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I deficit cognitivi nei pazienti con dipendenza da alte dosi di benzodiazepine e il miglioramento dopo disintossicazione ospedaliera
No full textHigh-dose lormetazepam dependence: strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
No full textHigh-dose benzodiazepine (BZD) abuse is emerging as a substance use disorder (SUD). The aim of the study is to explore the impact of high-dose lormetazepam (LMZ) abuse and the characteristics of patients affected by this SUD in a tertiary referral addiction unit. We have retrospectively evaluated 1112 patients admitted to the Addiction Medicine Unit, Verona University Hospital, Italy for detoxification from high-dose BZD dependence. LMZ was the most common BZD, with an increasing prevalence from January 2003 to June 2018. Socio-demographic (more women; higher age and education) and clinical features (higher daily diazepam dosage equivalent, BZD abuse duration, age of first BZD intake; BZD prescribed more frequently for sleep disorders; less frequent history of other SUDs, previous/active alcohol, previous opioids abuse; more frequent overall major psychiatric diseases and major depression; less-frequent bipolar disorders and other psychoses, personality disorders, and more than one psychiatric disease) of LMZ vs. other BZD abusers significantly differed. 96.7% LMZ abusers took oral solution, while two-thirds of other BZD abusers took tablets. Oral solution, BZD abuse duration and prescription of BZD for sleep disorders increased, while history of other SUDs, previous/active alcohol and active cannabinoids SUD reduced the risk of high-dose LMZ vs. other BZDs abuse. The large prevalence of high-dose LMZ abusers in Italy may be strongly related to the availability and characteristics of oral formulation that may transform the innocuous Dr. Jekyll tablets into an evil Mr. Hyde. Restriction to the market of LMZ oral formulation might reduce the risk of high-dose abuse
Detoxification improves multidomain cognitive dysfunction in high-dose benzodiazepine abusers
Full text linkPurpose: High-dose benzodiazepines (BZDs) abuse has been documented to cause multidomain cognitive dysfunction. We explored whether cognitive abnormalities to high-dose BZD abuse might be reversed by detoxification with slow subcutaneous infusion of flumazenil. Methods: We recruited 96 patients consecutively admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine, Addiction Medicine Unit, Verona University Hospital, Italy for detoxification from high-dose BZD dependence. After selection for inclusion and exclusion criteria, 50 patients (23 men, 27 women; age 42.7 ± 10.3 years) were included. They underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to explore verbal memory, visuospatial memory, working memory, attention, and executive functions 28-30 days prior to admission for detoxification (T0) and at the end of detoxification, i.e., 7 days after admission (T1). A group of 50 healthy adults (24 men, 26 women; mean age 44.5 ± 12.8 years) matched for age, sex, and education served as controls. Results: At T0, patients scored significantly worse than healthy controls in all the neuropsychological tests. Depression and anxiety scores were associated with impaired verbal memory at T0 in patients. T1-T0 comparison showed improved performances in all neuropsychological tests after the end of detoxification in patients. Conclusion: We confirmed that all neuropsychological domains were significantly and profoundly impaired by high-dose BZD abuse and documented that cognitive abnormalities improved after detoxification with slow subcutaneous infusion of flumazenil
Slow subcutaneous infusion of flumazenil for the treatment of long-term, high-dose benzodiazepine users: a review of 214 cases
No full textDespite the first reports concerning benzodiazepine dependence being published in the early 1960s literature, the risk of benzodiazepine addiction is still greatly debated. The severe discomfort and life threatening complications usually experienced by long-term benzodiazepine users who suddenly interrupt benzodiazepine intake have led to the development of several detoxification protocols. A successful strategy used by our Addiction Unit is abrupt benzodiazepine cessation by administering flumazenil slow subcutaneous infusion (FLU-SSI) with an elastomeric pump. Although some studies proved the efficacy of flumazenil infusion more than 20 years ago, only a few centres in the world offer this method to their patients. This paper reports the data related to 214 subjects addicted to high doses of benzodiazepine and treated with the FLU-SSI method between 2012 and 2014. This technique is less invasive and requires less nursing intervention than intravenous infusion. Our data support FLU-SSI as a possible efficient strategy for the treatment of patients with long-term, high-dose benzodiazepine addiction, and could become a routine therapy as long as the necessary further studies on dose, duration of infusion and safety issues are carried out
Multifocal cognitive dysfunction in high-dose benzodiazepine users: a cross-sectional study
No full textBenzodiazepines (BZDs) are the most widely prescribed drug class in developed countries, but they have high potential for tolerance, dependence and abuse. Cognitive deficits in long-term BZD users have long been known, but previous results might have been biased by patients' old age, coexisting neurological or psychiatric conditions or concurrent alcohol or psychotropic drug dependence. The study was aimed to explore the neuropsychological effect of high-dose BZD dependence, which represents an emerging addiction phenomenon. We recruited a group of high-dose BZD users with neither neurological or psychiatric comorbidity except anxiety or depression nor concurrent alcohol or psychotropic drug dependence. They underwent a battery of cognitive tests to explore verbal, visuospatial memory, working memory, attention, and executive functions. All the neuropsychological measures were significantly worse in patients than controls, and some of them were influenced by the BZD cumulative dose. The severity of depression and anxiety had a minimal influence on cognitive tests. Patients with high-dose BZD intake show profound changes in cognitive function. The impact of cognition should be considered in this population of patients, who may be involved in risky activities or have high work responsibilities
Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and quality of life in high-dose benzodiazepine and related Z-Drug users
No full textProblematic high-dose benzodiazepine (BZD) and related Z-drug use for a long period is a substance use disorder previously found to be associated with adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and worse quality of life (QoL). Whether adult ADHD impacts QoL in high-dose BZD/Z-drug users has not been explored
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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