Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T12:53:56.584Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cortisone in the Treatment of Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

Linford Rees  and
G. M. King
G. M. King
Affiliation:
St. Cadoc's Hospital
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Recent research has given rise to the hope that the secretory products of the adrenal cortex might be useful in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Two main lines of research have stimulated renewed interest in the role of the adrenal cortex in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. A number of investigations have produced evidence that the responsivity of the adrenal cortex of schizophrenic patients to stress is lower than that of normal controls (Freeman et al., 1944; Hoagland et al., 1946; Pincus and Elmadjian, 1946; Pincus et al., 1949).

Another series of investigations has shown that adrenocortical activity is stimulated by insulin coma therapy, electronarcosis and electroconvulsive therapy (Hemphill and Reiss, 1942; Mikkelsen and Hutchins, 1948; Rees (1949a); Parson et al., 1949).

Cranswick and Hall (1950) reported that desoxycortone acetate and ascorbic acid appeared to be therapeutically valuable in schizophrenia. Rees and King (1951) carried out a controlled investigation on the treatment of schizophrenia with desoxycortone acetate and ascorbic acid, and found no evidence that the method was of any therapeutic value. It was pointed out that the investigation did not preclude the possibility that other products of the adrenal cortex might be therapeutically useful in schizophrenia.

The present paper describes a controlled investigation in the therapeutic value of cortisone administration in schizophrenia.

We are indebted to Dr. Ernest Evans, Consultant Physician, East Glamorgan Hospital, for making available a supply of cortisone for the investigation.

Type
Part I.—Original Articles
Information
Journal of Mental Science , Volume 98 , Issue 412 , July 1952 , pp. 401 - 403
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1952 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashby, W. R., J. Ment. Sci., 1949, 95, 275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohn, J. B., and Karnosh, L. J., Dis. Nerv. System, 1951, 12, 291.Google Scholar
Cranswick, E. A., and Hall, T. C., Lancet, 1950, i, 540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eysenck, H. J., Rees, L., and Himmelweit, , Dimensions of Personality. 1947. London.Google Scholar
Freeman, W., Pincus, G., and Glover, E. D., Endocrinology, 1944, 35, 215.Google Scholar
Hemphill, R. E., and Reiss, M., J. Ment. Sci., 1942, 88, 248.Google Scholar
Hoagland, H., Elmadjian, F., and Pincus, G., J. Clin. Endocrin., 1946, 6, 301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoagland, H., Callaway, C., Elmadjian, F., and Pincus, G., Psychosom, Med., 1950, 12, 73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikkelsen, W. P., and Hutchins, T. T., Endocrinology, 1948, 42, 394.Google Scholar
Parson, E. H., Gildea, E. F., Ronzoni, E., and Hulbert, S. Z., Am. J. Psvchiat., 1949, 105, 573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pincus, G., and Elmadjian, F., J. Clin. Endocrin., 1946, 6, 285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Idem, Hoagland, H., Freeman, H., Elmadjian, F., and Romanoff, L. P., Psychosom. Med., 1949, 11, 74.Google Scholar
Rees, , Linford, , J. Ment. Sci., 1949 a, 95, 625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Idem, ibid., 1949 b, 95, 625.Google Scholar
Idem and King, G. M. ibid., 1951, 97, 376.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.