PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Lejoyeux

Publications and source records attributed to M Lejoyeux.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

[Proper and improper use of benzodiazepines].

Benzodiazepines are one of the most frequent treatments prescribed by the general practitioner, and anxiety disorders are one of the most important motives for consultation. Actually, benzodiazepines are effective and generally well-tolerated. Nevertheless, the existence of adverse reactions such as dependence in addition to the importance of French consumption of benzodiazepines, necessitate the evaluation of good and bad use of benzodiazepines. Pharmacological specificities of benzodiazepines will be proposed in order to outline adverse reactions and contraindications. The authors will describe prescription modalities for benzodiazepines, in order to specify indications and how to get the best posology, frequency and length of treatment.

Anti-Anxiety Agents↗
PubMed1994

[Addictive behavior in the elderly].

Alcohol and drug abuse are the two main addictions in the elderly subject. Prevalence of alcohol dependency is 14% in those over 65 years of age and 17% in elderly psychiatric patients. The distribution of alcoholism between the sexes becomes equal with age. After 65 years of age, the sex-ratio is 1 female to 1.3 male subjects. The elderly alcoholic population consists of both subjects having become alcoholics at a young age and those in whom alcoholic behaviour appeared at a late age. In one third of elderly alcoholics such dependency appeared after 60 years of age. The main risk factors for alcoholism in the elderly subject are lonliness, death of the spouse and the presence of an invalid or bedridden spouse. In the elderly, tolerance to and dependence on alcohol are rare and appear late. Somatic complications are particularly severe (cirrhosis, liver cancer, gastritis, acute pancreatitis and myocardial involvement). Psychiatric complications include anxiety, depression and especially suicide. Alcoholism is the third most frequent cause of organic cerebral dementia, following Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. Drug dependency is very often linked to alcoholism and consists of tranquillizers and less often of antalgics.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

[Psychiatric emergencies in acute alcoholic intoxication].

Acute alcohol ingestion can lead to psychiatric emergencies. The main syndromes observed are states of agitation, acute anxiety episodes and suicide or attempted suicide. States of agitation are mainly due to simple or pathological inebriety. Any case of acute alcoholic intoxication requires a full clinical examination and a simple laboratory work-up. Behavioral disorders linked to pathological inebriety can be improved by moderate doses of sedatives such as benzodiazepine, carbamate, tetrabamate or neuroleptic drugs for the most agitated states. States of anxiety generally regress with non-neuroleptic tranquilizers, and attempted suicide mainly requires close surveillance or intensive care.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMed1993

A spin label study of the membrane effect of various psychoactive drugs in human erythrocytes.

The effect of psychoactive agents with different clinical actions: three sedative neuroleptics (trifluoperazine, alimemazine tartrate, chlorpromazine), an anticholinergic agent (trihexyphenidyl hydrochloride), two tricyclic antidepressants (imipramine, desipramine) and lithium carbonate on the rotational correlation frequency (V+) of the spin label 16NS has been comparatively investigated in whole human erythrocytes. V+ was about 40% increased by the three neuroleptics, the anticholinergic agent and the antidepressant molecules at 0.2 mM. By contrast, lithium did not induce any significant change in V+ at the same concentrations. It can be suggested that the increase in "membrane fluidity", observed with a wide variety of drugs, is a non specific effect, unrelated to the psychotropic action, that can be ascribed to the amphiphilic properties of the tested drugs.

Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy↗
PubMed1993

Prospective evaluation of the serotonin syndrome in depressed inpatients treated with clomipramine.

The serotonin syndrome, induced by serotoninergic agents, includes confusion, agitation, myoclonus, diaphoresis, tremor and diarrhea. The authors prospectively evaluated all these symptoms in 38 depressed inpatients fullfilling DSM-III-R criteria for major depression. Sixteen (42%) of 38 patients presented at least one symptom of serotonin syndrome. In 14 cases tremor and myoclonus occurred simultaneously, and 10 patients presented at the same time tremor plus myoclonus, diaphoresis and shivering. Except for 2 patients, symptoms were transient, lasted less than 1 week and disappeared with the pursuit of treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Evaluation of lithium treatment in alcoholism.

In psychiatric practice, lithium prevents manic depressives recidivism. Lithium could also be useful in non-manic-depressive conditions with a reduction of aggression and impulsivity. From the observation that alcoholics often present mood swings and impulsivity, several authors studied the effects of maintenance doses of lithium on alcohol intake and the depressive symptoms of alcoholics. This article reviews all the published controlled and uncontrolled studies on the effects of lithium in chronic alcoholics. Wren, Kline and colleagues firs demonstrated that lithium treatment could significantly decrease the number of disabling alcoholic episodes and that its effect was independent of an effect on the depressive symptoms. These initial optimistic conclusions were not confirmed by later controlled studies involving a larger number of patients. Most of the recent studies failed to demonstrate a significant effect of lithium on the depressive symptoms of alcoholics. Thus, it is now established that lithium is not an effective treatment of affective disorders in alcoholics. The latest published studies also suggest that lithium treatment does not decrease alcohol intake or craving for alcohol in either depressed or non-depressed alcoholics.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1992

Neural symptoms induced by tricyclic antidepressants: phenomenology and pathophysiology.

The authors review the literature describing the neural symptoms induced by tricyclic antidepressants, especially tremor, seizures, akathisia, myoclonus, dyskinesia and delirium. Sedation, modifications of sleep, memory and appetite are also described. Tremor and myoclonus are the most frequent drug-induced neural symptoms. Delirium is most often caused by high-dosage treatments. The pathophysiology of akathisia and dyskinesia raises important questions concerning the mode of action of antidepressants.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

[Prescription of lithium in alcoholic patients].

The first, non-standardized studies on the effects of lithium against alcoholism involved a small number of subjects and were encouraging. Subsequent studies have not cast any doubt on the usefulness of lithium in alcoholics with disorders of mood. No effect of lithium on the urge to drink and on the frequency of relapses has yet been demonstrated, but lithium is known to reduce the cognitive and suggestive effects of alcohol abuse. However, the cell lithium/plasma lithium ratio must be taken into account when the cognitive effects of alcohol are evaluated. From a biological viewpoint, lithium and alcohol share some common targets: serotonin metabolism and uptake, membrane fluidity and membrane phospholipids organization.

Alcoholism↗