A client is newly prescribed a medication that will block the effects of histamine for the treatment of a mental health disorder. The client asks, “What side effects should I anticipate with this new medication?” Which response by the nurse is accurate?
“You should expect weight loss.”
“You should expect to feel drowsy.”
“You should expect to experience insomnia.”
“You should expect your blood pressure to increase.”
The Correct Answer is B
Choice A reason: Histamine blockade, as in antipsychotics like olanzapine, promotes sedation, not weight loss. Weight gain is common due to histamine’s role in appetite regulation via hypothalamic signaling. Weight loss is not a typical side effect, making this response inaccurate for histamine-blocking medications.
Choice B reason: Histamine receptor blockade, common in medications like quetiapine, reduces wakefulness by inhibiting histamine’s alerting effects in the cortex. This causes drowsiness, a frequent side effect in psychiatric treatments, aligning with the pharmacological mechanism and making this the correct response.
Choice C reason: Insomnia is not typical with histamine blockade, which promotes sedation. Histamine enhances alertness; blocking it, as in antihistaminic antipsychotics, induces sleepiness, not wakefulness. This response contradicts the neuropharmacological effect, making it incorrect for expected side effects.
Choice D reason: Blood pressure increase is unrelated to histamine blockade. Histamine affects wakefulness and appetite, not vascular tone directly. Antihistaminic drugs may cause orthostatic hypotension via other receptors, not hypertension, making this response inaccurate for histamine-blocking medication effects.
Nursing Test Bank
Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams
Related Questions
Correct Answer is A
Explanation
Choice A reason: Assessing functioning on a continuum reflects the spectrum of mental health, from optimal to severe impairment. Tools like the Global Assessment of Functioning scale quantify symptom severity and social/occupational performance, integrating neurobiological factors like dopamine imbalances in schizophrenia or serotonin deficits in depression, providing a comprehensive evaluation of mental health status.
Choice B reason: Focusing on intellectual and emotional growth is irrelevant for current functioning. Mental disorders like anxiety or psychosis primarily disrupt mood and cognition, not developmental growth. Neurobiological changes, such as reduced prefrontal cortex activity in depression, affect daily performance, not growth rates, making this metric unsuitable for assessing overall mental health functioning.
Choice C reason: Judging by societal conformity ignores individual neurobiological differences. Mental illnesses, like bipolar disorder, involve altered brain activity (e.g., heightened amygdala response), not just nonconformity. This approach risks mislabeling cultural or personality variations as pathology, disregarding scientific evidence of brain-based dysfunction and hindering accurate assessment of mental health status.
Choice D reason: Assessing logical and rational appearance is insufficient, as disorders like schizophrenia can present with intact logic but severe delusions due to dopamine dysregulation. This overlooks emotional and social impairments, critical in mental health assessment, and fails to capture the full spectrum of neurobiological and functional deficits present in psychiatric conditions.
Correct Answer is D
Explanation
Choice A reason: Buspirone enhances serotonin activity, taking weeks to reduce anxiety. Panic attacks, driven by acute norepinephrine surges in the amygdala, require rapid intervention. Buspirone’s delayed onset makes it ineffective for acute symptom relief, unlike fast-acting options targeting immediate neurochemical imbalances.
Choice B reason: Venlafaxine, an SNRI, increases serotonin and norepinephrine over weeks, unsuitable for acute panic attacks. Panic involves rapid sympathetic activation, requiring immediate GABA enhancement or similar fast-acting mechanisms, not gradual reuptake inhibition, making venlafaxine incorrect for rapid relief.
Choice C reason: Imipramine, a tricyclic, modulates serotonin and norepinephrine but takes weeks to act. Acute panic, driven by locus coeruleus norepinephrine spikes, needs immediate relief. Imipramine’s slow onset and side effects make it inappropriate for rapid intervention in acute anxiety episodes.
Choice D reason: Alprazolam, a benzodiazepine, enhances GABA-A receptor activity, rapidly inhibiting excessive neural firing in the amygdala during panic attacks. This provides quick relief from acute anxiety symptoms, like tachycardia, within minutes, making it the correct choice for immediate neurobiological stabilization in panic episodes.
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