People and Illness Week 1 Flashcards
Describe the mechanism of action of psychostimulant drugs
Act on D1 receptors in the prefrontal cortex and D2 in the striatum - boost noradrenaline/dopamine signalling
How effective are psychostimulants in the treatment of ADHD?
Efficacy = 75%
Describe the bonds which form between a drug and its receptor
Covalent bonds are stable and essentially irreversible Electrostatic bonds may be strong or weak, but are usually reversible
Give examples of drug-disease interactions
- Patients with Parkinson’s disease have increased risk of drug induced confusion
- NSAID (COX-2) can exacerbate heart failure
- Urinary retention in BPH patients on decongestants or anticholinergics
- Constipation worsened by calcium, anticholinergics, calcium channel blockers
- Neuroleptics and quiolones lower seizure thresholds
List the areas of questioning when taking a history for ADHD
- Parental/patient reports of symptoms
- Systemic enquiry
- Past history - pregnancy/delivery, past behaviour and development
- Developmental history
- Medical history - past/current illness, past operations, head injury, tics/funny turns/faints/seizures, current medication, allergies
- Family history - medical and social
Which additional ADHD drugs are not used in children?
- Anti-depressants (enhance amount of monoamines at the synapse) e.g. nortriptyline, imipraine
- Modafinil - weak psychostimulant, weak affinity for dopamine uptake carrier sites, decrease GABA and increase glutamine and control degree of hypothalamic arousal
Describe the dosage schedule of atomoxitine
Once daily or bi-daily dosing
Compare the function of agonists, antagonists and partial agonists
Agonist has affinity and intrinsic activity Antagonist has affinity but no intrinsic activity, competitive and non-competitive Partial agonist has affinity but less intrinsic activity
When are symptoms of ADHD often more pronounced?
In the afternoon
What specialists are part of the CAMHS multi-disciplinary team?
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Social worker
- Nurses
- Support workers
- Occupational therapists
- Psychological therapists - child, family, play therapists and creative art therapists
- Primary mental health link workers
- Specialist substance misuse workers
How long does it take for atomoxitine to provide a therapeutic effect?
Within 6 weeks
Describe the mechanism of action of adrenergic drugs
Alpha 2 A adrenergic receptor agonist
What requirements do drugs have to meet to bind to a specific receptor?
Size, shape, stereospecificity
When is atomoxetine used in the treatment of ADHD?
When stimulants ineffective/not tolerated/co-morbidity
Define pharmacodynamics
Study of the biochemical and physiological processes underlying drug action (mechanism of drug action, drug-receptor interaction, efficacy and safety profile) - ‘what the drug does to your body’
How does renal disease affect drug metabolism and prescription?
Same hepatic metabolism Same/increased volume of distribution and prolonged elimination (half-life increased) Increase dosing interval
List the side effects of guanfacine
Sedation, headache, fatigue, bradycardia, agitation, sinus arrhythmia
Define elimination half-life
Time for concentration to fall to half
What type of attention normally develops at age 5+ years?
Integrated - mature attention control
Are nutritional supplements helpful in managing ADHD?
Omega 3/6 fish oils, iron, zinc, vitamin B - inconclusive evidence but may be beneficial
How is phenytoin dosage calculated?
15mg/kg
Why are enzymes often the therapeutic target of drugs?
Enzymes control metabolic processes - in patient (e.g. ACE inhibitors) or in microbes/tumours (e.g. penicillin)
Describe the preparations of atomoxitine
Tablet, long-acting
What is the difference between linear and non-linear pharmacokinetics?
- Linear - Concentration that results from a dose is proportional to the dose (double the dose, double the concentration) Rate of elimination is proportional to the concentration (50% o drug will be eliminated in a given time frame)
- Non-linear pharmacokinetics - Concentration that results is not proportional to dose Rate of elimination is constant regardless of amount of drug present Dosage increases can saturate binding sites and result in non-proportional increase in drug levels (or opposite in dose decrease)
Define ED50 and LD50
ED50 - dose for efficacy in 50% of the population LD50 - dose which causes death in 50% of the population
What structured questionnaire is used to diagnose ADHD?
SNAP-IV - teacher and parent rating scale
List the executive difficulties resulting from ADHD
- Organisation - Planning - Working memory - Attention - Response inhibition - Impulse control
How is a history from the patient/parent taken in diagnosis of ADHD?
- Current behaviours, activity levels, impulsivity, emotional reactivity - Ability to sustain interest/attention (with/without adult involvement) - Eating habits - Sleeping patterns - What is the impact on functioning? - Responses to and interactions with others - Parental management strategies - Structured questionnaires (parent and self-report)
To what extent do genetic factors cause ADHD?
