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Biomedical subjects

C S Mellor

Publications and source records attributed to C S Mellor.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Dermatoglyphic evidence of fluctuating asymmetry in schizophrenia.

Fluctuating asymmetry provides a measure of an organism's capacity to buffer adverse factors that could disturb its development. It is estimated from the differences between theoretically identical right- and left-sided structures. Dermatoglyphic fluctuating asymmetry has been recently used to investigate developmental disorders. Fingerprints and palm prints of schizophrenic patients, which had been the subjects of an earlier report of conventional dermatoglyphic trait frequencies, were reanalysed to determine their level of fluctuating asymmetry. A review of the diagnostic protocols and clinical records used in the original study indicated that most of the 482 subjects would have met DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia. The schizophrenic sample had significantly higher levels of fluctuating asymmetry on four dermatoglyphic traits, the finger-ridge counts, fingerprint patterns, the palmar atd angles and palmar a-b ridge counts, than controls. This finding supports the results of two earlier studies, and its relevance to the roles of genetics, foetal insults, and developmental anomalies of the brain in the aetiology of schizophrenia is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Familial hypertryptophanemia, tryptophanuria and indoleketonuria.

Two patients presenting with mental subnormality and severe emotional lability were examined for possible inborn errors of metabolism. Amino acid and organic acid analyses of their plasma and urine revealed a novel and grossly abnormal metabolism of tryptophan. Basal levels of plasma tryptophan were ten times that of controls and the 24-hour urinary excretion of tryptophan was up to 50 times greater than normal. Both patients excreted about 100 times the normal amounts of indoleacetic, indolelactic and indolepyruvic acids. Administration of oral antibiotic to one of the patients to eliminate intestinal bacteria did not result in any reduction in the excretion of the indoleic acids. The results are interpreted in terms of a possible congenital defect in the normal conversion of tryptophan to kynurenine.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Diazepam withdrawal syndrome: its prolonged and changing nature.

The diazepam withdrawal syndrome was studied in 10 patients who had abused the drug for 3 to 14 years. In the previous 6 months their consumption of diazepam had ranged from 60 to 120 mg daily; none had used other drugs during this period. The withdrawal period lasted about 6 weeks. The intensity of the symptoms and signs was high initially, fell during the first 2 weeks, then rose again in the third week, before finally declining. Three groups of symptoms and signs were identified. Group A symptoms occurred throughout withdrawal and included tremor, anorexia, insomnia and myoclonus. Group B symptoms and signs were largely confined to the first 10 days and were those of a toxic psychosis. Group C symptoms reached a peak in the third and fourth weeks of withdrawal and were characterized by sense perceptions that were either heightened or lowered. The symptom groups, the presence of tremor and myoclonus, and the relief of symptoms by a test dose permit diazepam withdrawal to be distinguished from anxiety. The biphasic course of the symptoms is probably related to the pharmacokinetics of diazepam.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

A double-blind study of electrosleep for anxiety and insomnia.

Despite largely negative findings, several subjects reported a remarkable improvement in their symptoms some two to three weeks after electrosleep (ES) treatment was concluded, so that it remains unclear whether or not ES may be an effective treatment. The clinical experience reported suggests that five half-hour ES treatments may not be sufficient to produce significant changes in the patient's anxiety and insomnia. Further investigations are required to examine the effects of varying durations of treatment.

Adult↗