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Biomedical subjects

I Berlin

Publications and source records attributed to I Berlin.

77 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Lack of efficacy of yohimbine in the treatment of obesity].

There is some evidence that blockade of alpha 2-adrenoceptors on adipocytes may lead to an increase in lipolysis, We have therefore carried out a double blind comparative study of the effects of the selective alpha 2-antagonist yohimbine in human obesity. Nineteen obese volunteers participated in the study. Subjects were randomly allocated to the yohimbine group (n = 10, 18 mg yohimbine/day), or to the placebo group (n = 9). All subject were maintained on a hypocaloric diet (1000 kcal/day) during the 8 weeks of the study. There was no difference between the two groups with respect to either body weight, blood pressure supine and erect or heart rate during the different phases of the study. We found no difference in the lipid parameters (triglycerides, cholesterol, glycerol, beta-OH-butyrate, acetoacetate and free fatty acids) between the two groups. These results suggest that at the dose used the yohimbine does not influence the function of the alpha 2-adrenoceptors on the adipocytes; does not increase the lipolysis and does not represent an effective treatment of obesity.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Controlled randomized trials of pharmaceutic aids for smoking cessation. Results and perspectives].

In several cases tobacco smoking fulfills criteria for drug dependence. Withdrawal symptoms after smoking cessation are considered the main cause of relapses. We reviewed results of controlled clinical drug trials (testing nicotine patch, nicotine nasal spray, clonidine, buspirone and doxepin) in smoking cessation. End of treatment quit rates at 3 months with nicotine patch vary between 14% and 39% and one year quit rates between 9% et 26%. Studies with nasal nicotine spray give similar results but nicotine spray is less well tolerated than nicotine patch. The therapeutic effectiveness of nicotine patch seems to be insufficient and there is only one report of long term (> 1 year) results which should be the main goal of treatments used in smoking cessation. A therapeutic approach with psychotropic drugs founded on a better characterization of dependent smokers' psychopathology (depression, anxiety...) may be a more promising research field.

France↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Insulin-dependent diabetes and psychiatric pathology: general clinical and epidemiologic review].

Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus is one of the most common metabolic diseases and affects 150,000 persons in France. To achieve good metabolic control requires a strict daily management of the treatment by the patients themselves. Lack of active involvement can have direct consequences which underlines the importance of a good adherence to the treatment. About 50% of the patients do not obtain adequate metabolic control. The major problem of insulin treatment consists in the repeated occurrence of severe hypoglycemias which may be accompanied by an alteration of the perception of hypoglycaemic signs. On the other hand, when the risk of severe hypoglycaemia is removed, glycosylated haemoglobin levels rise. Permanent hyperglycaemia leads to numerous somatical complications. An extremely dramatic combination of these two types of metabolic unbalance is represented by the brittle diabetes characterised by very frequent and extreme oscillations between hypo and hyperglycaemia. This raises the question of the influence of psychopathological factors on metabolic control and the possibility of improving metabolic control by acting on these factors. Epidemiological studies in diabetic patients have established higher prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders, in particular mood and anxiety disorders. The current prevalence rate of depression was found to be homogeneous in the literature about 11% and life time prevalence rates of major depressive disorders vary between 24% and 29%. The symptom profile of depression in diabetic patients is similar to that in depressed non diabetic psychiatric patients and it has been shown that highly sensitive psychiatric diagnosis of depression can be made among diabetic patients. There is no specific personality pattern in diabetic patients. There seems to be a relationship between metabolic control as defined by glycosylated haemoglobin and psychiatric disorders. Indeed, high levels of glycosylated haemoglobin are found in patients with psychiatric disorders. There seems to be some evidence of an association between blood glucose levels and actual emotional states. Nothing is known about the specificity of the link between psychiatric disorders and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. No study has evaluated if the relationship between psychiatric disorders and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is due to the disease itself or to the chronic feature of diabetes.

Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring↗