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Query: UMLS:C0036572 (seizures)
 80,221 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We retrospectively identified 49 cases of recreational drug-induced seizures in 47 patients seen at the San Francisco General Hospital between 1975 and 1987. Most patients experienced a single generalized tonic-clonic seizure associated with acute drug intoxication, but 7 patients had multiple seizures and 2 patients developed status epilepticus. The recreational drugs implicated were cocaine (32 cases), amphetamine (11), heroin (7), and phencyclidine (4). A combination of drugs was responsible in 11 cases. Seizures occurred independent of the route of administration, and occurred in both first-time and chronic abusers. Ten patients (21%) reported having had prior seizures, all with a close temporal association with drug abuse. Other than 1 patient who developed prolonged status epilepticus that caused a fixed neurologic deficit, most patients had no obvious short-term neurologic sequelae.
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PMID:Seizures associated with recreational drug abuse. 278 49

Prospects for research advances in alcoholism are very promising, because of the explosion in the neurosciences and advances in epidemiology and typology of the disorder. For example, the field is now ready for molecular genetics studies of the early onset form of alcoholism that is transmitted from father to son with high penetrance. Leading neuroscientists are being recruited into alcoholism research. Paradoxically, this time of new hope coincides with challenges to the scientific enterprise, such as the animal rights movement and impatience with the scientific process in the face of the public health emergencies represented by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and drug abuse. The emergence of genetically based subtypes of alcoholism suggests that at least two discrete illness processes are involved. Mounting evidence from spinal fluid studies has rekindled interest in a key role for serotonin in the early onset form of alcoholism. One hypothesis now being explored is that genetically low brain serotonin function may be part of the predisposition to this form of alcoholism. It is known that acute alcohol intake transiently increases brain serotonin turnover. Thus, drinking might be viewed as an attempt to correct a deficit, only to produce further serotonin depletion as the drug's effect wears off, setting up a vicious cycle of repeated attempts to self-medicate. Impulsive, violent, and suicidal behavior as well as alcohol abuse are associated with the low brain serotonin activity. Persons with these problems suffer from circadian rhythm and glucose metabolism disturbances that may also be mediated by serotonin. New pharmacological probes are now available to tease out the mechanisms of altered serotonin function. The progressively deteriorating course of severe episodic alcoholism in many ways parallels the process of electrically kindled seizures in experimental animals. There is evidence that repeated withdrawal episodes may kindle a worsening course, including phobic disorders, perhaps by triggering a hyper-reactive noradrenalin system.
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PMID:Alcoholism research: delivering on the promise. 284 8

The scarcity of epidemiological data makes it difficult for an accurate and comprehensive assessment to be made of the drug abuse situation in countries of the Andean subregion. Available evidence, however, indicates that in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru prevalence and incidence rates of drug abuse, particularly of the abuse of basic cocaine paste, are relatively high. Studies indicate that in Bolivia 4-5 per cent of youth are habitual cocaine users and that in Colombia drug abuse was in 1984 the seventh leading cause of psychiatric morbidity. A survey in Peru shows that 37 per cent of secondary school students use drugs, while 27 per cent of the respondents used basic cocaine paste as their first drug. It appears that the abuse of basic cocaine paste has spread evenly across urban social classes. The illegal cultivation of the coca bush has drastically increased in countries of the Andean subregion. For example, it is estimated that more than 135,000 hectares of coca bush are cultivated in Peru, producing approximately 135,000 tons of coca leaves a year, while the amount needed for legitimate purposes in that country is estimated at 10,000 tons a year. In the same country, seizures of basic cocaine paste increased from 4,755 kg in 1980 to 7,168 kg in 1983, and of macerated coca leaf from 2,570 kg in 1979 to 27,822 kg in 1984. The demand for illicit cocaine has substantially increased in the world. It is estimated that the total amount of illicit cocaine consumed in the world was 33-45 tons in 1981 and 50-61 tons in 1983.
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PMID:Drug abuse problems in countries of the Andean subregion. 349 Aug 90

A 43-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with acute agitation, confusion, and tonic seizures. She had a history of drug abuse, most notably beer, which constituted her major dietary intake. The patient's seizures were at first thought to be factitious in association with an acute psychosis; however, her serum sodium concentration was 110 mEq/L and urine sodium was 14 mEq/L. The patient responded to IV hypertonic saline and subsequently recovered completely. Beer potomania, the most likely etiology for this patient's hyponatremia, is a rare disorder in which dietary sodium and protein insufficiency lead to dilutional hyponatremia.
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PMID:Beer potomania: an unusual cause of symptomatic hyponatremia. 370 70

