Guanfacine is a central alpha-2 agonist often prescribed for Attention-deficit hyperactive disorder as well as tic disorder, with a usual dose of 1-4 mg per day. Due to its sympatholytic mechanism of action, Guanfacine can cause autonomic instability and hypotension. It can additionally cause cardiac dysfunction to include symptomatic bradycardias and contractility suppression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome is an uncommon form of cardiac preexcitation due to an underlying structural accessory pathway, which may lead to potentially lethal arrhythmias. Classic electrocardiogram (ECG) findings of WPW include short PR interval, slurred upstroke of the QRS complex, and prolonged QRS duration. However, in intermittent preexcitation, a rare variant in contrast to continuous preexcitation, these findings are not always present, thus masking a diagnosis of WPW syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: In addition to clinical symptoms, patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often experience considerable disability and may evidence minor impairments in performance on measures of cognition and functional capacity (FC). The objective of the present study was to determine if cognitive and functional skills manifest temporal stability as observed in other neuropsychiatric conditions in the presence of greater fluctuations in clinical symptoms.
Method: Assessments of cognition, FC, and clinical symptoms were conducted over two time points as part of a pre- and post-treatment assessment in a placebo-controlled clinical trial in 96 women with PTSD.
Cognitive and functional deficits are commonly seen in people with schizophrenia. The profile of these impairments has a resemblance to the cognitive changes seen in healthy aging. In specific, many of the cognitive ability domains that change the most with aging in healthy people are the most salient of these deficits seen in people with schizophrenia, including prominent deficits in processing speed, working memory, and episodic memory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry
October 2016
Approximately 30% of people with schizophrenia manifest a minimal response to conventional and atypical antipsychotic medications and manifest continuous symptoms of psychosis, with this condition referred to as "treatment resistant schizophrenia (TRS)". There are several neurobiological consequences of continuous psychosis, including regional cortical atrophy and ventricular enlargement. Pharmacological treatments are available for TRS, with at least 1/3 of patients responding to treatment with clozapine.
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