Alcoholism and drug addiction / [Menley & James Limited].

  • Menley & James.
Date:
1940?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Alcoholism and drug addiction / [Menley & James Limited]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The author suggests that ‘Benzedrine’ Tablets are of value in the treatment of chronic alcoholism in that admission to hospital can be avoided and a sufficient interval of sobriety produced for the institution of the usual psycho-therapeutic approaches. The Use of Amphetamine (Benzedrine) Sulfate in Alcoholism with and without Psychosis N.Y. State Med. Jour., 40: 247, Feb. 15, 1940 A series of over 100 cases of alcoholism with and without psychoses were treated with ‘Benzedrine’ Tablets (usual dose 20—30 mg.) and compared with a comparable series of consecutive control cases. The results were as follows :— “In the acute alcoholic psychoses the length of time neces- sary for recovery was considerably diminished, frequently by half, and the number of recoveries was slightly increased. An aborting tendency of the therapy was cited in the shift of cases from the pathologic intoxication group to the without-psychosis classification. “In the protracted alcoholic psychoses tending toward deterioration the results were of very little significance except in the Korsakow’s group where a smaller number of cases re- quired commitment after treatment with the drug. . An aborting effect was observed in a shift of cases from the dia- gnosis of Korsakow’s psychosis to the classification of delirium tremens. “In the acute phases of alcoholic intoxication amphetamine sulfate has been most effective. Likewise the characteristic physiologic and psychologic after-effects of acute inebriation have been dissipated quickly by the drug. “In the treatment of chronic alcoholic addiction with am- phetamine sulfate our results have been uniformly unsatis- factory. However, the depression following continuous daily imbibing in these patients responds to the drug during an institutional regime. “In alcoholic states complicating other mental illness, amphetamine sulfate at times may be of value in differentiating the states of depression due to alcohol alone, which are usually rapidly dissipated by the drug, from the states of alcoholic depression superimposed on and masking depression of psycho- genic origin which do not respond as readily to the drug. ‘‘Amphetamine sulfate is of value in the more acute phases of alcoholism with and without psychosis.”’ Amphetamine (Benzedrine) Sulfate in the Treatment of Chronic Alcoholism and Depression Neuroses Medical Record, 151 :211, March 20, 1940 The author describes the improvement noted in four chronic alcoholics treated with ‘Benzedrine’ Tablets. As a precautionary measure an initial test dose of 2°55 mg. was given in each case to determine the degree of excitation produced by the drug. Thereafter the dose was 10 mg. twice daily, on arising and at noon. In one instance this was reduced to 5 mg. twice daily.
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