No access

Article

Published Online: December 1957

TREATMENT OF PARKINSONISM : Preliminary Report on Use of Promethazine in 12 Cases

ELIERE J. TOLAN and JOHN OLARIUAuthors Info & Affiliations

Publication: American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 114, Number 6

https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.114.6.518

Get Access

Abstract

Parkinsonism presents a notoriously discouraging therapeutic problem, since no treatment heretofore employed has significantly altered the course of the disease. Recent work with antihistamines suggests that certain of these compounds may have value in the Parkinsonian syndromes.

Promethazine chemically resembles chlorpromazine, which is known to be active upon the extrapyramidal system and related areas. It was decided to investigate the potential value of promethazine since it was believed that the compound might also affect the extrapyramidal structures but in a different way.

Twelve patients with advanced Parkinsonism (associated with cerebral arteriosclerosis in 5, of the postencephalitic type in 2, and of the idiopathic type in 5) received promethazine in conservative dosage by mouth for periods totaling 2 to 16 weeks.

Among the patients with Parkinsonism, 11 (91%) showed some evidence of improvement, which was not limited to motor activity alone but in most cases involved other physical and behavioral spheres in which there had been severe deterioration. One-third showed clinical change of an unusual degree.

Further study of promethazine in Parkinsonian syndromes and the associated mental disorders is suggested, especially for aged and arteriosclerotic patients.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Get Access

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 114 • Number 6 • December 1957

Pages: 518 - 523

PubMed: 13478769

History

Published in print: December 1957

Published online: 1 April 2006

Authors

Details

ELIERE J. TOLAN

Hawthornden State Hospital, Macedonia, Ohio.

View all articles by this author

JOHN OLARIU

Hawthornden State Hospital, Macedonia, Ohio.

View all articles by this author

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format	RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks
Direct importt
Citation style
Style

Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

View Options

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - American Journal of Psychiatry

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR^® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

TREATMENT OF PARKINSONISM : Preliminary Report on Use of Promethazine in 12 Cases

Abstract

Get full access to this article