PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Schmidtke

Publications and source records attributed to A Schmidtke.

53 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

5-HT1A receptor function in depression: effect of chronic amitriptyline treatment.

Hypothermic responses to 5-HT1A receptor activation by the selective ligand ipsapirone (IPS) were attenuated in depressed patients as compared to controls. Chronic treatment with amitriptyline (AMI) further impaired 5-HT1A-mediated hypothermia. The results indicate a subsensitive (presynaptic) 5-HT1A receptor and/or a defective post-receptor signalling pathway in depression and are consistent with the hypothesis that 5-HT1A receptors are down-regulated during AMI treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The dexamethasone suppression test and suicide attempts.

We examined covariations between results of the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and suicidal behaviour for 44 patients who had attempted suicide at least once; the suicide methods, diagnoses and time factors were controlled for. The control groups comprised 82 psychiatric patients and a sample of 69 patients with endogenous depression. In spite of hypotheses suggesting the contrary, there was no significant relationship between DST results and acute suicide attempts. Although patients who had used "soft" methods were often suppressors, chi-square tests using the suicide classification of the ICD-9 as well as tests employing more precise subcategories failed to reveal any significant covariation. In groups of patients with an identical diagnosis of endogenous depression, the sensitivity of the DST with regard to suicide attempts was 52%. The difference between suppressors and nonsuppressors in previous suicide attempts was insignificant. Further, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression profiles of DST suppressors and nonsuppressors showed no significant differences with regard to either different symptoms or the evaluation of acute suicide risk.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

The Werther effect after television films: new evidence for an old hypothesis.

In this study it was possible to prove the Werther effect in suicides after watching fictional models for the first time. A twice-broadcast (1981, 1982) six-episode weekly serial showing the railway suicide of a 19-year-old male student provided a quasi-experimental ABABA design to investigate differential effects of suicide imitation. Imitation effects were most clearly observable in the groups whose age and sex were closet to those of the model. Over extended periods (up to 70 days after the first episode), the number of railway suicides increased most sharply among 15- to 19-year-old males (up to 175%); the effect steadily decreased in the older age groups, so that no effect was observable for males over 40 years and females over 30 years. Also, the imitation effects remained detectable for longer periods in the groups closest in age to the model. The increases observed after the first and second broadcast for males aged less than 30 years closely corresponded with the respective audience figures for the two showings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

[Studies of the reliability and validity of the German version of the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)].

In both its original and German version, the Montgomery-Asberg Depression-Rating Scale (MADRS) has proved to be efficient and practical, and the level of its interrater reliability would appear to be satisfactorily high. With regard to the detection of changes occurring during the course of a depressive phase, this scale exhibits a degree of sensitivity that is comparable to that reported for the HAMD. The concurrent validity between the MADRS and the HAMD is higher over time (.94) than in cross-section (.85). Factor analyses have demonstrated that the MADRS is capable of recording more psychological symptoms of depression than the HAMD. Thus, the MADRS should be applied in combination with other rating scales. Contrary to the intentions of the devisers of this scale, it has been found that, significantly different assessments may result when the same patient is rated by various groups (psychiatrists, psychologists, students and psychiatric nurses). These differences are of practical relevance and are greatest for the first assessment. Clearly, the selection of the time of rating as well as the length of the time period to be included in the evaluation are of particular importance. Even though it has been emphasized that the operationalization of the MADRS is very good, it would appear that also special training in the use of this rating scale is necessary.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Suicidal behavior and the broken home. Critical evaluation of a "causal hypothesis"].

It has often been hypothesized that a broken home results in a "predisposition" towards suicidal behaviour. Previous findings concerning the incidence of broken homes among suicides have revealed rates that are considerably higher than might have been expected from the base rate of the incidence of broken homes among the population as a whole. However, when considering these results, it is necessary to take into account a number of general methodological problems as well as specific problems inherent in the study of the causes of suicidal behaviour. Therefore, due to methodological objections, it can be assumed that the covariation between the variable, broken home, and suicidal behaviour, as compared with other psychiatric disturbances, has been overestimated. It seems more likely that a broken home, in combination with the simultaneous and subsequent emergence of adverse circumstances, increases the probability of the appearance of deviant behaviour in general. Therefore, it would appear that the most useful approach for understanding suicidal behaviour is to analyse the learning history and background of patients who have exhibited such behaviour, while the variable, broken home, should be regarded as being only one of several factors conditioning the failure to develop or apply adequate coping strategies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Comparative study of factor structure of Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices.

The Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices were administered on group or individual bases to children ranging in age from 4 yr. 9 mo. to 11 yr. 0 mo. (N = 728). Factor analysis yielded three factors: 1. Perceptual closure involving complex figures and patterns with heterogeneous inner structures, 2. Concrete and abstract reasoning, 3. Completion of homogeneous patterns and recognition of given elements. Factor matrix comparisons across age groups resulted in a mean similarity coefficient of .75. Comparisons of data with earlier analyses also resulted in high similarity. This supports the hypothesis of a three-factor structure rather than a four-factor solution or a simple dual classification into items which can be solved by perceptual processes and those which require conceptual solutions.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin is elevated in catabolic female patients.

Serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is currently widely used as a biochemical marker of alcohol misuse. However, various recent studies have questioned the diagnostic value of this parameter and reported low levels of both specificity and sensitivity, especially in women. Thus, we sought to identify sub-groups of female individuals in which CDT is elevated independently of alcohol consumption. Significantly increased CDT levels were found in catabolic disease states due to psychiatric disorders distinct from alcoholism. None of those patients reported frequent alcohol consumption. CDT therefore appears also to be increased by metabolic processes distinct from alcohol degradation. Possible biochemical mechanisms of this phenomenon are discussed. As a consequence of these findings, the measurement of CDT alone is not suitable to screen for alcohol misuse in catabolic subjects.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Suicide rates, suicide methods and uncertain cause of death in the elderly].

The incidence of suicidal behavior among elderly people is difficult to determine, as it is probable that many suicides in this age group escape detection. This is attributable to the high incidence of "indirect" suicidal acts and the difficulty of detecting suicidal poisoning among elderly people, because deaths involving such methods are especially liable to be mistakenly classified under other categories of causes of death. Using the available statistics that record the causes of death for persons aged over 60 years in the Federal Republic of Germany, we examined co-variations between suicide figures and the occurrence of other categories of causes of death. The suicide rates exhibited a progressive increase with age for such age groups as a whole. However, the trends observed for individual 5-year age groups differentiated according to sex showed considerable differences, with the suicide figures increasing for some groups, but decreasing for others. Furthermore, these alterations were also found to be substantially dependent on the time periods selected. In general, the male/female suicide ratio altered to the disadvantage of women; increase in the suicide figures for women over 60 years exceeded the growth in the proportion of the population accounted for by this group. The latest available figures indicate that women over 60 years now commit 48% of all female suicides.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