Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M H Orzack

Publications and source records attributed to M H Orzack.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Weight changes on fluoxetine as a function of baseline weight in depressed outpatients.

In order to test the hypothesis that weight changes on fluoxetine are a function of baseline weight, we divided a group of 39 depressed outpatients into 3 groups based on the Fogarty table: ideal, underweight, and overweight. Subjects were participants in an open label depression trial that was carried out over 3 years. Doses ranged from 20 mg to 80 mg depending on the patients' response and side effect profile. Demographic data, weights and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) scores were collected at baseline. Subsequent Hamilton scores and weights were obtained at monthly intervals until the subjects were terminated from the study. Only those subjects who remained in the study for at least 6 months were included in this analysis. Overweight subjects showed a significant weight loss of 3.3 lbs (p less than .001) in the first 2 months whereas ideal weight subjects gained 4.4 lbs (p = .02) over a 4-month period. All of these changes were maintained throughout the study. The underweight patients showed no consistent trends. All patients examined (those who completed 6 months or more in the trial) had significant decreases in their HAM-D scores (p less than .001).

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Methaqualone.

Methaqualone is considered a sedative hypnotic drug with a pattern of pharmacological effects similar to those of barbiturates such as pentobarbital. It does have chemical similarities to the barbiturates but was, in fact, synthesized as part of an Indian program looking for antimalarial drugs (Brown and Goenechea, 1973). Methaqualone was selected for the focus of this study five years ago, because of its popularity as a euphoriant among casual recreational drug users in the Boston area. Methaqualone, instead of a barbiturate hypnotic, was therefore used to test our proposed methodology for the assessment of the abuse liability of sedative drugs. As one reviews the history of the clinical use and illicit abuse of methaqualone, it appears particularly unfortunate that a study of this sort was neither completed nor available to our Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 1965. It was at this time that the drug was approved for prescription use and placed in Schedule V, a schedule which essentially places no restrictions on the clinical use of a prescription drug (Falco, 1976). This paper will both review the development of methaqualone and present an experimental methodology for assessing its abuse liability under seminaturalistic conditions.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Comparative study of the abuse liability of alprazolam, lorazepam, diazepam, methaqualone, and placebo.

Subjective effects of two benzodiazepines--alprazolam and lorazepam--were compared with two drugs of known abuse potential--diazepam and methaqualone--and placebo. This double-blind, crossover trial tested 30 casual recreational sedative users in a seminaturalistic setting. Methaqualone was more euphoriant and less sedative than the benzodiazepines. Diazepam and lorazepam were more euphoriant than placebo; alprazolam's euphoriant effect did not differ from these treatments. On other measures of abuse liability the benzodiazepines rated similarly, diazepam rating highest.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Sleep deprivation deficits and their reversal by d- and l-amphetamine.

Vigilance performance, waking EEG patterns and mood were studied before and after one night of sleep deprivation in normal males. The effects of d-amphetamine 10 mg, l-amphetamine 10 mg and placebo on these measures were compared. Changes were found in all three measures after one night of sleep-deprivation. d-Amphetamine was more powerful than l-amphetamine in reversing sleep deprivation effects on vigilance and on waking EEG.

Adult↗