Substance Related Disorders Flashcards
What is the DSM-IV criteria for substance abuse?
Abuse is a pattern of substance use leading to impairment or distress for at least 1 year w/ one or more of the following manifestations:
- Failure to fulfill obligations at work, school or home
- Use in dangerous situations (driving a car)
- Recurrent substance-related legal problems
- Continued use despite social or interpersonal problems due to the substance use
What is the DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence?
Dependence is a substance us leading to impairment or distress manifested by at least 3 of the following w/i a 12 mo period:
- Tolerance
- Withdrawal
- Using substance more than originally intended
- Persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down on use
- Significant time spent on getting, using or recovering from substance
- Decreased social, occupational or recreational activities because of substance use
- Continued use despite subsequent physical or psychological problem (ex: drinking despite worsening liver problems)
A diagnosis of substance ________ supercedes a diagnosis of ________.
dependence, abuse
Substance dependence
- Lifetime prevalence
- Men vs. Women
- Most commonly used substances
- What symptoms are most common
- Lifetime prevalence: 17%
- Men >> Women
- Caffeine, alcohol, nicotine
- Depressive symptoms
What is the definition of withdrawal?
The development of a substance-specific symptom due to the cessation of substance use that has been heavy and prolonged
What is the definition of tolerance?
The need for increased amounts of the substance to achieve the desired effect or diminished effect if using the same amt of the substance.
______ is the most common co-ingestant in drug overdoses
Alcohol
____% of Americans are alcoholics
7-10%
Alcohol…
- ______ GABA receptors
- ______ serotonin receptors
- ______ glutamate receptors
- activates GABA receptors
- activates serotonin receptors
- inhibits glutamate receptors
How is alcohol metabolized?
- Alcohol –> acetaldehyde
- via alcohol dehydrogenase
- Acetaldehyde –> acetic acid
- via aldehyde dehydrogenase
- Upregulation of enzymes in heavy drinkers
- Asian people have less aldehyde DH
How do you screen for alcohol abuse?
CAGE questionnaire - 2 or more “yes” are positive; 1 “yes” should arouse suspicion of abuse
- Have you ever wanted to cut down on your drinking?
- Have you ever felt annoyed by criticism of your drinking?
- Have you ever felt guilty about drinking?
- Have you ever taken a drink as an “eye opener” (to prevent shakes)?
The absorption & elimination rates of alcohol depend on what factors?
- Age
- Sex
- Body weight
- Speed of consumption
- Presence of food in the stomach
- Chronic alcoholism
- Presence of advanced cirrhosis
- State of nutrition
In most states, the legal limit for alcohol intoxication is _____ mg/dL.
More than 50% of adults with BAL > ____ mg/dL show obvious signs of intoxication.
80-100 mg/dL
150 mg/dL
What is the novice drinker’s BAL for each of these clinical presentations?
- Decreased fine motor control
- Impaired judgment & coordination
- Ataxic gait & poor balance
- Lethargy; difficulty sitting upright
- Coma in the novice drinker
- Respiratory depression
- Decreased fine motor control
- 20-50 mg/dL
- Impaired judgment & coordination
- 50-100 mg/dL
- Ataxic gait & poor balance
- 100-150 mg/dL
- Lethargy; difficulty sitting upright
- 150-250 mg/dL
- Coma in the novice drinker
- 300 mg/dL
- Respiratory depression
- 400 mg/dL
What is the differential diagnosis for alcohol intoxication?
- Hypoglycemia
- Hypoxia
- Mixed EtOH-drug overdose
- Ethylene glycol or methanol poisoning
- Hepatic encephalopathy
- Psychosis
- Psychomotor seizures
What is the diagnostic evaluation for alcohol intoxication?
- Serum EtOH level
- Expired air breathalyzer
- CT scan of the head
- Rule out subdural hematoma or other brain injury
How is acute alcohol intoxication treated?
- Ensure adequate airway, breathing, circulation; monitor electrolytes & acid-base status
- Obtain finger-stick glucose level to exclude hypoglycemia
- Thiamine (prevent/treat Wernicke’s encephalopathy), naloxone (reverse opioid effects if ingested), folate administered
- GI evacuation (gastric lavage, charcoal) no role in treatment of EtOH overdose (mixed drug-EtOH)
How is long-term alcohol dependence treated?
