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Biomedical subjects

L E HOLLISTER

Publications and source records attributed to L E HOLLISTER.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1959

Thioridazine (mellaril) in psychiatric patients.

Thioridazine (Mellaril(R)) was given to 104 psychiatric patients with a variety of illnesses, chiefly schizophrenic reactions. Of 14 patients treated in a double-blind study with successive one-month courses of drug or placebo, nine improved most on the drug and only one on placebo. These results, although limited, confirm a definite therapeutic action for this compound. Nine of 24 patients were significantly improved after treatment with thioridazine for an average of four months following previous treatwith other phenothiazine tranquilizers. Of ten patients treated intensively with thioridazine after they had not responded to other phenothiazine drugs, two were definitely improved and three were slightly improved. Twenty-eight of 56 patients treated from the outset with thioridazine were significantly improved after an average of six months. Most patients received from 100 to 400 mg. daily. These results were comparable to those obtained from other potent phenothiazine tranquilizers. The drug is particularly advantageous for a group of schizophrenic patients who are sometimes made worse by other phenothiazine derivatives or rauwolfia alkaloids. It should also be suitable for treating patients with psychoneuroses and chronic brain syndromes.Only minimal side reactions were observed, chiefly drowsiness, dizziness and nasal stuffiness. Weight gain occurred frequently during treatment.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1958

The present status of tranquilzing drugs.

TRANQUILIZING DRUGS MAY BE CLASSIFIED INTO FOUR GROUPS, ACCORDING TO CHEMICAL STRUCTURE: (1) Phenothiazine derivatives, (2) Rauwolfia alkaloids, (3) substituted propanediols or butanediols, and (4) diphenylmethane derivatives. The distinguishing features of tranquilizing drugs in contrast to conventional sedatives is that they calm without producing sleep and that their site of action in the central nervous system is predominantly subcortical. The principal sites of action are important regulating centers of the brain: thalamus, hypothalamus, reticular activating system and portions of the limbic system. Phenothiazine derivatives, besides being the most effective tranquilizers for treating severe emotional disorders, are also clinically useful for potentiating other analgesic or anesthetic drugs and for controlling vomiting. This rapidly growing group of drugs is of major importance in present-day psychopharmacologic therapy. Newer derivatives, especially of the piperazine type, appear to be highly effective as tranquilizers in low doses. They also produce fewer major complications from treatment. Rauwolfia alkaloids have decreased in importance in psychiatric use, but are still the basic drugs for treating hypertension. The substituted propanediols or butanediols are generally used as mild sedatives for less serious emotional disorders. The diphenylmethane derivatives, while chemically related, have a variety of pharmacologic actions which include sedation, stimulation, antihistaminic and anticholinergic effects. The ultimate role of these agents in the treatment of major emotional disorders, such as schizophrenic reactions, still is uncertain. However, the impetus these drugs have given to improved treatment of psychotic patients in mental hospitals has unquestionably been beneficial. The intensive attempts to determine their modes of action will very likely yield important advances in the understanding of possible neurophysiologic bases for mental illness.

Antipsychotic Agents↗