Response to medication

C. notations regarding the patient s response to medical treatment... 

Crucial factors affecting overall cost are the responsiveness to medication (for example, less than 70% of patients are lithium responders ), adherence to recommended treatment, and adverse events resulting from medication. A particular hazard of lithium treatment is the risk of rapid re-emergence of mania, which occurs in up to 50% of patients if the dmg is abruptly discontinued (see Cookson, 1997). Disappointingly, it has not been found that the introduction of widespread treatment with lithium has been associated with a reduction in the number of patients admitted and discharged from hospital with a diagnosis of mania. In order to achieve the best result with the available... 

Psychological Insight into illness Illness explanatory models Beliefs about treatment models Subjective responses to medication effects Lack of medical information Personal meaning of accepting psychiatric treatments... 

Furthermore, about 20% of women with chronic pelvic pain due to endometriosis are not responsive to medical treatment, and in these cases surgery represents the final diagnostic and therapeutic option (Olive et al. 2001 Stones et al. 2004). Several procedures have been described to treat medically unbeatable pelvic pain (Carter 1998). Nonconservative procedures, such as hysterectomy (Rannestad et al. 2001 Lefebvre et al. 2002), are effective in terms of pain relief, but they can be associated to the decrease in the quality of life (MacDonald et al. 1999), and considered unacceptable to women who wish to preserve intact their reproductive apparatus. 

The concept of individualization of drug therapy to allow for differences between individuals in their response to medications and information about how to do this was assembled in a book in 1974. 

Because of the difficulties in determining whether treatments work, no one really knows the true effectiveness of either talk or drug therapies. There is no way to affirm or disprove the validity of Mike s last claim that a third of those with affective disorders are treatment resistant. What does seem clear is that responses to medications exist along a continuum from cure to failure. While... 

Multiple studies have been done of TCAs in the treatment of nocturnal enuresis, and all consistently show effect over placebo. Most notably, Rapoport et al. (1978) found a significant relationship between IMI plasma level and response to medication. Imipramine is the only medication with FDA approval for treatment of this condition. 

The assessment of pediatric PTSD must be bound in a developmental framework that is sensitive to the child s social context and the type of trauma. At present there is no generally agreed upon gold standard instrument for the assessment of childhood PTSD. Several of the most commonly used instruments will be discussed as they relate to screening, formal diagnosis, and symptom monitoring in response to medication treatment. The interested reader is referred to a more comprehensive exposition on PTSD assessment in youth (i.e., March, 1999). 

Dopamine and other brain chemicals profoundly influence the way people think and feel. Variability in these chemicals, particularly in the way they are regulated, affects a person s mental health, response to medication, propensity for or against danger, and other behaviors. A greater understanding of brain chemistry will not only provide more insight into what it means to be human, it will also lead to superior treatments and preventative measures to some of the most serious problems plaguing society. 

After discussion with the patient and family about the risks and benefits of treatment, select the appropriate antipsychotic agent on the basis of the patient s physical status, the side-effect profile of the drug, and the patient s previous responses to medication, if known. 

After response to medication has been achieved but problematic behavioral problems remain... 

The longitudinal course of bipolar illness is also characterized by many recurrent episodes, some predominantly depressive, some predominantly manic or hypomanic, some mixed with simultaneous features of both mania and depression (Fig. 5—5) some may even be rapid cycling, with at least four ups and/or downs in 12 months (Fig. 5—6). There is worrisome evidence that bipolar disorders may be somewhat progressive, especially if uncontrolled. That is, mood fluctuations become more frequent, more severe, and less responsive to medications as time goes on, especially in cases where there has been little or inadequate treatment. 

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