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Query: UMLS:C0009676 (confusion)
 21,692 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Benzodiazepine use is prevalent. Moreover, benzodiazepine abuse, addiction, tolerance, and dependence occur commonly with benzodiazepine use. Confusion arises in assessing the nature and magnitude of benzodiazepine use and its consequences. Abuse, addiction, tolerance, and dependence occur in medical and nonmedical populations, but the studies do not clearly differentiate the benzodiazepine use between these two populations. The nonmedical use in medical populations is underestimated and underdiagnosed. The nonmedical use is also misdiagnosed in nonmedical populations as medical use. Clearer definitions and usage of the terms of abuse, addiction, tolerance, and dependence would result in accurate diagnosis and proper treatment of the disorders associated with benzodiazepine use, that is, anxiety and depressive disorders, alcoholism, and other drug addictions.
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PMID:Benzodiazepines: a major problem. Introduction. 167 90

Considerable confusion continues to surround basic concepts for abuse, addiction, tolerance, and dependence. Clinicians may be making decisions about prescribing these medications without clear definitions and distinctions. The terms are not equivalent in meaning and should not be used interchangeably in clinical application. Moreover, they may occur together or independently and are not etiologically related. Abuse is improper use outside the standard norms. Abuse implies a violation component and a control over the use of the drug. Addiction is a preoccupation with the acquisition and compulsive use of and a pattern of relapse to drugs is spite of adverse consequences. Pervasive to the criteria is a loss of control over drug use and a lack of volitional component in the drug use. In spite of problems in definitions, studies have clearly shown that abuse, addiction, tolerance, and dependence develop commonly in benzodiazepine use.
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PMID:Addiction to and dependence on benzodiazepines. Diagnostic confusion in clinical practice and research studies. 167 93

Many recent studies have clearly documented the development of tolerance, dependence, and addiction to benzodiazepines. In spite of these studies and reviews of the literature, confusion remains regarding the risk and benefits of the use of benzodiazepines in medical practice. The source of the confusion arises in part from the lack of clarity in the definitions of tolerance, dependence, and addiction. The distinctions among these important terms are frequently obscured in research studies and, especially, in clinical practice. In addition, the practice of separating medical from nonmedical populations in reports of benzodiazepine dependence is misleading. The overlap between medical and nonmedical benzodiazepine users is large, so that many of these individuals fall into both categories. These and other points should be considered as serious questions to the safety and freedom from dependence and addiction in any drug-using population.
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PMID:Benzodiazepines: tolerance, dependence, abuse, and addiction. 196 40

The benzodiazepines were first introduced in 1960. Chlordiazepoxide (Librium) was the first of the class of drugs called benzodiazepines, in a deliberate attempt to synthesize a tranquilizer without the sedative properties and abuse, addiction, tolerance, and dependence potential of the barbiturates, and other sedative/hypnotic drugs. The popularity of the benzodiazepines rose steadily to a peak period in the mid 1970s when diazepam (Valium) was the most commonly prescribed drug of any kind, including antihypertensive, analgesic and other psychotropic medications. The current evaluations of benzodiazepines use and abuse demonstrate clearly that they produce tolerance and dependence in short and long-term administration. The development of abuse and addiction is also strongly substantiated although they are not as easily appreciated and identified because of confusion in diagnosis and treatment of abuse and addiction. Significant problems in definitions, diagnosis, interpretations and conclusions exist in general practice regarding abuse and addiction, and their relationship to use of and symptoms produced by benzodiazepines. The lack of clarity in defining abuse and addiction and tolerance and dependence in clinical practice leads to institution and perpetuation of the toxicity and untoward effects of the benzodiazepines.
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PMID:Benzodiazepines: reconsidered. 197 87

Physicians who prescribe benzodiazepines often are asked by their patients if these drugs might be addicting or have potential for abuse. Clarifying these concepts is difficult because of numerous "gray areas" of drug use and confusion over medical criteria for such terms as "addiction", "dependence", and "tolerance". Many of the efforts to clarify the terminology regarding substance habituation, abuse, and addiction have resulted in additional confusion. They have resulted in overlapping definitions of abuse and dependence, the injection of moral judgments into scientific terms, and difficulty separating the diagnoses of the physical dependence (caused by prolonged use of a wide variety of drugs, many of which are never abused) from that of physical dependence secondary to an abusive pattern of use. This article will trace the history of the various definitions currently in use, and will suggest newer terminology to replace misleading or erroneous terms.
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PMID:The nosology of abuse and dependence. 198 Jul

