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Biomedical subjects

C Perris

Publications and source records attributed to C Perris.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Memory functions and prophylactic treatment with lithium.

Memory functions were examined in a group of 53 patients with affective disorders before commencing prophylactic lithium therapy and then after 4 and 12 months of lithium treatment. The memory tests administered were the 30 Figure Test, the 30 Word-Pair Test, the 30 Person-Data Test (these tests are included in the Cronholm-Molander test battery) and the 30 Face Test. Three scores were obtained : immediate memory score, delayed memory score and forgetting score. There were no statistical significant differences between these scores before lithium therapy or after 4 and 12 months, except for immediate and delayed memory on the Person-Data Test and the 30 Face Test which showed an increased score of memory functions. The results of this study support the view that long-term lithium treatment with serum levels of about 0.6 mmol/l does not induce memory disturbances.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Personality characteristics of depressed patients classified according to family history.

Personality traits were assessed in a series of 148 patients classified according to Winokur into depression pure disease (DPD), depression spectrum disease (DSD) and sporadic depression (SD) with the addition of a fourth group: family history positive-others (FH + .O) comprised of patients with psychiatric disorders among first-degree relatives other than those taken into account by Winokur. Personality was assessed by means of a Swedish inventory, the KSP, comprised of 15 subscales assumed to measure relatively stable traits. DSD patients appeared to be most deviant from the other groups in most variables. Statistically significant differences were obtained for the variable socialization, which measures the internalization of social rules on which the DSD patients scored lowest, and variables of aggression on which the DSD patients scored higher than all the others.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Attempts to validate a classification of unipolar depression based on family data. Symptomatological aspects.

162 depressed patients, consecutively admitted to the Department of Psychiatry, Umeå University, were rated by means of the comprehensive psychopathological rating scale (CPRS) within a few days after their admission, and before any antidepressive treatment had been implemented. The same patients were later subdivided into groups according to the presence or absence of psychiatric illness among their first-degree relatives. Four groups were thus formed: depression pure disease (DPD), i.e., comprised of patients with only secondary cases of depression; depression spectrum disease (DSD), comprised of patients with secondary cases of both depression and alcoholism and antisocial personality among their first-degree relatives; positive family history-others (FH+.O), included those patients with first-degree relatives affected by other psychiatric disorders than those required for inclusion among the DSD; and finally, sporadic depression (SD), comprised of those patients who had no family loading at all. The results showed that the severity of illness was similar in all four groups. Only a few symptomatological differences emerged, and these related consistently to a higher frequency of symptoms of retardation (inability to feel, lassitude, and concentration difficulties) in the DSD group as compared to the SD group. No significant symptomatological differences occurred between patients in the DPD and DSD groups. It is concluded that a classification of unipolar patients based on family data does not predict the occurrence of various symptomatological patterns.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Serum dopamine-beta-hydroxylase in diagnostic subgroups of depressed patients and in relation to their personality characteristics.

Serum dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) levels were assessed in 150 depressed patients of both sexes, with a mean age of 44.0 +/- 12.3 (SD) years. Patients were divided into unipolars (n = 46), bipolars (n = 25), neurotic-reactive (n = 46) and unspecified (n = 38) i.e., those who did not fit into any of the previous categories. According to their status 38 patients were psychotic and 104 clearly nonpsychotic at the time of the DBH assessment. Personality characteristics were assessed for the same patients when they had markedly improved from their depression. In line with previous findings bipolar patients were found to have slightly lower serum DBH values than unipolars, and psychotic patients slightly lower values than nonpsychotic. However, none of the differences among diagnostic groups or between psychotic and nonpsychotic patients was statistically significant. Weak negative correlations were found between serum DBH and the personality variables social desirability and indirect aggression, but an earlier finding of a positive correlation with the personality trait monotony avoidance, could not be confirmed. Owing to the large interindividual variations in serum DBH it is concluded that correlations between serum DBH and personality characteristics might be spurious and due to chance. This study does not support the assumption that significant differences in serum DBH might occur among subgroups of depressed patients.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1982

The genetics of depression. A family study of unipolar and neurotic-reactive depressed patients.

