Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0344307 (analgesia)
 28,200 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The controversy about acupuncture is familiar to us since its recent reintroduction into this country. Much of its philosophical concepts were taken at their face values as the bases for condemnation. Since I last reviewed these antiquated concepts in the light of modern medicine, much has developed. It seems that if the effects of acupuncture were transmitted along the peripheral nerves to the central nervous system, it would be more effective if applied segmentally to the site of noxious stimulation. Disruption of extralamniscal pathways would abolish its analgesic effect. The distant and nonsegmentally located acupuncture points exert their influences through the integrative efforts of the reticular formation and the thalamus. The demonstration of transmissibility of acupuncture analgesia through blood and cerebrospinal fluid in animals implicates the involvement of humoral factors. Since such an effect can be suppressed by naloxone or by hypophysectomy, endorphins are thought to be involved. Such laboratory evidences indeed begin to shed some light on a possible neurohumoral mechanism of acupuncture. The differences between acupuncture and hypnosis are discussed. Acupuncture points were compared with referred pain, trigger points and motor points of the skeletal muscles. Its possible uses for other than pain, such as drug addiction, alcoholism, etc. are also reviewed.
 ...
PMID:Recent advances in the understanding of acupuncture. 20 30

Adaptation to intermittent hypoxia in a hypobaric altitude chamber reduced two-fold ethanol consumption in chronically alcoholized rats and limited or eliminated abstinence syndrome. The effect of the adaptation was evident from prevented development of abstinence analgesia, enhanced alcohol consumption following deprivation, abstinence activation of lipid peroxidation in the liver, and release of hepato-specific enzymes fructose monophosphate and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase into blood. At the same time adaptation prevented the fall of cardiac fibrillation threshold and pronounced disturbance of ventricular contraction and relaxation. The problem is discussed of using adaptation to intermittent hypoxia in the treatment for those forms of alcoholism in which abstinence plays the key role.
 ...
PMID:[Adaptation to periodic hypoxia decreases ethanol consumption and abstinence-related damages to the internal organs during withdrawal in chronically alcoholized animals]. 129 75

Adaptation to intermittent hypoxia in the hypobaric altitude chamber showed a two-fold decrease in ethanol consumption in chronically alcoholized rats and attenuated or arrested the withdrawal syndrome. The impact of adaptation to the withdrawal syndrome was that it prevented the development of withdrawal analgesia, higher alcohol consumption after its withdrawal, withdrawal hepatic activation of lipid oxidation products and blood release of the hepatic specific enzymes fructose monophosphataldolase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. Concurrently, the adaptation prevented the withdrawal fall of the cardiac fibrillation threshold and marked disorders of ventricular contraction and relaxation. The paper discusses whether adaptation to intermittent hypoxia can be used in the management of the types of alcoholism in whose development the withdrawal plays the key role.
 ...
PMID:[Reversal of withdrawal injuries of the heart and liver by adaptation to intermittent hypoxia when discontinuing ethanol in chronically alcoholized animals]. 129 90

A patient who developed an epidural haematoma with multifactorial aetiology (bleeding diathesis, ankylosing spondylitis, chronic alcoholism and acute pancreatitis) after epidural analgesia for pain relief is described. Our conclusion is that adequate laboratory screening of blood coagulation, including platelet count, should be carried out in this category of patient before attempted epidural blockade, the risks of which must be weighed against the benefits. The block should be allowed to wear off intermittently and repeated neurological assessment performed if an epidural catheter is used for repeated injections or for a continuous infusion of local anaesthetic. Neuroradiological examination should be carried out promptly if an epidural haematoma is suspected and surgical decompression performed without delay if the diagnosis is confirmed.
 ...
PMID:Spinal haematoma following epidural analgesia. Report of a patient with ankylosing spondylitis and a bleeding diathesis. 328 4

In the absence of ductal ectasia there is no adequate alternative to pancreatectomy for severe chronic pancreatitis. A personal series of 30 such patients operated upon between 1977 and 1984 included 16 with distal pancreatectomy, 6 with proximal pancreatectomy and 12 with total pancreatectomy; 4 patients progressed from distal to total resection after an interval of 15-28 months. The mean age was 39 years with a male preponderance of 77 per cent. The main aetiological agents were chronic alcoholism (63 per cent) and previous acute pancreatitis (23 per cent). One patient died after total pancreatectomy, giving a 30-day mortality rate for all resections of 3 per cent. Postoperative complications necessitated reoperation in 10 per cent, and there have been 5 late deaths (17 per cent). Among 27 patients followed for a median of 4.5 years, pain relief has been good in 16, fair in 8 and poor in 3 (11 per cent). Proximal pancreatectomy has proved superior to distal pancreatectomy with regard to analgesia and the avoidance of diabetes. Although technically demanding, total pancreatectomy has improved symptoms substantially in 9 of 10 patients surviving for a minimum of 18 months.
 ...
PMID:Resection in chronic pancreatitis. 366 47

