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Biomedical subjects

J Strang

Publications and source records attributed to J Strang.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Lessons from an English opium eater: Thomas De Quincey reconsidered.

Thomas De Quincey published his autobiographical Confessions of an English Opium Eater in 1821. The publication both fascinated and outraged its 19th-century readers. Heated debate followed on such topics as: the causality of opiate use; self-inflicted suffering and responsibility; the impact of availability and environment; therapeutic addiction; controlled use; the emergence of dependence; tolerance; withdrawal techniques; hazards; the impact of advertising. Many of these topics remain subjects of debate and causes for concern today. We would be well advised to study the questions and debates of a century and a half ago.

England↗

Cue exposure as an assessment technique in the management of a heroin addict: case report.

A recently-detoxified heroin addict was exposed to a battery of drug-related stimuli which he had previously assisted in identifying as personally relevant. Skin conductance was measured during exposure to both drug-related stimuli and neutral stimulus items. The amplitude of the first skin conductance response following stimulus presentation and the number of skin conductance responses during stimulus presentation were significantly different for the drug-related and neutral stimuli. Post-exposure subjective ranking of the drug-related items differed markedly from pre-exposure ranking; and the post-exposure subjective rankings were closer to the ranked order of the measured physiological responses than the pre-exposure subjective rankings. The use of cue exposure assessment in planning treatment for relapse prevention and the possible importance of idiosyncratic cues in the environment are discussed.

Adult↗

Opiate withdrawal symptoms in response to 10-day and 21-day methadone withdrawal programmes.

This study investigates and compares the responses of 132 opiate addicts to a 10-day or a 21-day in-patient oral methadone withdrawal regime. For both groups, symptom severity (on the Opiate Withdrawal Scale) steadily increased through the methadone withdrawal phase, and peaked near the point of completion of the prescribed drug, declining slowly thereafter. Patients on the 10-day programme reported significantly higher peak withdrawal scores than those on the 21-day programme. Although the proportions who completed detoxification were similar, there was a significantly higher drop-out rate immediately after detoxification for the 10-day group. The possible benefits and handicaps of the two withdrawal schedules are considered and recommendations are proposed for further refinement of the present widely adopted approach.

Adult↗