E-Book Overview
Antipsychotic drugs have revolutionized the management of major psychiatric disorders and the outcomes of those who suffer from them. However, they often contribute to a range of adverse effects, among the most frequent and distressing of which are those resulting in disturbance of voluntary motor function. Extrapyramidal side effects--or EPS--are still poorly recognized and frequently misattributed. Despite vast research literature, there have been few attempts to bring together both the descriptive clinical elements of these disorders and major research conclusions pertinent to routine practice. This very readable and well-illustrated book seeks to rectify this problem in the hope of increasing clinicians' awareness of the issues and acknowledgement of their impact. This is a task made more challenging by the emergence of new drugs with lower liability that may promote subtler abnormalities than standard compounds. This book will be an important reference for psychiatrists, neurologists, and other clinicians who prescribe antipsychotic drugs.
E-Book Content
A Guide to the Extrapyramidal Side-effects of Antipsychotic Drugs Antipsychotic drugs have revolutionised the management of major psychiatric disorders and the outcomes for those who suffer from them. They do, however, have a range of adverse effects, amongst the most frequent and distressing of which are those resulting in disturbance of voluntary motor function. Extrapyramidal side-effects (EPS) are still poorly recognised and not infrequently misattributed. Although the topic has consumed a large proportion of the research literature, clinicians have not been well served with ready sources of information bringing together both the descriptive clinical elements of these disorders and major research conclusions pertinent to routine practice. This book seeks to rectify this in the hope of increasing clinicians’ awarness of the issues and acknowledgement of their impact. This is a task made more rather than less urgent by the emergence of new drugs of lower liability but which may promote subtler abnormality than standard compounds. The author has a very readable style and provides a thorough clinical reference that is adeptly illustrated by real case histories. The book should be of particular value to trainees and established practitioners within the fields of psychiatry, neurology, primary care and geriatrics.
david cunningham owens is Reader in Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh, and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Scotland. His major areas of research are the biological basis of schizophrenia, and the psychopharmacology of antipsychotic drugs, especially their extrapyramidal adverse effects, on which he has published extensively. Dr Cunningham Owens has for some years conducted training sessions on the recognition and standardised evaluation of drug-related movement disorders, aimed both at clinicians in routine practice and those undertaking research projects.
A Guide to the Extrapyramidal Side-effects of Antipsychotic Drugs D.G. CUNNINGHAM OWENS University of Edinburgh
PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL PUBLISHING) FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia http://www.cambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 1999 This edition © Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing) 2003 First published in printed format 1999
A catalogue record for the original printed book is available from the British Library and from the Library of Congress Original ISBN 0 521 63353 2 paperback
ISBN 0 511 02136 4 virtual (eBooks.com Edition)
Every effort has been made in preparing this book