The differential effect of cortisone and of A.C.T.H. on mood.

Abstract

It is evident from many reports published in the last four years that psychological changes can occur during the treatment of physical illness by Cortisone and corticotrophin (A.C.T.H.). There is no doubt, too, that similar mental symptoms have been occasioned by giving either of these agents in therapeutic doses. It is perhaps for this reason that most writers have not distinguished between them in this respect. Thus, the mild mood changes that often occur, and the relatively rare psychotic reactions are usually spoken of as complications of A.C.T.H. or Cortisone therapy. This implies that, in the individual case, these substances would be equivalent in their influence on the mental state; yet there are grounds for suspecting otherwise. The aetiology of these psychological reactions remains obscure, so that any evidence which serves to differentiate the psychiatric side-effects of the two drugs would be of interest.