Genetic-environment interactions - genes can either increase or reduce the impact of an environment or an environment can activate a genetic effect Twin adoption studies show that mean heritability of ADHD is 75% in children and adolescents
Describe the pathological changes which can be seen in a brain with ADHD
- Smaller brain volume - frontal and parietal cortex - Smaller basal ganglia - Right dorsolateral prefrontal lobe reduced - Smaller cerebellar vermis - Attentional systems involve anterior fronto-striatal networks - Posterior parieto-cerebellar circuits
In which co-morbidity is dexamphetamine more useful?
ADHD and foetal alcohol syndrome
Where are drug receptors found?
Extracellular or intracellular
Describe the changes which contribute to the development of an adult brain during adolescence
Morphological and functional changes in the brain, with increasing hormone levels and other biological changes, interact with cultural, economic and psychosocial factors to shape how adolescents think, feel and behave
How does hepatic impairment affect the pharmacokinetics of drugs?
First pass metabolism Activation of prodrugs Decreased protein binding Decreased elimination
Describe the preparations of dexamphetamine
5mg (three times daily) immediate release Elvanse (lisdexamphetamine dimesylate) - Prodrug (inactive) - less susceptible to abuse - Metabolised to dexamphetamine by RBC at set rate - Rapid onset of action, lasts 13 hours - Can be dissolved in water (ease of administration) Tablet, short and long-acting
How do drugs work?
Can stimulate (agonist) or inhibit (antagonist) the receptor action, this usually involves an effect on signal transduction pathway
Describe the neurobiology of arousal systems in ADHD
ADHD = deficiency in arousal systems
- Defective inhibitory response from prefrontal cortex - insufficient information processing
- Neurons in PFC are unable to distinguish between important signals and ‘background noise’
- Hypo-arousal - low firing of dopamine/noradrenaline neurones, decreased efficiency of information processing
- Hyper-arousal - increased phasic firing of dopamine/noradrenaline neurons, stimulates additional receptors, signal-to-noise detection deteriorates causing poor attention and impulsivity
What type of attention normally develops at age 4-5 years?
Dual channelled - can do a task and listen to someone at the same time
What are the symptoms of opioid toxicity?
Drowsiness, pin-point pupils, decreased respiratory rate, altered blood gases (type II respiratory failure)
Describe management of a child’s environment in the management of ADHD
- Provide a calm environment - reduce background noise e.g. TVs - Avoid too many distracting stimuli when you want the child to concentrate - Initially avoid situations that require quiet, still behaviours for long periods - Maintain structure and supervision longer than you think should be necessary
Describe the SIGN guidelines for diagnosis of ADHD
- Core symptoms have significant impact on child’s development - They impair social, emotional and cognitive function - The symptoms are responsible for considerable morbidity and dysfunction for the child/young person and their family
How long does it take for the therapeutic effect of psychostimulants to become apparent?
Within days
Define antagonists
Interact with the receptor but do not change the receptor, have affinity but no efficacy, two types - competitive and non competitive
List the factors which affect bioavailability
Drug factors - molecular weight/ionisation Absorption - gastric pH/health of GI tract First pass metabolism (hepatic) - phenytoin may reduce F, grapefruit juice may increase
What could change volume of distribution between patients?
Difference in weight
With which co-morbidities is atomoxitine more helpful?
Tics Anxiety Autism spectrum
Define half-life
Time required for serum plasma concentration to decrease by half
How is apparent volume of distribution calculated?
Total amount of drug in the body/drug blood plasma concentration
List the side effects of clonidine
Sedation, constipation, headaches, hypotension, depression, bradycardia
How does cystic fibrosis affect drug metabolism and prescription?
Increased metabolism/elimination Larger volume of distribution Increase dose, decrease dosage interval
Describe the main symptoms associated with ADHD
Inattention and lack of persistence in activities requiring attention - e.g. a tendency to move from 1 task to another without completion, defective filtering of information Excessive activity - disorganised/ill-regulated, restless/fidgety, motor hyperactivity/psychomotor agitation Impulsivity - poor awareness of danger/accident prone, social inhibition/excessively talkative, poor peer relationships, emotional dysregulation
How is therapeutic index calculated?
TD50 or LD50/ED50
What determines half-life?
Clearance and volume of distribution
Describe the mechanism of action of dexamphetamine
Facilitates release of dopamine from presynaptic cytoplasmic storage vesicles in synapse and blocks dopamine transporter protein (inhibits re-uptake) - increase in dopamine
Give examples of drugs with non-linear pharmacokinetics
Phenytoin, digoxin