Search results for "Abuse"
showing 10 items of 700 documents
Desmopresssin and hemodilution: implications in doping.
2009
Blood doping improves physical performance in sport. This is the reason why the antidop- ing authorities subject athletes to blood tests. Plasma volume expanders are prohibited agents used to reduce an artifi cial increase in hemato- logical values using diff erent illegal practices. The aim of our study was to test whether desmo- pressin (DDAVP)-induced hemodilution would alter the concentration of hematological param- eters used to detect blood doping in sports. This was an intra-subject crossover study. Venous blood samples were obtained from eight physi- cally active males on two occasions. On the fi rst o ccasion the subjects ingested 1.5 L of mineral water and 4.3 μ g / kg of DDAVP. O…
The P300 event-related potential and smoking--a population-based case-control study.
2009
A better understanding of the factors underlying habitual tobacco smoking may further new strategies to go about this major health problem. The P300 event-related potential (ERP) has emerged as a valuable (endo)phenotype in neuropsychiatric research. Previous studies suggested the P300 ERP to be reduced in smokers. The main purpose of the present study was to provide an in-depth description of smoking-related behavioral, biological and electrophysiological phenotypes with an emphasis on the P300 ERP and its mutual relationship with other smoking-related parameters. In this case-control study N=1318 participants (smokers and never-smoking controls) were investigated at 6 German academic inst…
Childhood Neglect: Exploring a Short Questionnaire in Poland and Germany
2013
<b><i>Background:</i></b> Estimates about childhood abuse and neglect in various countries of the world indicate that cases of neglect outnumber cases of abuse by far. However, childhood neglect itself constitutes a neglected domain in psychological and medical research; far more articles have been published about abuse. <b><i>Sampling and Methods:</i></b> A ten-item questionnaire assessing childhood neglect was administered to two surveys in Poland (n = 508) and Germany (n = 500) via the internet. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Internal consistency was high in both countries, i.e. Cronbach's α was 0.82 in Poland and 0.88 in Ge…
Confirmation that the AKT1 (rs2494732) genotype influences the risk of psychosis in cannabis users.
2012
Background Cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of psychosis. One study has suggested that genetic variation in the AKT1 gene might influence this effect. Methods In a case-control study of 489 first-episode psychosis patients and 278 control subjects, we investigated the interaction between variation at the AKT1 rs2494732 single nucleotide polymorphism and cannabis use in increasing the risk of psychosis. Results The rs2494732 locus was not associated with an increased risk of a psychotic disorder, with lifetime cannabis use, or with frequency of use. We did, however, find that the effect of lifetime cannabis use on risk of psychosis was significantly influenced by the rs24947…
Cannabis users have higher premorbid IQ than other patients with first onset psychosis.
2013
Background: A number of studies have reported that patients with psychosis who use cannabis have better cognitive performance than those who do not. This is surprising as cannabis can impair cognition in healthy subjects. An obvious question is whether the better current performance of psychotic patients who have used cannabis is a reflection of their having a higher premorbid IQ than those psychotic patients who haven't used cannabis. Aim: In a sample of patients at their first episode of psychosis, we tested the hypothesis that patients who smoked cannabis would have a higher premorbid IQ than patients who did not. Methodology: 279 participants (119 patients and 160 healthy controls) were…
Prevalence and correlates of QTc prolongation in Italian psychiatric care: cross-sectional multicentre study.
2016
Aims.In recent years several warnings have been issued by regulatory authorities on the risk of electrocardiogram abnormalities in individuals exposed to psychotropic drugs. As a consequence of these warnings, monitoring of the QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTc) has become increasingly common. This study was conducted to measure the frequency of QTc prolongation in unselected psychiatric patients, and to document the associated factors using a cross-sectional approach.Method.The study was carried out in 35 Italian psychiatric services that are part of the STAR (Servizi Territoriali Associati per la Ricerca) Network, a research group established to produce scientific knowledge by col…
Cingulo-Insular Structural Alterations Associated with Psychogenic Symptoms, Childhood Abuse and PTSD in Functional Neurological Disorders
2017
Objective Adverse early-life events are predisposing factors for functional neurological disorder (FND) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cingulo-insular regions are implicated in the biology of both conditions and are sites of stress-mediated neuroplasticity. We hypothesised that functional neurological symptoms and the magnitude of childhood abuse would be associated with overlapping anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insular volumetric reductions, and that FND and PTSD symptoms would map onto distinct cingulo-insular areas. Methods This within-group voxel-based morphometry study probes volumetric associations with self-report measures of functional neurological symptoms, advers…
Randomized response estimates for the 12-month prevalence of cognitive-enhancing drug use in university students.
2013
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the 12-month prevalence of cognitive-enhancing drug use. DESIGN: Paper-and-pencil questionnaire that used the randomized response technique. SETTING: University in Mainz, Germany. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2569 university students who completed the questionnaire. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: An anonymous, specialized questionnaire that used the randomized response technique was distributed to students at the beginning of classes and was collected afterward. From the responses, we calculated the prevalence of students taking drugs only to improve their cognitive performance and not to treat underlying mental disorders such as attention-deficit-hyperactivity diso…
Urine Testing During Treatntent Predicts Cocaine Abstinence
2010
The objective of this study was to analyze the influence of the variables that predict cocaine abstinence on an outpatient program for the treatment of addiction to this substance. Participants were 80 patients (85% men and 15% women) selected at random from those receiving treatment at a Spanish health service outpatient unit. For detecting the predictor variables the authors carried out a chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID) analysis. Logistic regression analysis and discriminant analysis were performed to estimate the probability of abstinence according to/using the predictor variables detected by CHAID analysis. Abstinence rate after six months of treatment was 37.5%. The …
Childhood neglect and parental care perception in cocaine addicts: Relation with psychiatric symptoms and biological correlates
2009
Childhood neglect and poor child–parent relationships have been reported to increase substance use disorders susceptibility. Stressful environmental factors, including emotional neglect, could affect individual personality traits and mental health, possibly inducing stable changes in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and brain mono-amine function, in turn involved in addictive behavior vulnerability. Therefore, we decided to investigate homovanillic (HVA) and prolactin (PRL) plasma levels, as expression of possible changes in dopamine function, ACTH and cortisol plasma levels, as measures of HPA axis function, and concomitant psychiatric symptoms profile in abstinent cocaine a…