Pharmaceuticals, Brain Dysfunction and Violence

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Our bill of rights <ourbillofrights Tue May 8, 2007 6:49 am Pharmaceuticals,Brain Dysfunction & Violence,Role of antidepressants in killings needs review ,Drugmakers, Doctors Get Cozier,Brain Study Sheds Light On Impulsive ViolenceElectroencephalography, computed tomography & violence ratings of male patients in a maximum-security mental hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Role of antidepressants in killings needs review ,Drugmakers, Doctors Get Cozier,Brain Study Sheds Light On Impulsive ViolenceElectroencephalography, computed tomography & violence ratings of male patients in a maximum-security mental hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"arthur cottrell" <palladin1 palladin22003

 

Pharmaceuticals, Brain Dysfunction and Violence

 

 

 

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norgesen

 

 

 

 

 

Pharmaceuticals, Brain Dysfunction and Violence

 

 

 

 

"Details continue to emerge about the lonely life of [Virginia Tech] killer Seung-Hui Cho, who had a history of mental illness. Among Cho's effects, officials found prescription medications related to the treatment of psychological problems.....

 

There are dozens of other examples of violence at schools and the presence of antidepressants, but the carnage hardly is limited to our campuses. Countless families have been destroyed around the world through homicides and suicides committed by adults on antidepressants.....

 

The list (which can be found at www.drugawareness.org) encompasses hundreds and hundreds of cases.....

 

Most antidepressant drugs, including Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, Lexapro and Effexor, are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which alter brain chemistry in an attempt to manage depression......

 

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that half of all Americans take at least one prescription drug, and that antidepressant use has nearly tripled in the past decade...." -

 

Ty Phillips, Modesto Bee, April 29, 2007

 

 

 

 

"Despite efforts to curb drug companies' avid courting of doctors, the industry is working harder than ever to influence what medicines they prescribe, sending out sales representatives with greater frequency and plying physicians with gifts, meals and consulting fees, according to several new papers. One study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week found that 94 percent of doctors have some type of relationship with the drug industry --

 

most commonly accepting free food or drug samples, which about 80 percent of physicians did.....28 percent said they had been paid for consulting, giving lectures or signing up patients for clinical trials......

 

"We now know that virtually every doctor in the United States has some form of relationship with the pharmaceutical industry," said Eric G. Campbell, lead researcher of the New England Journal of Medicine study and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "They are common. A quarter receive honoraria or some form of payment for their services, and that was much higher than we expected." -

 

Christopher Lee, Washington Post, April 29, 2007

 

 

"The researchers found dysfunction in common brain regions in reviews of brain imaging data from 41 murderers, from a study group suffering from aggressive impulsive personality disorder, and from a group diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. They also reviewed data from two individuals who suffered early damage to the two regions of the brain in question. Those individuals, injured early in life, both showed histories of verbal and physical abusiveness and intermittent, explosive bursts of anger. The research paper also described a large group of subjects who have a genetic deficit that causes a disruption in the brain's serotonin levels. The serotonin system employs many of the brain regions described earlier and a disruption of the system has been linked to increased aggression. Davidson's analysis showed that these emotion-controlling brain regions showed less activity in the individuals who carried this genetic abnormality. Davidson stresses that the research points to both genetics and poor environmental history as potential contributors to impulsive violence, and together they present a "double whammy" that put people at much greater risk. "These parts of the brain are particularly responsive to experiential shaping," Davidson says." -

 

Science Daily, August 15, 2000

 

 

 

 

"A retrospective study of brain investigations of 372 male patients in a maximum- security mental hospital patients is described......

 

In the most violent group, 20% had focal temporal electrical abnormalities on EEG (slowing and/or sharp waves) and 41% had structural abnormalities localised to temporal lobe on CT....

 

These results suggest that high violence rating scores are associated with temporal lobe abnormalities on CT and abnormal temporal electrical discharges on EEG." -

 

MT Wong et al, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, August 1994

 

 

 

 

Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:

 

 

A significant portion of the US population is now using multiple prescription drugs and vaccines from infancy through adulthood, even though there has never been an evaluation of multiple drug and vaccine use in humans to determine the effect on long term physical and mental health. If Americans have become drug and vaccine junkies, then medical doctors who promote and prescribe biological and chemical products made and sold by the pharmaceutical industry have become their suppliers. Although drugs and vaccine(s) prescribed (or mandated)

 

by doctors can sometimes cause profound negative changes in brain and immune function, there is little effort made by the pharmaceutical industry and doctors profiting from mass drug and vaccine use to evaluate potential negative effects or take steps to minimize them.