The details of 88 cases involving trazodone overdose, either alone or in combination with other drugs, have been forwarded to the manufacturer by reporting physicians since trazodone was made available in March 1982. In 73 of these cases, recovery was uneventful; in 6 cases unexpected complications developed. Nine deaths occurred in patients who had taken trazodone in combination with other drugs and/or alcohol. These case reports are supplemented by data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Of 206 reported overdose exposures to trazodone, no deaths were recorded. For comparison, 2263 reported tricyclic and tetracyclic overdoses resulted in 16 deaths, and 125 reported monoamine oxidase inhibitor overdoses produced 3 fatalities. When taken alone in overdose, trazodone appears to have limited toxicity. Nevertheless, treatment should be monitored closely in patients who present with a history of seizures or who suffer from cardiovascular or respiratory disease.
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PMID:Trazodone overdose: four years of experience from voluntary reports. 377 99

One hundred ninety-nine temporary hospital employees were given preplacement medical examinations during the New York City hospital strike in 1984. Major findings pertain to susceptibility to communicable disease and to drug abuse. Sixty-three percent of individuals examined were found to be inadequately immunized against diphtheria and tetanus, 41% to be susceptible to rubella, and 12.6% to be tuberculin skin test positive. Three percent had positive urine toxicologies for either cocaine, heroin, or phencyclidine and were subsequently denied employment. Thirteen percent had potentially significant physical findings. One individual was denied employment pending treatment; two individuals with seizure disorders were placed in noncritical areas. Forty-one percent of individuals examined smoked and were eligible for smoking cessation programs.
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PMID:Preplacement examination of temporary hospital workers. 398 Dec 74

Abuse of amphetamine and especially the stimulant look-alikes represent a serious problem in the United States. The danger of amphetamine lies in its ability to produce tolerance, psychological addiction, psychosis, hypertensive crisis, and major depression following withdrawal after long-term use. The danger of the look-alikes is of a psychosocial nature and has less to do with the physical properties of the drugs. Easy availability and a casual attitude toward these drugs may introduce children and young adults to the concept of recreational use of drugs at an early age. Look-alikes also divert the efforts of law enforcement officials whose time is better spent on efforts to control illegal distribution of controlled substances. However, look-alikes do produce severe to life-threatening effects including seizures, hypertensive crises, and psychoses. Unfortunately, there are no fast and easy solutions to the stimulant drug abuse problem. Abuse of CNS stimulants has a long history. Effective approaches must involve greater education about the dangers of these drugs and improved recognition among medical professionals of trends in CNS stimulant abuse in order to better diagnose and treat resulting problems. It is unlikely that federal controls on amphetamine production can be increased. The OTC drugs, such as PPA, caffeine, and ephedrine could be moved to prescription-only status to emphasize their potential for abuse and for producing adverse reactions, but this approach is counter to society's current trend toward self-medication.
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PMID:CNS stimulants and the look-alike drugs. 615 45

The authors studied 50 of 55 patients originally hospitalized for primary sedative-hypnotic dependence 4-6 years after hospital discharge. Forty-two (84%) of the patients had resumed using sedative-hypnotics, 26 (52%) were abusing drugs at follow-up, and 21 (42%) had been readmitted for drug abuse. Three patients experienced delirious states and six experienced epileptic seizures associated with withdrawal. Physical signs of alcoholism had developed in 11 (22%); four (8%) had committed suicide. Social deterioration was noted in 24 patients. CAT scan results did not deviate from those found in a matched control sample.
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PMID:A 4-6-year follow-up of 50 patients with primary dependence on sedative and hypnotic drugs. 650 63

Of the 4,196 samples of drugs seized and analysed at the Toxicology Laboratory of the National Bureau for the Control of Dangerous Substances during the period 1975-1982, 3,768 samples (89.8 per cent) contained coca paste, cocaine hydrochloride or related substances. Most of the samples analysed contained coca paste and came from La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba. With a slight exception in 1980, the number of samples increased steadily over an eight-year period. The increase in the number of seizures of cocaine-related substances was a result of the growth in the illicit production of these substances, which began to assume larger dimensions in 1976. In many areas, coca-paste and cocaine-related problems are growing out of all proportion. The smoking of cigarettes that contain a mixture of tobacco and coca paste, popularly known as pitillos, is the most common form of drug abuse.
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PMID:A laboratory approach to the control of cocaine in Bolivia. 656 20

Seventy-three jimsonweed exposures reported to a regional poison center over a five-year period were reviewed. The ingestors' mean age was 17.3 years (range, 11 to 28 years). The most common route of exposure was oral, and the circumstance was drug abuse or experimentation in the majority of the cases. Although 11 callers remained at home, 59 required medical care in an emergency department or were admitted to the hospital. Treatment consisted of gastrointestinal decontamination, supportive care, and physostigmine salicylate administration. Almost 40% of the medically treated patients received physostigmine for severe hallucinations. One of the 59 medically treated patients had seizures develop. Calls to the poison center regarding jimsonweed differed from other calls in several respects. Jimsonweed abuse is a potentially serious form of substance abuse in adolescents and young adults.
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PMID:Jimsonweed intoxication in adolescents and young adults. 674 88


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