Drug Concentrations in Neuropsychiatry (eBook)

Ruth Porter is the editor of Drug Concentrations in Neuropsychiatry, published by Wiley. John Rivers is the editor of Drug Concentrations in Neuropsychiatry, published by Wiley.

Drug Concentrations in Neuropsychiatry 5
Contents 7
Introduction: The rational use of plasma drug levels in clinical medicine 11
Discussion 14
Principles of pharmacokinetics 23
Discussion 37
Methodological pitfalls: the influence of experimental design on results 45
Discussion 54
Interpretation of drug levels: relevance of plasma binding 61
Discussion 74
Quality control of drug assays 79
Discussion 84
Lithium concentrations and clinical responses 91
Discussion 100
Blood levels of flupenthixol in patients with acute and chronic schizophrenia 109
Discussion 121
Clinical significance of monitoring plasma levels of psychotropic drugs 125
Discussion 138
Benzodiazepines: some aspects of their clinical pharmacology 151
Discussion 160
Adrenergic and serotonergic mechanisms in depression and their response to amitriptyline 167
Discussion 174
The role of plasma level monitoring of tricyclic antidepressant drugs as an aid to treatment 177
Discussion 193
Clinical application of the monitoring of anticonvulsant drug levels 209
Discussion 220
The logistics of drug monitoring 225
Discussion 231
Alternative approaches 235
Discussion 242
GENERAL DISCUSSION 245
Statistics and experimental design 245
Further research on drug levels 253
A guide for the doctor 258
Concluding remarks 263
Appendix Monitoring plasma concentrations of psychotropic drugs as an aid to treatment 267
Index of contributors 269
Subject index 271