 

 

Vaccine induced brain inflammation, which has been the hallmark of severe reactions since the first vaccine - smallpox vaccine -

 

was used on a mass basis can be mild or severe and damage the developing brain of a child, permanently altering behavior, personality, intelligence, emotional stability, and physical ability. Drug induced chemical changes in the brain can also negatively affect important aspects of normal brain function.

 

 

Instead of spending more research dollars to create new drugs and vaccines, the pharmaceutical industry should first find out why drug and vaccine complications occur and who is at high risk for suffering them.

 

 

An epidemic of chronic physical illness and disability, along with an epidemic of depression and violent behavior, in American children and young adults has developed during the past quarter century. Although economic and social factors influence health and behavior, the possibility that environmental insults are causing significant damage to brain and immune function in a growing minority of children is very real. Too much prescription drug and vaccine use cannot be discounted as one of those environmental insults, which could result in greater or lesser damage, depending upon genetic and other biological variables.

 

If a substantial minority of violent inmates in prisons and mental institutions are brain damaged, we ignore at our peril the potential role that prescription drug and vaccine-induced brain dysfunction plays in the epidemic of chronic illness and violent behavior plaguing America. We owe it to future generations to find out just how big that role may be before more drugs and vaccines are prescribed and the epidemic gets worse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Role of antidepressants in killings needs review

 

 

The Modesto BeeApril 29, 2007By TY PHILLIPStphillipsClick here for the URL:

 

 

 

The murderous rampage that left 33 people dead at Virginia Tech has stirred countless emotions: sadness and anger, fear and hatred, grief and disgust. When Dr. Ann Blake Tracy heard the details, she felt many of those same emotions. Yet there is one sentiment Tracy does not share with much of the rest of the world: surprise. As terrible as it sounds, after nearly 20 years researching links between violent crime, suicide and antidepressants, Tracy is surprised only that it doesn't happen more often.

 

 

Details continue to emerge about the lonely life of killer Seung-Hui Cho, who had a history of mental illness.

 

Among Cho's effects, officials found prescription medications related to the treatment of psychological problems.

Though it's still premature to draw conclusions without toxicology results, these are the details Tracy, an author and the executive director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness, expected from the moment she heard about the Virginia Tech shootings. In her experience, when it comes to investigating high-profile shootings, antidepressants are as common as the presence of loneliness, despondence and rage.

 

"I'm just so tired of seeing people die, I could scream," Tracy said during a phone interview. "It's happening daily in this country. It's so massive, it's just unreal. We've got so many school shootings now, I can't even begin to keep up with them all. And the reason is so incredibly obvious.

 

You don't have to look at much to figure it out."

 

2006, Bailey, Colo. - Duane Morrison shot and killed a girl and sexually assaulted six others. Antidepressants were found in his vehicle.

2005, Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minn. - Jeff Weise shot and killed nine people and wounded five before committing suicide. Prozac.

1998, Springfield, Ore. - Kip Kinkel killed his parents, then went to school and opened fire in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 22. Prozac.

 

 

 

More- http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13533556p-14137410c.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drugmakers, Doctors Get Cozier

 

Gifts Continue, Contacts Increase Despite Guidelines

 

 

The Washington PostApril 29, 2007By Christopher Lee Click here for the URL: (registration required)

 

 

 

 

 

Despite efforts to curb drug companies' avid courting of doctors, the industry is working harder than ever to influence what medicines they prescribe, sending out sales representatives with greater frequency and plying physicians with gifts, meals and consulting fees, according to several new papers.

 

 

One study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week found that 94 percent of doctors have some type of relationship with the drug industry --

most commonly accepting free food or drug samples, which about 80 percent of physicians did. More than one-third of the 1,662 physicians who responded to a survey conducted from November 2003 to June 2004 reported being reimbursed by the drug industry for costs of going to professional meetings or continuing medical education, and 28 percent said they had been paid for consulting, giving lectures or signing up patients for clinical trials.

 

Two other papers examined in detail the strategies that pharmaceutical representatives, or "detailers," use and how effective the industry is at influencing doctors.

 

"We now know that virtually every doctor in the United States has some form of relationship with the pharmaceutical industry," said Eric G. Campbell, lead researcher of the New England Journal of Medicine study and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "They are common. A quarter receive honoraria or some form of payment for their services, and that was much higher than we expected."

