The purpose of the present study was to investigate a number of factors that may influence the relationship between neuropsychological impairment and treatment outcome among alcoholics. Cognitive deficit upon admission to treatment was significantly related to the individual's age but independent of the years of problem drinking and the recency of the last drink prior to assessment. Significant improvement was noted on measures of neuropsychological function over the period from treatment admission to 6-month follow-up assessment. On the average, improvement in functioning occurred across time despite drinking relapses during the intervening period. The individual's age, but not years of problem drinking, was associated with recovery of function; neither of these variables interacted with subsequent drinking status to affect differentially the changes in cognitive functioning. Finally, selected measures of neuropsychological function assessed both at admission and 6-month follow-up were reliably related to follow-up employment status but unrelated to the average amount of alcohol consumed per day and to the number of heavy drinking days during the 3-month period between the 6- and 9-month follow-ups. The results are discussed in terms of the need for determining the utility of neuropsychological measures in predicting everyday functioning among alcoholics and for selecting domains of assessment other than cognitive status to predict treatment outcome.
Alcohol exerts several of its actions via the chloride channel associated with the central GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex. To explore a possible role for this receptor complex in risk for alcoholism, and to determine whether risk for alcoholism is associated with risk for benzodiazepine abuse, the authors administered intravenous diazepam to 18 sons of male alcoholics (SOAs) and 18 control subjects. Four logarithmically increasing doses of diazepam and matched volumes of placebo were given in randomized order on separate days about 1 week apart. SOAs were significantly more likely than controls to report euphoric responses to diazepam. At some diazepam doses, SOAs were more likely to report feeling "high" and "intoxicated." SOAs and controls did not differ in feeling "drugged." SOAs and controls may differ in expectations regarding the subjective effects of drugs and/or in the function of the central GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex. These findings also add further evidence for increased pleasurable effects, and thus possibly increased risk for benzodiazepine abuse, in a subgroup of SOAs.
Growth was assessed in children following 128 separate kidney transplants using a generalized growth curve multivariate analysis. The height standard deviation score was the dependent variable. Time since transplant, prednisone dosage, and creatinine clearance were the independent variables. For the purposes of comparison patients were grouped according to sex, race, age at transplantation, initial allograft function, acute rejection episodes and the use of cyclosporin A. Patient's height standard deviation scores tended to increase negatively after transplantation. However, children who received transplants before their 7th birthday, with initial allograft function greater than 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2, exhibited "catch-up" growth. Height standard deviation scores positively improved in males but not in females, as prednisone dosage was decreased. Height standard deviation scores became more negative as renal function decreased after transplantation. Changes in renal function produced the greatest effect upon height in black children, children less than 7 years, and males.
Substance use disorders and associated comorbidities are endemic among women treated in VA hospitals. Additional studies examining characteristics of indigent women with substance use disorders are needed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.