- Alcoholics Anonymous - self-help group
- Disulfiram (Antabuse) - aversive therapy; inhibits aldehyde dehydrogenase, causing violent retching when person drinks
- Psychotherapy & SSRIs
- Naltrexone - opioid antagonist; reduces cravings for EtOH
The earliest symptoms of EtOH withdrawal being btwn ___ & ___ hrs after the pts last drink and depend on the _______ & _______ of EtOH consumption.
6-24 hrs
duration, quantity
Clinical presentation: mild vs. severe alcohol withdrawal
- Mild
- Irritability, insomnia
- Severe
- Fever, disorientation, seizures, hallucinations, delirium
What are the signs/symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome?
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Tremor
- Irritability
- Anorexia
- Tachycardia
- Hyperreflexia
- Hypertension
- Fever
- Seizures
- Hallucinations
- Delirium
What is delirium tremens?
How many pts experience it?
What are the symptoms?
- Most serious form of EtOH withdrawal
- Begins w/i 72 hrs of cessation of drinking
- Only 5% of pts hospitalized for EtOH withdrawal
- 15-20% mortality rate if untreated
-
Symptoms
- Delirium
- Visual/tactile hallucinations
- Gross tremor
- Autonomic instability
- Fluctuating levels of psychomotor activity
How is alcohol withdrawal diagnostically evaluated?
- Accurate & frequent assessment of vitals
- Autonomic instability may occur
- Careful attention to level of consciousness
- Possibility of trauma should be investigated
- Signs of hepatic failure may be present
- Ascites, jaundice, caput medusae, coagulopathy
What is the differential diagnosis of alcohol withdrawal?
- Alcohol-induced hypoglycemia
- Acute schizophrenia
- Drug-induced psychosis
- Encephalitis
- Thyrotoxicosis
- Anticholinergic poisoning
- Withdrawal from other sedative-hypnotic type drugs
How is alcohol withdrawal treated?
- Tapering doses of benzodiazepines
- chlordiazepoxide, lorazepam
- Thiamine, folic acid, multivitamin to treat nutritional deficiencies
- Mg sulfate for postwithdrawal seizures
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is caused by….
- Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency
- Poor diet of alcoholics
What is Wernicke’s encephalopathy?
- Acute & reversed by thiamine therapy
- Triad
- Ataxia
- Confusion
- Ocular abnormalities (nystagmus, gaze palsies)
- May progress to Korsakoff’s syndrome if left untreated
What is Korsakoff’s syndrome?
- Progression from Wernicke’s encephalopathy
- Chronic, often irreversible
- Triad
- Impaired recent memory
- Anterograde amnesia
- +/- confabulation
What is confabulation?
making up answers when memory has failed
What is the mechanism of cocaine?
- Blocks dopamine reuptake from the synaptic cleft
- Stimulant effect
- Dopamine plays a role in behavioral reinforcement (“reward” system of the brain)
What is the clinical presentation of cocaine intoxication?
“flight or fight” response
- Euphoria
- Increased/decreased BP
- Tachycardia/bradycardia
- Nausea
- Dilated pupils
- Weight loss
- Psychomotor agitation & depression
- Chills
- Sweating
- Respiratory depression
- Seizures
- Arrhythmias
- Hallucinations (tactile)
Cocaine’s vasoconstrictive effect may result in _____ or _____.
Myocardial infarction
Cerebrovascular accident
What is the differential diagnosis of cocaine intoxication?
- Amphetamine or PCP intoxication
- Sedative withdrawal
What is the diagnostic evaluation for cocaine intoxication?
- Urine drug screen
- Positive for 3 days, longer in heavy users
How is cocaine intoxication treated?
- Mild-to-moderate agitation: benzodiazepines
- For severe agitation or psychosis: haloperidol
- Symptomatic support
- Control HTN, arrhythmias, etc.
How is cocaine dependence treated?
- Psychotherapy, group therapy
- TCAs
- Dopamine agonists (amantadine, bromocriptine)
How does cocaine withdrawal present clinically?
How is it treated?
- Abrupt abstinence is not life threatening but produces a dysphoric “crash”
- Malaise, fatigue, depression, hunger, constricted pupils, vivid dreams, psychomotor agitation or retardation
- Treatment usually supportive; let pt sleep off crash
What are the 3 classic amphetamines?
- Dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine)
- Methylphenidate (Ritalin)
- Methamphetamine (Desoxyn, ice, speed, “crystal meth”, “crack”)