 

Contacts between doctors and drug salespeople have jumped from the average of 4.4 per month reported in 2000, Campbell and other researchers found. In the survey period, drug representatives met with family practitioners an average of 16 times a month, with cardiologists and internists nine or 10 times a month, with pediatricians eight times a month and with surgeons four times a month. Only anesthesiologists, who saw the representatives twice a month, appear to be meeting with the industry less often than before, the study found.

 

As those numbers suggest, the companies shower more attention on certain doctors, the researchers said. Cardiologists --

 

whose prescribing patterns tend to influence primary care doctors --

 

were more likely to be paid for consulting and other services than were family practitioners, pediatricians, anesthesiologists and surgeons, the study found.

 

"When I send somebody to a cardiologist, if he puts somebody on a medicine, I'm not going to change it," said co-author David Blumenthal, a general internist and the director of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

 

 

"If they use a particular agent, I'm more likely personally to prescribe that agent because I figure the guy is an expert and he has got some reason for picking that brand as opposed to some other brand."

The ties between doctors and drug companies are deepening despite voluntary guidelines to curb excesses, adopted in 2002 by the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services issued similar guidance in 2003.

 

 

 

More- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/28/AR2007042800896.html?nav=rss_business

 

 

 

 

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Brain Study Sheds Light On Impulsive Violence

 

 

Science DailyAugust 15, 2000Source: University of Wisconsin-MadisonClick here for the URL:

 

 

 

Science Daily - The human brain is wired with natural checks and balances that control negative emotions, but breakdowns in this regulatory system appear to heighten risk of violent behavior, according to findings of a study by UW-Madison psychologist Richard Davidson.

 

 

As part of a special report on violence in the July 28 issue of the journal Science, Davidson and colleagues analyzed brain imaging data from a large, diverse group of studies on violent subjects and those predisposed to violence. The studies focused on people diagnosed with aggressive personality disorder, those with childhood brain injuries and convicted murderers. Researchers found common neurological threads among these more than 500 subjects in the brain's inability to properly regulate emotion. The study focused on several interconnected regions in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, areas defined in Davidson's previous work as an essential control mechanism for negative emotions.

 

 

A similar brain process has been implicated in a number of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety disorders. Davidson says this newfound connection between violence and brain dysfunction opens a new avenue for studying and possibly treating violence and aggression.

 

"We are placing the question of violence right in the middle of our basic research on the neurobiology of emotion, because our previous insights in this area give us tremendous leverage to understand the root causes of violence," Davidson says. "There never has been a theoretical framework to make sense of this before."

 

One of the core findings, Davidson says, deals with the interplay between several distinct brain regions, namely the orbital frontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala. The orbital frontal cortex plays a crucial role in constraining impulsive outbursts, while the anterior cingulate cortex recruits other brain regions in the response to conflict.

 

 

The amygdala, a tiny but highly influential portion of the brain, is involved in the production of a fear response and other negative emotions.

 

 

Davidson and colleagues Katherine Putnam and Christine Larson found that normal brain activity in the orbital and anterior regions were blunted or entirely absent in many of the study groups, while the amygdala showed normal or heightened activity. The inability of the two brain regions to effectively counteract the response of the amygdala may help explain how threatening situations can become explosive in some people.

 

A major strength of the research is in the range of people studied and the consistency of the results, Davidson says. The researchers found dysfunction in common brain regions in reviews of brain imaging data from 41 murderers, from a study group suffering from aggressive impulsive personality disorder, and from a group diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.

 

 

 

More- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/08/000814021300.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electroencephalography, computed tomography and violence ratings of male patients in a maximum- security mental hospital.

 

 

 

 

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 1994 Aug;90(2):97-101Wong MT, Lumsden J, Fenton GW, Fenwick PB.Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom.

 

 

 

 

ABSTRACT

A retrospective study of brain investigations of 372 male patients in a maximum-security mental hospital patients is described. All computed tomography (CT) scan and electroencephalography (EEG) reports were collected and rated blind; patients were subsequently divided into 3 groups according to the violence rating of their pre-

 

admission offending behaviour. The 3 groups were similar in their mean age, psychiatric diagnosis, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale score and proportions of patients investigated with EEG and CT. In the most violent group, 20% had focal temporal electrical abnormalities on EEG

 

(slowing and/or sharp waves)

 

and 41% had structural abnormalities localised to temporal lobe on CT

 

(dilated temporal horn and/or reduced size of temporal lobe).

 

The corresponding figures for the least violent group are 2.4% and 6.7% respectively. These results suggest that high violence rating scores are associated with temporal lobe abnormalities on CT and abnormal temporal electrical discharges on EEG.

 

 

PMID: 7976465 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

 

 

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