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Focuses on medical issues in Great Britain. Issue on the use of a sphygmanometer; Effect of anabolic steroids on anticoagulant therapy; Risk of coronary heart disease in different populations.

Twelve chronically anxious psychiatric out-patients, comprising six with somatic anxiety and six with psychic anxiety, were treated with (±)-propranolol, diazepam and placebo for one week each in flexible dosage using a balanced cross-over experimental design., After each treatment, in addition to ratings completed by patient and psychiatrist, finger tremor, EEG, averaged auditory evoked response, skin conductance, heart and respiratory rate were measured., Diazepam significantly increased the amount of fast activity (13.5-26 Hz) in the EEG but produced few peripheral effects apart from a reduction in finger tremor., Propranolol had no central physiological effects but reduced both pulse rate and finger tremor., The physiological effects of propranolol in chronic anxiety are different from those of diazepam and therapeutic benefit appears to be due to a direct effect on certain somatic symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four equal-sexed groups of eight normal subjects were given single doses of either (±)-propranolol (120 mg), (+)-propranolol (120 mg), diazepam (6 mg) or placebo using double-blind procedure and their effects studied under three types of experimental stress and at rest., Finger tremor, EEG, averaged auditory evoked response, skin conductance, heart rate and respiratory rate were measured at each time of testing, and subjects also completed performance tests (reaction time, tapping speed and symbol copying) and subjective mood scales., Neither (+)- nor (±)-propranolol had any beneficial effects on mood and physiological tests showed that, although adequate β-adrenoceptor blockade was achieved, there was no evidence of sedation., Diazepam reduced subjective anxiety, significantly lessened the main amplitude of the auditory evoked response and also reduced the proportion of slower rhythms in the EEG., The results suggest that (+)- and (±)-propranolol have no psychotropic effects on induced anxiety and that their modes of action are fundamentally different from that of diazepam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the efficacy of benzodiazepines as an antianxiety drugs and hypnotics. Occurrence of pharmacological dependence on therapeutic dosage; Production of perceptual disturbance; Management of benzodiazepine dependence.