Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T01:01:21.987Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effect of Convulsive Therapy on Plasma Adrenaline and Noradrenaline

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

H. Weil-Malherbe
H. Weil-Malherbe*
Affiliation:
Research Department, Runwell Hospital, Wickford, Essex
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

It is generally assumed that an activation of the sympathetic system plays an important part in the therapeutic efficacy of convulsive treatments, be it as an unspecific result of stress or owing to a more circumscribed stimulation of specific centres in the hypothalamus and elsewhere. Such an effect has been postulated on the basis of various changes observed after convulsions, such as a rise in blood pressure (Accornero, 1940; Bini and Puddu, 1940; Piette, 1950), hyperglycaemia (Castelluci, 1940; Kessler and Gellhorn, 1941), leucocytosis and lymphocytosis (Gellhorn and Frank, 1948, 1949; Michael, 1949) and eosinopenia (Altschule, Parkhurst and Tillotson, 1949). Pupillary dilatation and contraction of the nictitating membrane have been described in cats (Gellhorn and Darrow, 1939). More direct evidence is provided by the finding that the adrenaline stores of the adrenal medulla are decreased after electrically produced convulsions (Pekkarinen, Hakala and Hyppönen, 1952).

Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Mental Science , Volume 101 , Issue 422 , January 1955 , pp. 156 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1955 

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

Accornero, F., Riv. sperim. freniatr., 1940, 64, 459.Google Scholar
Altschule, M. D., Parkhurst, B. H., and Tillotson, K. J., J. clin. Endocrinol., 1949, 9, 440.Google Scholar
Berrington, W. P., and Goldin, S., J. Ment. Sci., 1955, 101, 153.Google Scholar
Bini, L., and Puddu, V., Riv. sperim. freniatr., 1940, 64, 653.Google Scholar
Castelluci, F., ibid., 1940, 64, 523.Google Scholar
Gellhorn, E., Physiological Foundations of Neurology and Psychiatry, 1953. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Idem and Darrow, C. W., Arch. internat. pharmacodyn., 1939, 62, 114.Google Scholar
Idem and Frank, S., Proc. Soc. exp. Biol. and Med., 1948, 69, 426.Google Scholar
Iidem , ibid., 1949, 71, 112.Google Scholar
Hann, J., and Kinzius, H., Deut. Z. Nervenheilk., 1949, 163, 82.Google Scholar
Himwich, H. E., Brain Metabolism and Cerebral Disorders, 1951. Baltimore: The Williams and Wilkins Company.Google Scholar
Kessler, M., and Gellhorn, E., Proc. Soc. exp. Biol. and Med., 1941, 46, 64.Google Scholar
Kinzius, H., and Hann, J., Deut. Z. Nervenheilk., 1951, 165, 80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehmann, G., and Kinzius, H., Pflügers Arch. ges. Physiol., 1951, 253, 132.Google Scholar
Michael, S. T., Yale J. Biol. and Med., 1949, 22, 71.Google Scholar
Montagu, J. D., J. Ment. Sci., 1955, 101, 110.Google Scholar
Pekkarinen, A., Hakala, H., and Hyppönen, K., Acta Endocrinol., 1952, 10, 167.Google Scholar
Piette, Y., Les modifications motrices, respiratoires, cardiovasculaires et glycémiques au cours de l'électrochoc., 1950. Bruxelles: Editions Acta Medica Belgica.Google Scholar
Tietz, E. B., and van Harreveld, A., Proc. Soc. exp. Biol. and Med., 1949, 70, 496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weil-Malherbe, H., Proc. First Internat. Neurochem. Symposium, 1954. To be published. Google Scholar
Idem and Bone, A. D., Biochem. J., 1952a, 51, 311.Google Scholar
Iidem , J. Ment. Sci., 1952b, 98, 565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iidem , Lancet, 1953, 264, 974.Google Scholar
Iidem , Biochem. J., 1954, 58, 132.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.