The Use of β-Adrenergic Receptor Antagonists in Psychiatry: A Review.

Background: β-Blockers (BBs) are a widely used class of medications with a number of medical indications. Their ability to suppress the adrenergic response has made them a target of investigation for treating a variety of psychiatric symptoms.

Objective: The aim of this review is to identify evidence regarding the use of BBs for various psychiatric disorders including anxiety disorders, mood disorders, psychosis, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Economic Effects of Anti-Depressant Usage on Elective Lumbar Fusion Surgery.

Background: It has been suggested, although not proven, that presence of concomitant psychiatric disorders may increase the inpatient costs for patients undergoing elective surgery. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that elective lumbar fusion surgery is more costly in patients with under treatment for depression.

Methods: This is a retrospective case-control study of 142 patients who underwent elective lumbar fusion.

Antidepressants and the risk of abnormal bleeding during spinal surgery: a case–control study.

Introduction: Antidepressant medications are widely used by patients requiring spinal surgery. In spite of a generally favorable safety profile of newer antidepressants, several prior studies have suggested an association between use of serotonergic antidepressants and excessive bleeding. This study was designed to determine if there was any association between antidepressant use and the risk of excessive intraoperative blood loss during spinal surgery, and whether particular types of antidepressants were specifically associated with this increased blood loss.

Relationship of serum prolactin with severity of drug use and treatment outcome in cocaine dependence.

Rationale: Alteration in serum prolactin (PRL) levels may reflect changes in central dopamine activity, which modulates the behavioral effects of cocaine. Therefore, serum PRL may have a potential role as a biological marker of drug severity and treatment outcome in cocaine dependence.

Objective: We investigated whether serum PRL levels differed between cocaine-dependent (CD) subjects and controls, and whether PRL levels were associated with severity of drug use and treatment outcome in CD subjects.

Relationship between tobacco smoking and positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

In an attempt to understand the reasons behind the high prevalence of tobacco smoking in patients with schizophrenia, the study examined whether specific symptoms of schizophrenia were associated with smoking. Standardized assessments of nicotine dependence (Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence) and psychopathology (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) were performed on 87 inpatients with schizophrenia. Nearly 76% of patients were nicotine dependent.