Sixty unipolar (23 male and 37 female) patients and 67 patients (25 male and 42 female) suffering from a neurotic-reactive depressive disorder, consecutively admitted to the Department of Psychiatry of Umeå University have participated in a family study aimed at identifying morbidity risks for psychiatric illnesses among first degree relatives (n = 437). Besides the classification of affective disorders used in Umeå for research purposes the patients have been classified, according to the ICD-9, DSM-III, age at onset (below or above 40 years), and the Winokur's classification of primary affective disorders. However, only the findings regarding the Umeå classification and the Winokur's classification are given in the present article. Of the patients 90% fulfilled Kendell's criteria for depression at the time of the investigation whereas the others were in a phase of remission when studied. The diagnosis of secondary cases were made without knowledge of the diagnoses of the probands. Among relatives of unipolar probands only two secondary cases of bipolar affective disorder were found--one among parents, and one among siblings (MR% 1.1 and 0.6 respectively). The overall morbidity risk for affective disorders (MR% 22.8 among parents and 15.5 among siblings) proved to be higher than in previous studies. In the families of neurotic-reactive patients the morbidity risk for bipolar affective disorders was also very low (MR% 1.0 among parents and 0.7 among siblings), whereas the overall MR% for affective disorders proved to be surprisingly high (12.1 among parents and 6.7 among siblings). No increased risk for schizophrenia or alcoholism was found among the relatives of either group. When the relatives were divided according to their sex no clear-cut difference in morbidity risk emerged when fathers and brothers were compared with mothers and sisters but alcoholisms occurred more frequently in male relatives. Preliminary findings in second degree relatives suggest that secondary cases of affective disorders might occur among second degree relatives of patients classified as suffering from "sporadic depression" according to Winokur's classification.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1982

The course and outcome of cycloid psychosis.

Thirty patients with cycloid psychosis were found among 244 general psychotic and schizo-affective patients studied in London. The main clues to the diagnosis were the presence of "confusion', a pleomorphic clinical picture or an acute onset. Most of the patients were classified as schizophrenic by British psychiatrists and the Catego system, and as schizo-affective or mood-incongruent affective psychotics by the American Research Diagnostic Criteria and DSM-III. There was little overlap between the cycloids and any Anglo-American category, and cycloid psychosis is not synonymous with schizo-affective psychosis. The outcome of the cycloids was better than that of psychotic patients as a whole, and much better than schizophrenia as defined by Catego, Schneider's, Langfeldt's or Carpenter's rules, or by the guidelines set by the International Classification of Diseases. Compared with manic-depressive patients (defined by the presence of mania at some stage), cycloids had more schizophrenic and fewer depressive and manic symptoms. There was a negligible concordance between the diagnosis of cycloid psychosis and the final diagnosis of manic-depressive disease. It is concluded that these patients should not be diagnosed as schizophrenic, but that the relation of cycloid psychosis to manic-depressive disease is not yet resolved.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Genetic vulnerability for depression and life events.

In the last decades there has been an increased interest in studies of life events and depression. Although evidence has accumulated suggesting that life events might be relevant for the occurrence and development of depression, their pathogenic role is still poorly understood. In the present study, we have investigated whether a possible interaction exists between external events and biological vulnerability for depression. On the basis of an intensive family study, 128 depressed patients, consecutively admitted to the department of psychiatry of Umeå University Hospital have been divided into 2 groups, those suffering from 'depression pure disease' (i.e. those with a family loading for affective disorders, n = 48) and, those suffering from 'depression sporadic disease' (i.e. those without any heredity for affective disorders, n = 80) according to Winokur's classification. The occurrence of life events has been assessed in each patient by means of a semistructured interview. The mean number of events experienced by the patients in the two groups proved to be similar during the different time periods taken into account, and the mean number of events per patient was similar to that found by other authors who studied life events and depression. None of the categorizations used to group the life events discriminated between the groups. It is concluded from this study that genetic vulnerability for depression does not enhance an individual's vulnerability for stressful events.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Lithium and neuroleptic drugs in combination - effect on lithium RBC/plasma ratio.

The lithium RBC/plasma ratio was determined in 59 patients during prophylactic lithium therapy. No relationship was found between the lithium RBC/plasma ratio and sex, age, type of illness, weight, lithium dosage, duration of treatment or lithium plasma level. However, patients taking a combination of lithium and neuroleptic drugs had significantly higher lithium RBC/plasma ratios than patients taking lithium without neuroleptic drugs. The results are in line with earlier in vitro studies and are discussed in relation to the high frequency of neurotoxic and nephrotoxic adverse effects noted in patients taking a combination of lithium and neuroleptic drugs.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1982

Evoked potentials (EP) and the individual's reactivity and vulnerability in psychiatric studies.

The reduction and augmentation responsiveness (RAR) in evoked potentials (EP) seems to be a possible research tool for the understanding of the individual reactivity to external events. In the present paper an attempt has been made to define the capabilities and the limits of the tool and some (table; see text) relevant findings concerning the relation to psychological, clinical, and biochemical variables are presented.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1981

Biochemistry of the augmenting-reducing response in visual evoked potentials.

The augmenting-reducing response in visual evoked potentials (VEP) has between shown to be a useful tool in psychiatric research. A series of studies has been devoted to the search for the biochemical basis of this phenomenon. An augmenter response in VEP is shown to be clearly related to low levels of endorphins, 5-HIAA and homovanillic acid in CSF and to low serum-dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity, while no significant relationship was found with 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylethylene glycol or tryptophan in CSF or MAO in thrombocytes. The results indicate that an augmenter response in VEP is related to low activity in the serotoninergic, dopaminergic and endophinergic pathways in CNS.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Transcultural aspects of depressive symptomatology.

