Magnesium oxide augmentation of verapamil maintenance therapy in mania.

The authors compared the antimanic effects of a verapamil-magnesium oxide (V-M) combination with a verapamil-placebo combination (V-P) in patients pretreated with verapamil. BPRS scores and serum magnesium levels were compared. The V-M combination was found to be significantly more effective than V-P in reducing manic symptoms (P=0.015). Serum magnesium levels were significantly higher in the V-M group (P<0.04). These data suggest that magnesium may increase antimanic efficacy of verapamil by mechanisms which may operate at the intracellular level. The magnesium-verapamil combination may have clinical application as an adjunct to verapamil in the maintenance therapy of mania.

Sexualization of the female foot as a response to sexually transmitted epidemics: a preliminary study.

The authors reviewed historical literature and hypothesized a relationship between epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases and foot fetishism. They tested this hypothesis by quantifying foot-fetish depictions in the mass-circulation pornographic literature during a 30-yr. interval. An exponential increase was noted during the period of the current AIDS epidemic. The authors offer reasons for this possible relationship.

Comparison of alternative treatment techniques in bulimia: the chemical dependency approach.

Bulimia and chemical dependency are thought to be mediated by the nucleus accumbens, the primary pleasure center in the brain. These disorders consequently share biological, behavioral, and demographic characteristics. Also, earlier researchers have reported similar responses to different types of pharmacological intervention. There has, however, been little investigation of comparative nonpharmacological treatment modalities. The authors treated 10 white bulimic females in an eating-disorders program and a similar group in a 12-step chemical dependency center. Outcomes were similar for the weight-management program and for scores on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Implications are discussed.

Visual symbolization as a learning tool: teaching pharmacology to international audiences.

Medieval and Renaissance teaching techniques used linkage between course content and tangentially related visual symbols to reinforce lectures. This technique was adopted in teaching pharmacologic principles of addiction to international audiences. It produced significant results with non-English-speaking audiences using concurrent or consecutive translation. This technique may be useful for non-English-speaking audiences because of enhancement of all three areas of memory: attention, storage, and retrieval.

Depressed men's lower ability to interpret nonverbal cues: a preliminary study.

The ability to interpret nonverbal facial cues was tested with 20 depressed males prior to treatment. Each subject and matched control was asked to interpret videotaped facial cues of individuals engaged in a gambling task. Interpretive ability was significantly lower for the nontreated depressed white men than for their matched controls.

Symptoms of premenstrual syndrome as a function of beta-endorphin: two subtypes.

1. Forty six women presenting with symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) were studied. Ages ranged from 21 to 32. All women answered a questionnaire based on DSM-III-R criteria. They then had serum beta-endorphin levels drawn on day 1 and day 20 of their menstrual Cycle. 2. Beta-endorphin levels were compared with symptom presentation. Such symptoms as anxiety, food cravings and physical discomfort were associated with significant decline in beta-endorphin. Other symptoms were found equally distributed in both groups. The existence or absence of beta-endorphin decline in specific PMS subgroup was postulated.