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Biomedical subjects

F K Taylor

Publications and source records attributed to F K Taylor.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

The damnation of benzodiazepines.

It is argued that there are two kinds of benzodiazepine dependence: a therapeutic and a morbid kind. The therapeutic dependence is acceptable in that it mitigates the clinical manifestations in patients with long-standing and fluctuating anxious-depressive symptoms. The morbid dependence is an unfortunate complication which can arouse therapeutic concern because it ties patients to an excessive dosage, unless the penalty of a sometimes grim abstinence syndrome is paid on drug reduction. The present, often strident and threatening, damnation of benzodiazepines oversteps the mark and causes avoidable misery to patients whose well-being has become largely and therapeutically dependent on the drug.

Anti-Anxiety Agents↗
PubMed1982

Sydenham's disease entities.

Sydenham's reputation rests on his self-deceptive assertion that the allowed clinical observation to speak for itself. In fact, however, his mind was steeped in philosophical world-views that went back via the Scholastics and Galen to Plato and Aristotle. A brief survey of these views is presented to clarify Sydenham's message. The basic formula of logical set theory is then used to put in perspective Sydenham's disease postulates and later views on the nature of disease. The point is made that, in the case of cryptogenic diseases, we sometimes tend to revert unwittingly to ideas akin to those of Sydenham.

Disease↗
PubMed1982

Depersonalization in the light of Brentano's phenomenology.

The symptoms of depersonalization are examined in the light of the phenomenological views evolved by Franz Brentano. He had come to the conclusion that our conscious experiences are primarily directed towards objects (contents) that are 'phenomenal' or 'intentional' in the sense that they do not necessarily have counterparts in the external world. In experiencing such an object, a person becomes simultaneously aware of himself as a mentally active ego. In depersonalized individuals, there emerges a mentally active ego of a subsidiary kind which has some autonomy of action and is hazily glimpsed in introspection. The clinical symptoms of depersonalization vary according to the mental activities engaged in by the subsidiary ego. These mental activities may be exteroceptive (leading to derealization), interoceptive (leading to desomatization), or introspective (leading respectively to de-ideation, de-emotivity, or automatization).

Consciousness↗
PubMed1981

Disease concepts and the logic of classes.

Four different disease concepts are examined. In pre-scientific times, diseases were regarded as independent entities outside and inside the body of patients. This view is still alive in such expressions as "disease carrier' and similar idioms. Sydenham's disease entity was akin to a Platonic "idea'; namely as "species', "substantial form' or "essence' which had a singular independent existence in some metaphysical realm. Therefore, the talk at the time was that a patient suffered from, say, "the' pox. Virchow's disease entities were semi-independent parasitic parts in the bodies of different patients. Therefore, patients were said to suffer from, say "a' pneumonia. In modern times diseases are no longer regarded as independent or semi-independent entities. They are merely attribute complexes in patients. As such, they require no grammatical article. Patients are said to suffer from, say, pneumonia. The different views of disease concepts are finally examined within a framework provided by the modern logic of classes. The pre-scientific and Virchowian disease entities are members in a class "extension'. Sydenham's disease entity corresponds to a class entity abstracted from class members. Modern diseases are attributes listed in the class "intension'. The different disease concepts thus have different logical implications.

Disease↗
PubMed1980

The concepts of disease.

Concepts of disease have often been influenced by mediaeval scholastic doctrines. Today these are best replaced by the premises of modern class logic. One of the basic problems then concerns the universal class of patients. Its solution depends on the answer to the question: What are the distinguishing attributes of this class? Scadding stipulated that these attributes must differ from the norm of a species and be associated with biological disadvantage. This paper argues that these attributes must be abnormal by the standards of a population and/or the norms of an individual, and must be associated with at least one of three criteria: (a) therapeutic concern for himself experienced by a person, (b) such concern for him experienced by his social environment, and (c) medical concern for him. This solution, though based on subjective criteria, seems to tally with the actual practice in diagnosing disease.

Disease↗
PubMed1979

Penis captivus--did it occur?

The symptom of penis captivus during sexual intercourse has had a largely hearsay existence in medical history, and rumour has embellished the drama of its occurrence. It is not entirely mythical, however. It seems to have been a symptom of great rarity in former times and to have vanished perhaps completely in this century.

Coitus↗
PubMed1978

Phobic partner-specific impotence in women.

Functional coital impotence is not exclusive to men. It also occurs in two groups of women: those suffering from vaginismus and those with depressive episodes that give rise to a partner-specific sexual phobia. The latter syndrome is by no means uncommon, yet it has not so far attracted the attention it deserves. This neglect may be largely due to the emotional complications which ensue from it and camouflage its depressive-phobic background. It can be amenable to psychotherapeutic measures combined with antidepressant medication.

Depression↗
PubMed1976

The medical model of the disease concept.

According to the medical model of the disease concept, a class of patients is homogeneous only when it is characterized by manifestations which have their ultimate intra-organismic origin in a particular kind of physio-pathological cause. Most patient classes are still heterogeneous because we are still ignorant of that cause. The medical model can be applied to the subdivision of all classes of patients, including classes of non-organic psychiatric patients. However, the successful application of the medical model depends on the acquisition of knowledge of relevant physiopathological facts. It is argued that the dimensional model of evaluating psychological abnormalities is not likely to help in acquiring that knowledge.

Disease↗