CLINICAL STUDY OF A NEW TRANQUILIZING DRUG

Abstract
Anxiety neuroses or tension states occur so frequently that there is a real need for rapid therapy to relieve the patient and enable him to recover. Attempts to find a useful drug are being made constantly, and among the most promising of these drugs are the propanediol derivatives developed by Berger.1Studies of mephenesin suggested that tension states and other psychoneurotic conditions could be alleviated,2but the drug was not consistent in its activity. The second propanediol derivative to appear was 2,2-diethyl-1,3-propanediol, which showed much more promise.3Although it was consistent in its control of tension states, its duration of action was too short. The most recent compound of this type, Miltown (2-methyl-2-n-propyl-1,3-propanediol dicarbamate), is the subject of the present study. The pharmacology of Miltown was described by Berger. The drug has a selective blocking action on interneurons. It produces relaxation of skeletal muscles without affecting respiration