 'job or school/performance lowering' (10.2%), 'religious/spiritual involvement' (6.8%), and 'legal/financial problems' (6.8%). The major finding was that only 7 out of the 59 respondents (11.8%) reported having ever been in any formal or informal drug treatment system.
Assuntos
Comparação Transcultural , Drogas Ilícitas , Psicotrópicos , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/reabilitação , Adulto , Atitude , Brasil , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/psicologiaRESUMO
The effects of chronic ethanol administration were studied in rats receiving amygdaloid kindling. Daily ethanol administration 10 min prior to kindling stimulation delayed acquisition of kindling without affecting the electrical afterdischarge. For the lowest tested dose of ethanol (0.5 g/kg), this delay was restricted to kindling stages 1 and 2. For the higher doses of ethanol (1.0 and 1.5 g/kg) this delay became more severe and stages 3 and 4 were blocked. Ethanol produced a clear dose-related anticonvulsant effect upon kindled seizures. After repeated exposure to kindling stimulation and ethanol this anticonvulsant effect vanished. After a 15-day interval without stimulation or ethanol application kindled animals were insensitive to ethanol's anticonvulsant effect. In conclusion, it is suggested that the anticonvulsant effects of low ethanol doses are restricted to kindling stages 1 and 2 and that anticonvulsant effects of high ethanol doses are limited by tolerance and by the level of consolidation of the kindled seizure. Finally, we suggest that the anticonvulsant properties of ethanol are not due to its general depressant effect but to some rather specific action.
Assuntos
Tonsila do Cerebelo/fisiologia , Etanol/farmacologia , Excitação Neurológica , Convulsões/etiologia , Animais , Relação Dose-Resposta a Droga , Excitação Neurológica/efeitos dos fármacos , Masculino , Ratos , Ratos Endogâmicos , Tempo de Reação , Convulsões/fisiopatologia , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
1. The effect of acute ethanol on memory was studied in an eight-arm radial maze by interposing a 15-s or 1-h delay between the rat's fourth and fifth arm choices. 2. Ethanol (1.0 g/kg) was injected intraperitoneally 5 min prior to the first set of 4-arm choices, therefore being present since the acquisition of the trial-unique event. 3. The results showed 1) a decrease in choice accuracy only in the final 4 arm choices after the 1-h delay, and 2) that errors consisted of re-entries into arms chosen before the delay was imposed. The data further support the contention that ethanol impairs retention of working memory.
Assuntos
Etanol/efeitos adversos , Memória/efeitos dos fármacos , Comportamento Espacial , Análise e Desempenho de Tarefas , Animais , Masculino , Ratos , Ratos Endogâmicos , Tempo de Reação , Retenção Psicológica/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
Male Wistar rats were subjected to pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus and allowed to recover. After reaching the chronic state with spontaneous seizures they were tested in an 8-arm radial maze. During learning trials, epileptic rats made significantly more errors than controls. Even in the last trials epileptic rats did not improve their performance, indicating severe learning disability. These results suggest that spontaneous seizures after pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus are a useful model for studying the learning and memory impairment detected in some cases of symptomatic epilepsy.
Assuntos
Comportamento Animal , Aprendizagem , Memória , Estado Epiléptico/fisiopatologia , Animais , Encéfalo/fisiologia , Masculino , Pilocarpina , Ratos , Ratos Endogâmicos , Estado Epiléptico/induzido quimicamenteRESUMO
1. The effect of acute ethanol on memory was studied in an eight-arm radial maze by interposing a 15-s or 1-h delay between the rat's fourth and fifth arma choices. 2. Ethanol (1.0g/Kg) was injected intraperitoneally 5 min prior to the firsrt set of 4-arm choices, therefore being presrnt since the acquisition of the trial-unique event. 3. The results showed 1) a decrease in choice accuracu only in the final 4 arm choices after the 1-h delay, and 2) that errors consisted of re-entries into arms chosen before the delay was imposed. The data further support the contention that ethanol impairs retention of working memory
Assuntos
Ratos , Masculino , Animais , Etanol/farmacologia , Aprendizagem/efeitos dos fármacos , Memória/efeitos dos fármacos , Comportamento Espacial , Análise e Desempenho de Tarefas , Ratos Wistar , Tempo de Reação , Retenção Psicológica/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
Male Wistar rats were subjected to pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus and allowed to recor. After reaching the chronic state with spontaneous seizures they were tested in an 8-arm radial maze. during learning trials, epileptic rats made significantly more errors than controls. Even in the last trials epileptic rats did not improve their performance, indicating severe learning disability. These results suggest that spontaneous seizures after pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus are a useful model for studying the learning and memory detected in some cases of symptomatic epilepsy