Biomedical subjects

August R Buchhalter

Publications and source records attributed to August R Buchhalter.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

The relationship between temporal discounting and the prisoner's dilemma game in intranasal abusers of prescription opioids.

Previous research on college students has found that cooperation in iterated prisoner's dilemma game is correlated with preference for delayed rewards in studies of temporal discounting. The present study attempted to replicate this finding in a drug-dependent population. Thirty-one individuals who intranasally abuse prescription opioids participated in temporal discounting and iterated prisoner's dilemma game procedures during intake for a treatment study. Rate of temporal discounting was determined for each participant at two hypothetical reward magnitudes, as well as proportion of cooperation in a 60-trial iterated prisoner's dilemma game versus a tit-for-tat strategy. Cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma game and temporal discounting rates were significantly correlated in the predicted direction: individuals who preferred delayed rewards in the temporal discounting task were more likely to cooperate in the prisoner's dilemma game.

Administration, Intranasal↗

PubMed2005

Tobacco abstinence symptom suppression: the role played by the smoking-related stimuli that are delivered by denicotinized cigarettes.

AIMS: Cigarette smoking causes cancer and disease, yet people find quitting difficult due to aversive symptoms that accompany tobacco abstinence. Understanding how to suppress these symptoms is critical in developing effective smoking cessation treatments. Pharmacologically, pure nicotine suppresses tobacco abstinence symptoms partially, and non-nicotine, smoking-related stimuli suppress these abstinence symptoms fully, at least for 24 hours. The current study was designed to clarify the impact of smoking-related stimuli on tobacco withdrawal, and to explore the duration of their ability to suppress withdrawal in smokers. DESIGN: Three double-blind, within-subjects, Latin square-ordered, 5-day conditions in which participants smoked nicotinized, denicotinized or no cigarettes. SETTING: Out-patient laboratory at Virginia Commonwealth University. PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen women and 19 men. MEASUREMENTS: Subjective, physiological and performance measures were collected daily and compliance with study conditions was verified objectively. FINDINGS: Smoking-related stimuli are sufficient for suppressing some symptoms of tobacco abstinence over a 5-day period [i.e. Questionnaire of Smoking Urges (QSU) factor 1, 'Desire for sweets', 'Hunger' and 'Urges to smoke'], while in this study a combination of nicotine and smoking-related stimuli suppressed other symptoms (i.e. 'Difficulty concentrating', 'Increased eating', 'Restlessness' and 'Impatient'). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that, while some tobacco abstinence symptoms may be suppressed with nicotine, suppressing others may also require strategies that address the absence of smoking-related stimuli.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Nicotine delivery systems.

Over the past 20 years, medicinal nicotine has been used to aid smoking cessation, and has led to a significant increase in the number of smokers who successfully quit. This review describes currently available medicinal nicotine products, which include nicotine patch, gum, lozenge, nasal spray, inhaler and sublingual tablet, including their pharmacokinetics and recommended dosing. New developments in nicotine delivery that could further increase cessation rates include high-dose patches, rapid release gum, combined patch and acute forms, and several novel channels for nicotine delivery, such as nicotine drink, straw, lollipop and a pulmonary inhaler. New applications of existing and novel medicinal nicotine products may include relapse prevention, nicotine maintenance, temporary withdrawal management, reduced smoking and gradual quitting.

Area Under Curve↗

PubMed2002

Evaluating acute effects of potential reduced-exposure products for smokers: clinical laboratory methodology.

Harm reduction for tobacco smokers may involve reducing their exposure to lethal smoke constituents. Assessing smoke constituent exposure and any resulting harm reduction from a potential reduced-exposure product (PREP) will involve preclinical, clinical, and epidemiological research. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a clinical laboratory model for assessing the acute effects of PREPs for smokers. Philip Morris' Accord and R.J. Reynolds' Eclipse were used as examples. Twenty overnight-abstinent smokers (> 15 'light' or 'ultra-light' cigarettes/day) participated in 4 Latin-square ordered, 2.5-hr sessions in which they completed an 8-puff smoking bout every 30 minutes. Sessions were separated by at least 24 hours and differed by product used: own brand, denicotinized tobacco cigarettes, Accord, or Eclipse. Tobacco withdrawal and carbon monoxide (CO) were assessed before and after smoking, heart rate was assessed before and during smoking, and puff volume, duration, and interpuff interval were assessed while subjects smoked. Blood was sampled at the beginning and end of each session. Relative to normal cigarettes, Accord was less effective at suppressing withdrawal and produced minimal CO boost despite the fact that, when using Accord, subjects took bigger and longer puffs. Eclipse suppressed withdrawal fully and increased CO boost by approximately 30%. Own brand, Accord, and Eclipse, but not denicotinized cigarettes, increased plasma nicotine concentration. Taken together, these results suggest that neither Accord nor Eclipse is likely to be an effective reduced-exposure product for smokers and that this clinical laboratory model is valuable.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pharmacotherapy for nicotine dependence.

Approximately 50% of long-term cigarette smokers die prematurely from the adverse effects of smoking, including on cancer, cardiovascular disease, lung disease, or other illness. This risk can be substantially reduced by smoking cessation, with greater benefits occurring the earlier in the smoking career that cessation occurs. However, cessation provides benefits at any stage, including after the onset of smoking-related disease, by improving the prognosis and quality of life. Clinicians can have a significant impact on reducing tobacco use by their patients by following the US Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guidelines. Proven strategies include structured methods of advising cigarette smokers to quit and guidance to facilitate their efforts, as well as the use of various pharmacotherapies. Pharmacotherapies for tobacco dependence include nicotine replacement medications in the form of gum, transdermal patch, lozenge, sublingual tablet, nasal spray, and vapor inhaler formulations. The only nonnicotine medication that has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration is bupropion. Combination therapies, long-term medication therapies, and harm reduction strategies may further improve outcome with approved medications. Further, new medications such as varenicline and rimonabant are likely to reach tobacco users who are refractory to current treatments. Increasing the treatment options, increasing availability, and reducing the perceived cost of these medications may have an additional public health impact.

Central Nervous System Agents↗