Pharmacological treatment for substance use disorder: A systematic review.

Introduction: There is strong evidence of the substance dependence has a negative impact on key dimensions of health. The scientific evidence suggests that pharmacological treatment could play a fundamental role in its clinical management.

Objective: The aim of this systematic review is to explore the existing pharmacological options for the treatment of substance use disorders.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) enhances cognitive function in schizophrenia: A randomized double-blind sham-controlled trial.

This study aimed to examine the cognitive effects of tDCS and the subjective cognitive improvement perceived by patients with schizophrenia. A total of 173 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia were recruited for this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Two different stimulation modes were applied: 2 mA 20 minutes active tDCS and sham tDCS.

The Virtual Cooking Task: A Preliminary Comparison Between Neuropsychological and Ecological Virtual Reality Tests to Assess Executive Functions Alterations in Patients Affected by Alcohol Use Disorder.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a major global problem. Neuropsychological studies have shown that AUD causes deficits in executive functions (EFs), a set of higher order cognitive skills that govern individual behavior in everyday situations. Many standardized neuropsychological tests are used to evaluate EF.

Computerized cognitive remediation therapy, REHACOM, in first episode of schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial.

Patients with schizophrenia show cognitive impairments that have been linked to poor social functioning. Computerized cognitive remediation therapy has shown to be effective in improving both cognition and functioning in chronic schizophrenia, but relatively little is known about how these approaches improve cognition and functioning when applied to early stages of psychosis. Eighty-six participants with a first episode of psychosis, undergoing a specific program for early stages of schizophrenia, undertook either the REHACOM computerized cognitive remediation intervention (n = 36), or an active control condition (n = 50) consisting in 24 one-hour sessions addressed twice a week.

[Validation of the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ) in a Spanish sample of alcoholic patients].

Objective: This study evaluates the psychometric properties of the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ) in alcohol-dependent Spanish population as a means of detecting psychiatric comorbidity.

Methods: The PDSQ (Zimmerman, 2001) is a self-administered questionnaire with 125 items which can be applied in just 15 minutes, enabling rapid and effective screening of the psychiatric disorders (Axis I) most commonly found among substance abusers. After linguistic adaptation (translation/back-translation) and verification of its content validity, the PDSQ was administered to 156 alcohol-dependent patients (DSM-IV criteria; women = 36%), treated consecutively in an alcohol-disorders treatment setting.

[Post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder: treatment intervention].

There is an increasing interest to find efficacious treatments for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid substance use disorder (SUD). Therefore, in this paper the studies published on the psychological and pharmacological treatment for the management of comorbid PTSD and SUD will be discussed, as these are highly prevalent and shown in part I. The few studies published to date suggest that patients benefit most form an integrated treatment approach for the comorbid disorders.

[Post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder: epidemiology, nature and neurobiology].

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is frequently associated with other psychiatric diagnoses, being substance use disorder (SUD) one of the most prevailing. Comorbid disorders in general and SUD in particular frequently complicate the course and outcome of PTSD, and vice versa. As with other dual disorders, comorbidity of PTSD and SUD is complex, having been proposed different theoretical models to explain it that will be discussed in the present paper, the first of a series of two.

Add-on gabapentin in the treatment of opiate withdrawal.

Gabapentin is an antiepileptic drug shown to be effective in the treatment of pain disorders and appears to be useful as well for several psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, alcohol withdrawal and cocaine dependence. Gabapentin, at a dose of 600 mg three times a day, was evaluated as an add-on medication to a standard detoxification regime in seven heroin dependent individuals undergoing outpatient opiate withdrawal treatment. All seven patients successfully completed opiate detoxification and commenced opiate antagonist treatment with naltrexone on day five of withdrawal treatment, as scheduled.

[Pharmacological treatment of substance dependence from a neuroscientific perspective (II): alcohol, benzodiazepines and nicotine].

The second part of this review deals with those neuroscientific aspects specific to the development and maintenance of dependence of three substances, two legal drugs (alcohol and tobacco) and a group of medications with abuse potential, benzodiazepines. Based on this context, the different pharmacological treatments of alcohol dependence, both related to detoxification and dehabituation, are discussed first. Treatment of the benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome, together with the most outstanding aspects in the recent literature on relapse prevention, are reviewed.

[Pharmacological treatment of substance dependence from a neuroscientific perspective (I): opiates and cocaine].

In this review paper it is intended to analyze the most recent publications on pharmacological treatment of drug dependences from a neuroscientific perspective. It has been divided into two parts, the first one focuses on the treatment of illegal substance dependence, specifically opiates and cocaine; and the second part deals with the pharmacological treatments of three substances, two legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, and a group of medications with abuse potential, benzodiazepines. In this first part the neuroscientific aspects (genetic, neurochemistry, circuits involved, neuroimaging and neuropsychological deficits) relevant to understanding the pharmacological treatment of the main drug addictions are summarized.

Treatment of nicotine dependence with bupropion SR: review of its efficacy, safety and pharmacological profile.

Bupropion hydrochloride, an atypical antidepressant, is the first non-nicotine product that, in its sustained release form (bupropion SR), has been licensed as an aid for smoking cessation. The specialized literature on bupropion SR and smoking cessation is critically reviewed. The pharmacological profile, dosage and administration, contraindications, as well as the clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability data of bupropion are discussed.