Neurologia-Neurocirugia Psiquiatria最新文献

This study expresses a theory designed to associate the fundamental thermodynamic concepts to the electrophysiology of the nervous system. An analogy is drawn between the thermodynamic and electrical events of the myocardial cell during its mechanical phases with those thermodynamic and electrical events of the nerve cell during conduction. Although the myocardial and nerve cells are designed to perform different functions, their processes of membrane potential activation and corresponding directions of thermodynamic and entropy changes are basically the same. A thermodynamic view of nerve cell "active" potential corresponds to a passive downhill process during which the entropy of the system (nerve cell) increases. In contrast, the so called "resting" membrane potential corresponds to an active uphill process. Thus, there is a paradox because the nerve cell is thermodynamically passive during the "active" membrane potential, whereas it is thermodynamically active during the "resting" membrane potential. It is suggested that inhibition in the nervous system may be considered a thermodinamically active process. If the negentropic process fails, the result is the malfunctioning or the final destruction of the system.

A careful review has been carried out on texts concerning Mexican medicine plants, especially on texts obtained directly from the XVI century Indian reports. The plants utilized for psychiatric purposes have been separated from the huge group of 1 500 medicine plants used by the prehispanic Indians, and have been found about 150 plants which have been classified in the modern way of antipsychotic, antidepressant, minor tranquilizer, hallucinogens, sedatives, hypnotics, brain tonics, stimulants and anticonvulsants. The intention in making this research is to awake the interest of the people in the experimenting field; as experiments have been effected only on hallucinogen up to now, and if these have proved to possess the effects caused to the Indians, supposedly large part of the other plants have the effects according to the indications they have mentioned.

The historic development of the units that provided psychiatric care to children and adolescents, which finally yielded the first child guidance clinic early this century is briefly reviewed. We describe the organization of a child psychiatry unit within a social security institute (ISSSTE). The importance of a child psychiatrist, a psychologist and a social worker working together in a team approach to the evaluation and treatment of children is emphasized. The ISSSTE has provided psychiatric care to children and adolescents since 1961. For this purpose the Institute has five psychiatric units, four of them within a general hospital, the other in a neuropsychiatry out-patient clinic. This clinic admitted 749 new cases to the Child Psychiatry department during 1976. Up to December 1976, the total population of the clinic was 14 271 patients, of which 5 471 are children and adolescents. Last but not least, we describe an ambitious project for an in-patient unit for children and adolescents as part of a psychiatric hospital.

This paper emphasizes the importance of having an objective registration system for clinical cases in a psychiatric hospital. For this purpose, special sheets were designed to register all cases comparing the years 1971 and 1976. During these years, 1 202 and 1 835 cases were obtained. Data included: age, sex, marital status, schooling, occupation, diagnosis, psychiatric family history and therapy. The results for those years are shown.