The following is a presentation of the first results of a cross-cultural study of depressive symptomatology, within the framework of a larger research project which is still in progress. Southern Italian and northern Swedish depressed patients completed a self-rating scale for depression and were rated by the doctors using a subscale of the Comprehensive Psychological Rating Scale. In the doctors' ratings Italian patients scored higher for variables referring to motor retardation and hypochondriasis, and Swedish patients for variables referring to inability to feel and agitation. These findings were in line with expectations. In contrast, in the self-ratings Swedish patients scored higher for the variables weight loss, tachycardia and agitation and Italian patients for hopelessness and loss of interest and dissatisfaction. This discrepancy between results in self-ratings and doctors' ratings might reflect cultural differences either in the way patients in the two countries are able to express verbally their symptoms or in the way doctors from the two countries give weight to different symptoms. Taking the results of the two ratings together as a general measure of the severity of the depressive disorder, patients in the two places appeared to be quite alike. Since the two centers are engaged in comprehensive investigations of depressed patients, the last-mentioned finding suggests that the populations in the two centers are comparable as concerns severity.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Perceived parental behaviour and psychogenic needs.

A new inventory aimed at the assessment of perceived parental rearing practices (EMBU) and an inventory aimed at assessing psychogenic needs (CMPS) were completed by 152 healthy subjects of both sexes (108 males and 44 females). The series was comprised of 73 conscripts, 57 medical students, 15 vocational therapy students and 7 staff personnel who were 17-46 years old. Several significant correlations were found between dimensions of parental rearing behaviour and personality characteristics, most of them being consistent with earlier findings by other authors. Although statistically significant, the correlation coefficients were mostly low, leaving a large amount of unexplained variance. The findings of this study support the general assumption that the perception of parental rearing practices is an important factor in the shaping of personality make-up but that other, still unexplored factors might have an even greater importance in the determination of habitual personality characteristics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Gc serum groups and schizophrenia.

In an epidemiological study of schizophrenia in a North Swedish isolate, Böök et al. (1978) reported an association between schizophrenia and the genetic marker Gc2. In an attempt to confirm this observation, we examined a series of schizophrenic patients from Västerbotton County in Northern Sweden. In our material there was no difference between schizophrenic patients and controls with respect to the frequencies of Gc groups or genes. A reanalysis of the material by Böök et al. (1978) showed that schizophrenics compared to controls had a significant increase in the frequency of the Gc 2-1 group, but not of the Gc2 gene. The Gc distribution in the material by Böök et al. (1978) was similar to that previously reported by us in a series of patients with cycloid psychosis.

Gene Frequency↗
PubMed1980

Development of a new inventory assessing memories of parental rearing behaviour.

A new inventory (EMBU) to assess the own memories of parental rearing behaviour was constructed. EMBU is comprised of 81 questions grouped in 15 subscales and two additional questions referring to consistency and strictness of parental rearing behaviour to be answered in a four-step scale for the father and for the mother separately. The subscales cover rearing practices as for eexample overinvolment, affection, overprotectiveness, guilt engendering, rejection. 152 healthy subjects of both sexes (108 males and 44 females) completed the inventory. The item analysis showed that both parents attained similar scores in about half of the questions. Fathers scored higher in items referring to strictness, punishment and a low degree of involvement whereas mothers scored higher in items referring to involvement and affection. A principal component factor analysis permitted the hypothesized subscales to be identified. An analysis of the internal consistency of the subscales revealed a high frequency of significant internal correlations. A principal component factor analysis of the total scores of the 15 subscales allowed three main dimensions of rearing behaviour to be identified quite close to those reported in similar studies in the literature where other scales had been used.

Child↗
PubMed1980

Enzymes related to biogenic amine metabolism and personality characteristics in depressed patients.

Levels of the activity of enzyme systems involved in the synthesis and metabolism of biogenic amines have been linked in several reports in the literature with various psychopathological conditions and with variations in personality characteristics. In particular, significant negative correlations have been reported between levels of MAO-activity and sensation seeking. In the present study levels of MAO and DBH-activity were investigated in a series of 30 depressed patients, admitted consecutively, who completed a new personality inventory, the KSP, assumed to measure relatively stable personality traits. Our findings appeared to be consistent with those of earlier authors in that the most pronounced significant (negative) correlation occurred between MAO-activity levels and the monotony avoidance subscale of the KSP. This particular subscale is aimed precisely at measuring thrill-seeking and bears a close relation to the Sensation Seeking Scale used by other authors. In addition a weak positive correlation was found between the same subscale and levels of DBH-activity. Finally a weak negative correlation emerged between levels of MAO and the Guilt subscale of the KSP.

Adolescent↗