Abstract
The effects of a single 10 mg oral dose of nitrazepam were compared with those of a placebo in healthy young and old people. Both the young and the elderly slept better on three successive nights after nitrazepam but they felt less awake at 12 and 36 hours (P less than 0-01). Elderly people made significantly more mistakes in a psychomotor test than did the young, despite similar plasma concentrations of nitrazepam and half lives in the two groups. This difference in response to psychomotor testing is probably explained by an increased sensitivity of the ageing brain to the action of nitrazepam.
Full text
PDFSelected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bond A. J., Lader M. H. Residual effects of hypnotics. Psychopharmacologia. 1972;25(2):117–132. doi: 10.1007/BF00423189. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DAVIES D. F., SHOCK N. W. Age changes in glomerular filtration rate, effective renal plasma flow, and tubular excretory capacity in adult males. J Clin Invest. 1950 May;29(5):496–507. doi: 10.1172/JCI102286. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Evans J. G., Jarvis E. H. Nitrazepam and the elderly. Br Med J. 1972 Nov 25;4(5838):487–487. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5838.487-a. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hall M. R. Use of drugs in elderly patient. N Y State J Med. 1975 Jan;75(1):67–71. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jori A., Di Salle E., Quadri A. Rate of aminopyrine disappearance from plasma in young and aged humans. Pharmacology. 1972;8(4):273–279. doi: 10.1159/000136343. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kato R., Takanaka A. Metabolism of drugs in old rats. I. Activities of NADPH-linked electron transport and drug-metabolizing enzyme systems in liver microsomes of old rats. Jpn J Pharmacol. 1968 Dec;18(4):381–388. doi: 10.1254/jjp.18.381. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kato R., Takanaka A. Metabolism of drugs in old rats. II. Metabolism in vivo and effect of drugs in old rats. Jpn J Pharmacol. 1968 Dec;18(4):389–396. doi: 10.1254/jjp.18.389. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Klotz U., Avant G. R., Hoyumpa A., Schenker S., Wilkinson G. R. The effects of age and liver disease on the disposition and elimination of diazepam in adult man. J Clin Invest. 1975 Feb;55(2):347–359. doi: 10.1172/JCI107938. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Malpas A., Rowan A. J., Boyce C. R., Scott D. F. Persistent behavioural and electroencephalographic changes after single doses of nitrazepam and amylobarbitone sodium. Br Med J. 1970 Jun 27;2(5712):762–764. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5712.762. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rieder J. Plasma levels and derived pharmacokinetic characteristics of unchanged nitrazepam in man. Arzneimittelforschung. 1973 Feb;23(2):212–218. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Smith T. W., Haber E. Digoxin intoxication: the relationship of clinical presentation to serum digoxin concentration. J Clin Invest. 1970 Dec;49(12):2377–2386. doi: 10.1172/JCI106457. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vestal R. E., Norris A. H., Tobin J. D., Cohen B. H., Shock N. W., Andres R. Antipyrine metabolism in man: influence of age, alcohol, caffeine, and smoking. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1975 Oct;18(4):425–432. doi: 10.1002/cpt1975184425. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- de Silva J. A., Bekersky I. Determination of clonazepam and flunitrazepam in blood by electron-capture gas-liquid chromatography. J Chromatogr. 1974 Nov 6;99(0):447–460. doi: 10.1016/s0021-9673(00)90876-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]