[Forced medical care for convicts with drug addiction].

An analysis of the dynamics of unlawful activity of alcohol and drug addicts is carried out. All forms of treatment of drug addictions, either voluntary or forced, are considered as relevant to the prevention of repeated unlawful activity of convicts with drug addiction. Principles and basic criteria for the assignment of forced treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction to convicts are presented.

[Interrelation between indices of the progression of alcoholism and various premorbid factors]. / Vzaimosviaz' pokazatelei progredientnosti alkogolizma s nekotorymi premorbidnymi faktorami.

A clinical study of 720 alcoholic patients was performed. The material obtained was statistically processed by correlation analysis in order to investigate the relationship between the disease progression and some premorbid factors. Indices of alcoholism progression included qualitative assessment of progression, duration of regular alcohol consumption and the length of disease stages, as well as the patients' age at the time of alcoholism formation and at the initiation of treatment. Such premorbid factors as certain personality types and social orientations in the premorbid period showed the closest correlation with progression indices. There was some correlation, though less pronounced, with some factors of the stage of regular alcohol consumption, especially with family members' attitudes toward the studied person's alcohol abuse and the kind of alcoholic drinks consumed.

[Significance of several factors for actualization of the pathologic drive to alcohol in chronic alcoholism]. / O znachenii nekotorykh faktorov dlia aktualizatsii patologicheskogo vlecheniia k alkogoliu pri khronicheskom alkogolizme.

On the basis of literary data and clinical experience, a list of 27 factors was compiled, which could have a significance for actualizing pathological drives to alcohol in chronic alcoholism. The factors were marked under such headings as "individual", "family-environmental" and "connected with the environment at work". In order to establish the connection of each factor with the actualization of a pathological drive to alcohol, 200 inpatients treated for chronic alcoholism were examined. A comparative analysis was performed for eliminating the significance of factors for groups of patients with different stages of the disease and premorbid personality types. The possibility of using these data in clinical practice and preventing relapses in the treatment of chronic alcoholism is assessed.

[Experience with the use of lithium salts in the treatment of chronic alcoholism]. / Opyt primeneniia solei litiia pri lechenii khronicheskogo alkogolizma.

Lithium salts were given to 88 patients with chronic alcoholism and affective disorders in the clinical picture (32 of the patients received lithium for more than 3 months). Positive results were seen in those cases where pathology of the affective sphere was marked in the premorbid period of alcoholism and was only aggravated in the formation of alcoholism. The absence of any affect was found in those cases where affective disorders first appeared at the remote stages of alcoholism (II-III and III stages). About in 1/3 of the cases there were side-effects, more frequently in the form of dyspeptical disorders.

[Significance of personality characteristics for the clinical picture and treatment of alcoholism]. / O znachenii lichnostnykh osobennostei dlia kliniki i lecheniia alkogolizma

The authors examined 118 patients with chronic alcoholism. Taking into consideration the typological personality traits all the patients were divided into 3 groups: cycloid (39 cases), asthenical (41 cases) and hystero-explosive (38 cases). Each group was characterized by distinct clinical traits of alcoholism in their separate symptoms, as well as in the development of the disease as a whole. The authors also distinguish differences in the treatment effectivity of all 3 groups.