Non-medical use of benzodiazepines is rare among patients with anxiety disorders. Numerous studies have found that non-medical use, or abuse, of benzodiazepines occurs usually among patients with histories of alcohol and drug abuse--those who use those drugs to get "high". This article distinguishes between medical and non-medical use of benzodiazepines in clinical practice, and offers practical approaches to discontinuation of benzodiazepine treatment for both medical and non-medical users of those medicines. The major barrier to clear thinking about the abuse of benzodiazepines is the confusion of "addiction" and "withdrawal". Addiction means high, unstable dosing outside medical and social boundaries for "recreational" purposes, loss of control over use, and continued use despite clear evidence of harm. Alcoholism and heroin addiction are typical examples of addiction (Kalant, 1989). In contrast, withdrawal is a pharmacological consequence of discontinuation of a substance on which a person has become dependent. Many drug-addicted people have only minor withdrawal symptoms when they stop drug use. Many medical patients, with no evidence of addiction, have withdrawal symptoms when they stop treatment, especially when they stop abruptly (e.g. surgical patients using narcotic analgesics and epileptics using benzodiazepines or barbiturates in their treatment). Addiction to benzodiazepines, in the sense of loss of control over use and continued despite harm, is virtually limited to people with pre-existing drug or alcohol abuse, while withdrawal symptoms after prolonged daily use are common among medical users of benzodiazepines. The serious nature of both drug abuse and anxiety disorders is not emphasized sufficiently during medical school or in the professional literature. The distress and disability from which both groups of patients and their families suffer is profound. Fortunately, both drug abuse and anxiety patients receive tremendous benefit from successful treatments, both pharmacological and nonpharmacological (DuPont, 1986a; DuPont, 1984). This article discusses the use of benzodiazepines in two distinct populations--drug abusers and patients with anxiety disorders--and helps clinicians distinguish between the use of benzodiazepines in the two groups. The central distinction made in this article is reflected in the common use of the words "drugs" and "medicines". The former term often denotes non-medical substance use, while the latter term refers to traditional pharmacotherapy.
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PMID:A practical approach to benzodiazepine discontinuation. 198 Jul 3

The effect that codeine has on the process of addiction and recovery is unclear. Confusion about definitions, study endpoints, and a lack of well-controlled clinical studies has led to this uncertainty. Codeine addiction is uncommon in people who do not have existing vulnerability to addiction, including alcoholism. Codeine use can sustain addiction or increase the risk of relapse in patients afflicted with addiction. The risk of relapse must be considered when treating conditions such as pain or cough in a person recovering from addiction. Codeine use may be circumvented with the appropriate use of alternative treatments for pain or cough. If codeine use becomes necessary, cautious prescribing and reliance on the patient's recovery support network become imperative.
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PMID:Safe use of codeine in the recovering alcoholic or addict. 200 86

Three patients had neurologic signs due to isopropyl alcohol (IPA) intoxication. Over a several-week period, a known alcoholic developed apathy, confusion, ataxia, and hyperreflexia. During this period, there was no ethanol available to him, and he denied use of other intoxicants. He was found stuporous in the hospital after drinking IPA and admitted to IPA abuse during the preceding weeks. Two other men were admitted in a stupor after large ingestions of IPA. Intoxication with IPA has two different presentations: stupor in a known alcoholic and encephalopathy of unknown cause in individuals who hide their addiction. Ethanol, methanol, IPA, and ethylene glycol intoxications are associated with different clinical and laboratory findings.
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PMID:Isopropyl alcohol intoxication. 198 19

Six research volunteers with histories of cocaine use were tested in a cocaine choice paradigm to investigate the effects of desipramine maintenance on cocaine-taking behavior. Subjects were allowed to self-administer i.v. saline or cocaine (8, 16 or 32 mg) in daily 3-hr sessions to establish baseline levels of self-administration, self-reported effects of the drug and changes in heart rate and blood pressure. Each subject was then maintained on daily doses of desipramine for 3 to 4 weeks, after which a second cocaine self-administration dose-response curve was generated under desipramine maintenance. This maintenance had no effect on cocaine self-administration. There was, however, a significant increase in heart rate and blood pressure during desipramine maintenance. Desipramine maintenance also resulted in a change in the profile of cocaine's self-reported effects. In some cases (e.g., Arousal and Vigor on the Profile of Mood States, Benzedrine Group scale on the Addiction Research Center Inventory), reports of cocaine's effects were significantly reduced under conditions of desipramine maintenance, and in others (e.g., Anxiety, Anger and Confusion on the Profile of Mood States), those reports were significantly increased. Furthermore, there was a significant decrease in subjects response to an "I want cocaine" question while under desipramine maintenance. The data suggest that desipramine does not affect the reinforcing properties of cocaine, but may interfere with its other stimulus properties. Furthermore, the cardiovascular effects of desipramine appear to have the potential for toxicity when that drug is administered in combination with cocaine.
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PMID:Effects of desipramine maintenance on cocaine self-administration by humans. 233 56

Haloperidol was administered to 12 subjects intravenously (0.125 mg/kg) and to nine subjects orally (0.5 mg/kg). These doses produced sedation in most subjects. A minimal decrease in orthostatic blood pressure was observed. Administration of the Profile of Mood States to these subjects revealed effects on factor 4, vigor-activity, and factor 6, confusion-bewilderment, but many subjects could not complete testing due to excessive sedation. Haloperidol concentrations were obtained during testing and correlated moderately with scores of these subscales. Correlation was also noted between haloperidol concentration and chlorpromazine effect as measured by the Addiction Research Center Inventory. Extrapyramidal reactions, mainly acute dystonic reactions and akathisia, were common. Dystonia occurred in four subjects after intravenous, and three subjects, after oral administration. Akathisia occurred in eight subjects after intravenous, and three subjects after oral administration. Extrapyramidal reactions tended to occur relatively early or relatively late, at times when drug concentrations were far less than peak values.
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PMID:Mood alteration following oral and intravenous haloperidol and relationship to drug concentration in normal subjects. 400 74


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