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Published Online: February 1955

INSULIN COMA THERAPY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA : A Fourteen-Year Follow-up Study

FRANKLIN H. WEST, EARL D. BOND, JAY T. SHURLEY, and C. DIXON MEYERSAuthors Info & Affiliations

Publication: American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 111, Number 8

https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.111.8.583

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Abstract

1. Insulin coma therapy at the Pennsylvania Hospital produced an immediate improvement or remission in 67.7% of 780 patients treated between 1936 and 1951.

2. At least 334 patients, or 63.3% of all patients who originally improved, had a relapse; 44% of all these relapses occurred within 30 days, and 78% within 1 year of treatment. A second insulin course brought about an improvement or remission in 52% of 122 patients who had relapsed.

3. Factors associated with the most favorable prognosis include: age over 16, psychosis of less than 6 months' duration, with a clinical picture of paranoid, catatonic, or undifferentiated schizophrenia; and if during treatment the patient receives at least 30 to 60 coma hours and gains more than 30 pounds in weight.

4. We conclude that insulin coma therapy is effective in restoring the schizophrenic patient to his prepsychotic adjustment. This restoration to health is not accompanied by a permanent correction of the factors that predispose the patient to regress to schizophrenia.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 111 • Number 8 • February 1955

Pages: 583 - 589

PubMed: 13228713

History

Published in print: February 1955

Published online: 1 April 2006

Authors

Details

FRANKLIN H. WEST

The Pennsylvania Hospital, Department for Mental and Nervous Diseases, Philadelphia, Pa.

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EARL D. BOND

The Pennsylvania Hospital, Department for Mental and Nervous Diseases, Philadelphia, Pa.

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JAY T. SHURLEY

The Pennsylvania Hospital, Department for Mental and Nervous Diseases, Philadelphia, Pa.

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C. DIXON MEYERS

The Pennsylvania Hospital, Department for Mental and Nervous Diseases, Philadelphia, Pa.

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INSULIN COMA THERAPY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA : A Fourteen-Year Follow-up Study

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