1/5. Amphetamine abuse and intracranial haemorrhage.amphetamines taken by any route can cause cerebral vasculitis and intracranial haemorrhage. 8 cases were seen in a neurosurgical unit over 3.5 years. The published work indicates that those who experience these complications, mainly young adults, have poor outcomes.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = intracranial haemorrhage, haemorrhage (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/5. acceleration of hiv dementia with methamphetamine and cocaine.We report a patient with rapidly accelerating hiv dementia accompanied by seizures and an unusual movement disorder despite highly potent antiretroviral therapy. This clinical constellation was associated with the non-parenteral use of methamphetamine and cocaine. Fractional enhancement time on post contrast magnetic resonance imaging studies revealed a progressive breakdown of the blood brain barrier particularly in the basal ganglia. The movement disorder but not the dementia responded to a combination of dopamine replacement and anticholinergic therapy. While the movement disorder may have been unmasked by concomitant anticonvulsant therapy, we suggest in this instance, that prior drug abuse synergized with hiv to cause a domino effect on cerebral function. Careful attention and analysis to histories of remote non-injecting drug abuse may help substantiate our hypothesis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 7.7978632496167E-5keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/5. Neuropsychiatric consequences (atypical psychosis and complex-partial seizures) of ecstasy use: possible evidence for toxicity-vulnerability predictors and implications for preventative and clinical care.Two case reports of ecstasy abuse and its serious neuropsychiatric complications are presented. The first patient developed a florid paranoid psychosis resembling schizophrenia after repeated long-term recreational ecstasy abuse, and significant alterations with intermittent paroxysmal discharges were found in his electroencephalogram. The second patient showed an atypical paranoid psychosis with Fregoli syndrome and a series of complex-partial epileptic seizures with secondary generalization after a first single ecstasy dose. Both subjects presented considerable vulnerability; the first a minimal brain dysfunction after perinatal asphyxia and a persisting attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, the second a long-lasting opioid addiction. In vulnerable individuals, dose-independent ecstasy abuse can lead to unpredictable and potentially dangerous neuropsychiatric sequelae which require proper initial assessment and adequate treatment.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 7.7978632496167E-5keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/5. Topiramate prevents ecstasy consumption: a case report.The last decade has witnessed a development in the phenomenon 'ecstasy'. Several substances, with more or less the same effects, are grouped together by the term ecstasy, the best-known one being 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). The psychopathological consequences of MDMA in humans are relatively poorly understood. In addition, the treatment approach is complicated by the lack of documented studies. Topiramate is an antiepileptic drug that has a broad spectrum of antiseizure effects, which appear to be the result of several neurostabilizing pharmacological mechanisms including facilitation of GABAergic neurotransmission and inhibition of glutametergic activity at AMPA/kainate receptors. As both GABAergic and glutametergic neurons appear to be important modulators of the brain reward system, it was postulated that topiramate would be an effective treatment for reducing MDMA consumption through the attenuation of MDMA-induced euphoria. The case of an ecstasy consumer, who started to discontinue ecstasy under topiramate treatment is presented here. Antiepileptics/mood stabilizers with glutamate inhibition activity like topiramate may present a promising new approach for challenging the consequence of drug abuse.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 7.7978632496167E-5keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/5. Etiology of xerostomia and dental caries among methamphetamine abusers.This study reviews the peripheral effects of methamphetamine on the salivary acini, the pathogenesis of methamphetamine-induced xerostomia, and its anecdotal relationship to dental caries. methamphetamine is a sympathomimetic central stimulant which is abused for its euphoric effects. Its pharmacological action is exerted indirectly by sustaining high levels of catecholamines in the synaptic cleft and directly by binding to the postsynaptic adrenergic receptors. methamphetamine abusers report subjective perception of xerostomia, which cannot be explained by the direct peripheral action of methamphetamine on the secretory acini. The drug may cause a decrease in salivary flow rate by centrally inhibiting salivatory nuclei via stimulation of alpha-2 receptors in the brain. Drug mediated dehydration state may influence the perception of dry mouth in abusers. The decreased salivary flow rate, either due to a central inhibitory action of methamphetamine or generalised dehydration, likely contributes to the increased occurrence of dental caries. Five cases of methamphetamine abuse are presented, three of whom experienced rampant dental caries. A direct association between methamphetamine abuse and the occurrence of rampant caries was not clear.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 7.7978632496167E-5keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |