PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Buchanan

Publications and source records attributed to A Buchanan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

The effects of ultraviolet-A wavelengths in light therapy for seasonal depression.

Although light therapy is a recognized effective treatment for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), there has been little research into the critical wavelengths of light that produce the antidepressant effect. Previous studies found conflicting results for the importance of the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum in the therapeutic effect of light therapy. To assess the clinical effects of UV-A wavelengths (315-400 nm), we studied 33 depressed SAD patients diagnosed with structured interviews by DSM-IIIR criteria. Following a baseline week, patients underwent 2 weeks of 2500 lux light therapy for 2 h daily (06:00-08:00). Light therapy consisted of cool-white fluorescent light with the addition of a special UV-A fluorescent tube. Patients were randomized to wear glasses during light therapy that either blocked (UV-blocked condition) or passed (UV-A condition) wavelengths below 400 nm. Both treatments significantly reduced all depression ratings, but no differences were found between the UV-A and UV-blocked conditions. We conclude that the UV-A spectrum does not increase the antidepressant response of light therapy. Given the potential side effects of chronic UV exposure, clinical application of light therapy should use light sources that have the UV spectrum filtered.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Electroretinography in seasonal affective disorder.

Retinal mechanisms have been hypothesized in the pathophysiology of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Electroretinography (ERG) is a noninvasive electrophysiologic test that provides an objective measure of photoreceptor and retinal function. We conducted dark-adapted ERG examinations with a bright white light stimulus in a group of depressed, drug-free patients with seasonal affective disorder (6 men, 18 women) diagnosed by DSM-III-R criteria, and a group of sex- and age-matched control subjects (6 men, 16 women) during the winter. A significant difference was found between SAD patients and controls, but female SAD patients had lower ERG b-wave amplitudes than female controls, while male SAD patients had higher amplitudes than the matched controls. The ERG b-wave implicit times (times from onset of stimulus to peak of b-wave) were significantly longer in the left eyes of the male control subjects. These data may indicate subtle retinal changes in patients with SAD, but the results must be considered preliminary because of the small number of subjects studied and the large intersubject variability in the ERG procedure.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

A two-year prospective study of treatment compliance in patients with schizophrenia.

The study is a prospective investigation of the factors associated with treatment compliance in 61 patients discharged from hospital with a ward diagnosis of schizophrenia. All cases were classified using reliable diagnostic criteria and all were followed up for two years. Compliance was assessed by inspection of records and by analysis of urine. Sociodemographic factors and illness variables were unrelated to compliance. Some aspects of a patient's insight and attitude, namely, a belief that medication had helped during the admission, a stated willingness to take treatment after discharge and a generally optimistic outlook, were associated with improved compliance. Other variables which showed such an association were the absence of the drug side-effect akinesia, good previous compliance and voluntary, as opposed to compulsory, admission to hospital.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Attitude of the medical profession to psychiatry.

The attitude of the medical profession to psychiatry carries important implications for the quality of personnel attracted into the specialty and for the treatment, in a general medical setting, of patients with mental disorders. This article examines the components of doctors' attitudes and reviews the literature with regard to their attitudes to psychiatrists themselves, psychiatric patients and psychiatry as a vocation. The implications of these findings for psychiatrists are discussed.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1992

The assessment of insight in psychosis.

An assessment schedule was used to determine the nature of insight in 91 mixed psychotic patients, and to examine its distribution and associations. While all the components of the schedule intercorrelated significantly, scores for compliance were only weakly related to those for ability to label psychotic phenomena as abnormal. Compliance and illness recognition were related to IQ. Total insight score was inversely correlated, moderately, with a global measure of psychopathology derived from the PSE, and was less in patients involuntarily committed. Age, sex, diagnosis, and the number of previous hospital admissions had little effect. The results support the notion that insight is not a unitary concept.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The 'longlong' population of Ialibu District, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea: contact with health services and care in the village.