During the past 8 years there has been substantial progress in our understanding of the structure, distribution and action of endogenous opioid peptides. Currently, there appear to be 2 groups of peptides; those derived from beta-lipotropin and an enkephalin-related group. Some of these peptides have been shown to be distributed widely in the central nervous system and in endocrine tissues. The activity of the peptides probably occurs at several receptors but only 1 relatively specific (mu-receptor) antagonist, naloxone, is well studies. Although there have been many clinical studies of the action of opioids in man, no novel therapeutic applications have yet been established in clinical practice. Of the many areas of involvement attributed to opioids, those of analgesia, reproductive endocrinology, opiate dependence, and certain as yet undefined subtypes of major psychoses seem reasonably promising. Speculation surround opioid involvement in other disorders such as spinal trauma, septic shock, alcohol dependence, "functional' gastrointestinal disease, diabetes and asthma is of considerable interest but is supported by less clinical evidence. It seems that as research in opioids advances, the putative physiological opioid "spheres of influence' widen. At the same time, opioid mechanisms of action are being revealed to be more subtle and complex than previously thought. As a consequence, the expectations of rapid therapeutic application of opioid peptides and their antagonists are being modified and refined and realistic research strategies applied. In view of the work reviewed in this paper it seems reasonable to expect that such work will pay dividends in the not too distant future.
 ...
PMID:Enkephalins and Endorphins. Clinical, pharmacological and therapeutic implications. 636 Jun 35

Results from studies of pharmacotherapies for primary alcoholism are reviewed, including selective serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) reuptake inhibitors (e.g. fluoxetine), opiate antagonists (e.g. naltrexone) and dopamine agonists (e.g. bromocriptine). Because there is considerable comorbidity between alcohol dependence, anxiety, and affective disorders, results from studies of medications used to treat these psychiatric disorders are also reviewed, including the 5-HT agonist buspirone and the noradrenergic agent desipramine. The neurobehavioural model of alcohol dependence implies that combinations of medications may lead to more effective treatment; thus, identifying subtypes of alcoholic patients will be important in determining which therapies or combinations of therapy will be most effective in treating alcohol dependence. For example, in an ongoing study, we are attempting to subtype an alcoholic population for treatment selection by measuring endogenous opioid activity. Because endogenous opioids are involved in analgesia, we exposed male and female subjects with alcoholism [some of whom had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)] to cold-induced pain and measured their response before and after administration of naloxone or placebo. The naloxone injection reduced pain response. In addition, women who have PTSD are much more sensitive to stress, which may be related to levels of brain opioid activity.
 ...
PMID:Neurobehavioural basis for the pharmacotherapy of alcoholism: current and future directions. 873

Rats consume alcoholic beverages in a wide variety of circumstances. Opioid antagonists, naloxone and naltrexone, decrease intake of many ingesta, including alcoholic beverages. Small doses of morphine increase intake of alcoholic beverages. Further, the effects of small doses of morphine are persistent and there is no sign that tolerance to morphine's ability to increase alcohol intake develops as seen with morphine's ability to produce analgesia. Morphine's effects can combine with other variables that enhance intake of alcoholic beverages to produce very large daily intakes of ethanol. These generalizations, from a large number of separate experiments, support the conclusion that alcoholism is a special case of an ingestive disorder involving opioidergic systems.
 ...
PMID:Endogenous opioids and alcohol dependence: opioid alkaloids and the propensity to drink alcoholic beverages. 883 27

Results from studies of pharmacotherapies for primary alcoholism are reviewed, including selective serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) reuptake inhibitors (e.g. fluoxetine), opiate antagonists (e.g. naltrexone) and dopamine agonists (e.g. bromocriptine). Because there is considerable co-morbidity between alcohol dependence, anxiety, and affective disorders, results from studies of medications used to treat these psychiatric disorders are also reviewed, including the 5-HT agonist buspirone and the noradrenergic agent desipramine. The neurobehavioural model of alcohol dependence implies that combinations of medications may lead to more effective treatment; thus, identifying subtypes of alcoholic patients will be important in determining which therapies or combinations of therapy will be most effective in treating alcohol dependence. For example, in an ongoing study, we are attempting to subtype an alcoholic population for treatment selection by measuring endogenous opioid activity. Because endogenous opioids are involved in analgesia, we exposed male and female subjects with alcoholism [some of whom had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)] to cold-induced pain and measured their response before and after administration of naloxone or placebo. The naloxone injection reduced pain response. In addition, women who have PTSD are much more sensitive to stress, which may be related to levels of brain opioid activity.
 ...
PMID:Neurobehavioural basis for the pharmacotherapy of alcoholism: current and future directions. 984 37

Cholecystokinin (CCK) is the most abundant neuropeptide in the mammalian brain, and in man significant quantities are expressed in all regions of the brain.1,2 Therefore, CCK has been implicated in a variety of CNS functions-such as feeding behavior, anxiety, analgesia and memory functions as well as psychiatric disease like panic disorder and schizophrenia (for review, see2,3). Recently, a number of studies have indicated that a C-36 to T transition in the CCK gene promoter Sp1 element4 (Figure 1) is associated with alcoholism and withdrawal symptoms as well as panic disorder.5-7 Moreover, it has been proposed that the polymorphism plays a direct role in the pathogenesis of the disorders by decreasing the expression and synthesis of CCK peptides. The significance of these findings is still unclear and other studies have failed to demonstrate linkage between the polymorphism and alcoholism.8 In this study we examined the function of the C-36 to T transition in transcription of the human CCK gene. We demonstrate that substitution of the C-36 residue causes a slight reduction of Sp1 and Sp3 binding, but this has no effect on transcription in vivo. Moreover, no difference in the response to physiological stimuli was observed. Taken together the results show that the C to T polymorphism does not play a direct role in the pathogenesis of either alcoholism or panic disorder and that a putative association to these disorders is likely to be the result of co-segregation with a linked mutation.
 ...
PMID:Function of the C-36 to T polymorphism in the human cholecystokinin gene promoter. 1088 57


1 2 3 Next >>