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The paper presents the APA Expert Consensus Guidelines for pharmacotherapy in schizophrenia 1999.

The aim or this artic1e is to research what kind of diagnos1ic tests and therapeutic methods are used for inpatients with first psychotic episode. The authors analysed medical documentation of 33 patients admitted to the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw and compared the results with Polish standards for diagnose and treatment of schizophrenia, published in 1997.
Chloropromazine or perazine were the most often used first neuroleptics. In cases when change of treatment was required high-potency neuroleptics: fluphenazine, perphenazine or haloperidol, were used as secondary therapy. The change of therapy was prescribed during first three weeks of treatment for more than 50% of patients. Polish standards recommend not to change the therapy before a lapse of four week period if the first drug is not effective.

This article presents clinical features, course, prevalence, complications and risk factors for tardive dyskinesia (TD). It contains review of last theories and findings concerning pathophysiology of tardive dyskinesia. Research on TD in schizophrenic patients are focused on searching of associations between extrapyramidal syndromes and prior existing soft neurological sings, some of neurophysiological parameters and cognitive impairment. Research on pathophysiology of TD suggests toxic influence of long-term neuroleptic treatment on human brain (free radical hypothesis, impair iron metabolism in CNS). Tardive dyskinesia due to its persisting and potentially irreversible course diminishes patients’ quality of life, compliance and has an influence on psychosocial functioning. A variety of treatment strategies have been tried with limited success. The lack of consistently reliable therapy of TD shifts a stress to the prophylactic efforts. The introduction into psychopharmacology a new group of atypical antypsychotic agents has raised hopes that problem of TD will disappear, but for now data on atypical neuroleptics are scant.

The authors present the most recent information related to biosynthesis, metabolism, mechanism of action and the role of neurosteroids in physiological processes of the central nervous system (CNS). They also indicate neurobiological principles of clinical application in the therapy of different diseases of CNS.

Alcohol dependence is a typical chronic, relapsing disorder. Unfortunately, most of animal models of alcoholism neglect behavioural and neuropharmacological aspects of long-term abstinence, a1cohol craving and relapse to alcohol-taking. The present paper reviews recent attempts to develop valid animal models of alcoholism which could address mechanisms of a1cohol craving and relapse. The effects of naltrexone and NMDA receptor antagonists on ethanol self-administration and extinction/reinstatement of ethanol-reinforced behaviour were also characterised.