The aim of the study was to describe the general behaviour, living arrangements and level of health services contact of the mentally ill population of a health district in Papua New Guinea. The immediate relatives of 31 'longlong' people living in Ialibu District were interviewed. About half of the mentally ill subjects were able to cook and look after a garden. Just over half had engaged in physical violence or stolen and one-fifth had been physically restrained. Almost all were living in their own village although not all were living with their own families. Just over half had had contact with health services and this contact had usually been brief and, in the relatives' eyes, unsatisfactory.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1991

Low electrooculographic ratios in patients with seasonal affective disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Changes in retinal sensitivity to light have been hypothesized as etiological in seasonal affective disorder. This study was undertaken to investigate sensitivity to light in seasonal affective disorder using electrooculography (EOG), an objective measure of retinal light response. METHOD: In a mood disorders clinic, 19 depressed, drug-free patients with seasonal affective disorder, diagnosed by DSM-III-R criteria, were compared with 19 age- and sex-matched normal comparison subjects. All subjects had identical EOG testing performed during the winter. EOG (Arden) ratios were calculated from the EOG data. RESULTS According to multivariate analysis of variance, the EOG ratios in the patients with seasonal affective disorder were significantly lower than those of the normal comparison subjects, although there was considerable overlap in EOG ratios between patients and comparison subjects. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that seasonal affective disorder is associated with subtle retinal abnormalities at the level of the photoreceptor/retinal pigment epithelium complex, consistent with subsensitivity to light. A limitation of this study is that the retinal origins of the EOG response are nonspecific and still not completely elucidated.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Sleepwalking and indecent exposure.

The case is described of a naked sleepwalker who was convicted of indecent exposure. The literature relating to sleepwalking and indecent exposure is briefly reviewed and the legal position discussed. Sleepwalkers are seldom convicted of crimes which they commit while asleep. In recent years a successful defence has usually been mounted on the basis that sleepwalking is, in legal terms, an automatism. Occasionally, however, sleepwalkers are convicted and this report illustrates one such case.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Ultraviolet versus non-ultraviolet light therapy for seasonal affective disorder.

Although light therapy has been shown to be effective in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), little research has been done to determine which light wavelengths affect treatment outcome. In this triple crossover study the authors compared 1 week of light therapy in which bright (2500 lux), full-spectrum fluorescent light, with and without blockade of the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum, was used with a dim (500 lux) light control in 11 SAD patients. The dim light condition had no significant antidepressant effects as measured by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and an atypical depressive symptom (ATYP) score. The UV-light condition significantly reduced HAM-D, BDI, and ATYP scores, whereas the UV-blocked condition significantly reduced only the ATYP score. These results suggest that the UV-spectrum in light therapy may have a differential effect on typical and atypical symptoms in SAD.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1990

Glutathione synthesis and glutathione redox pathways in naphthalene cataract of the rat.

This investigation examined many parameters during the course of early development of naphthalene-induced cataract in a time span of 0 to 79 days of treatment. Feeding naphthalene daily to Black-Hooded rats resulted in gradual progressive development of cataract. The first faint opacities were detectable after 7 days. Free soluble total glutathione (oxidized and reduced) of these lenses was shown to gradually decrease to a maximum loss of about 20%, a value reached by day 30 of treatment. No activity loss of either enzyme required for glutathione synthesis (gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase or glutathione synthetase) was observed in homogenates of naphthalene versus control lenses. There was also neither impairment of [35S]-L-cystine uptake nor of [35S]-glutathione synthetic capacity in lenses cultured from rats after 12, 24 or 36 days of naphthalene feeding when compared to control lenses. Hence, glutathione loss cannot be explained by a damaged glutathione synthesis system. Progressive activity loss of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase was observed. The loss of glutathione peroxidase activity was especially remarkable. Thus, the defense system against oxidative damage is impaired and may be a significant factor in naphthalene-induced cataract of the rat.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Fine-needle aspiration cytology of breast: its impact on surgical practice with an emphasis on the diagnosis of breast abnormalities in young women.

Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the breast is a minimally invasive yet maximally diagnostic method, often precluding the need of an open biopsy. In young women, in whom breast cancer is a rare disorder, it is also important that carcinoma is recognized without delay so that an appropriate plan of management can be adopted. In this study, we reviewed our experience in a total of 3,226 needle aspirates of breast with particular emphasis on the diagnosis of carcinoma in women under the age of 30.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Improvement in the quality of gynaecological smears using a cytobrush.

For accurate cervical cytology an adequate sample of cells must be obtained from the squamocolumnar junction. In 100 patients conventional smears were compared with smears and membrane filter preparations made using a cytobrush. A satisfactory cell smear was obtained in 39% of patients using the conventional method and in 97% the cytobrush. When membrane filter preparations were used in conjunction with cytobrush smears, adequate cytological samples were obtained from all patients.

Cervix Uteri↗