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Biomedical subjects

G Albanesi

Publications and source records attributed to G Albanesi.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1988

Viqualine in resistant depression: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Viqualine dihydrochloride is a new molecule, which possesses strong serotonin reuptake inhibition properties and, at the same time, diazepam-like actions, such as [3H]-diazepam-binding inhibition and antipunishment effect. The drug was administered double-blindly to 10 patients suffering from major depression resistant to previous treatments with tricyclics. The comparison group (10 patients) received placebo. Lorazepam (10 mg/day) was also given to both groups. Viqualine proved to be significantly superior to placebo in the 4th week of treatment on all the three rating scales which were used. Tolerability of viqualine was good both objectively and on subjective grounds.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Panic attacks with and without agoraphobia: a comparison.

22 patients with panic disorder (PD) were compared with 42 cases suffering from agoraphobia with panic attacks for a number of variables. The two groups did not differ for age, sex ratio, age of onset, social class, severity of nonsituational anxiety and personality profiles. On the other hand agoraphobics showed lower education and worse social adaptation. A higher prevalence of traumatic life events was also observed for agoraphobics compared with subjects suffering from PD.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Assessment of depression: a comparison of rating scales.

Six depression rating scales (RS) (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI; Zung Self-Rating Scale, SDS; Visual Analogue Scale, VAS; Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, HRSD; Wechsler Depression Rating Scale; Bunney and Hamburg Rating Scale, BHRS) were administered to the same 100 depressed patients and compared as regards ease of use, reliability, distribution, and validity. Separate factor analyses carried out on the items of the single scales showed considerably different factorial structures, thus revealing that different concepts of depression are at the basis of the various scales. These differences suggest that comparison of results derived by the use of different scales must be regarded with caution.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Schizoaffective psychoses: review of nosographic concepts and longitudinal clinical study].

A through review of the literature relating to the schizoaffective psychoses was undertaken; the considerable variety of criteria used for diagnosis accounts for the diversity of the results obtained by various researchers. In order to identify a homogeneous group of schizoaffective patients, four parameters, on which the literature is in agreement were formulated. These have enabled us to isolate 27 schizoaffective subjects and to compare them with two control groups: 25 cases of schizophrenia and 26 cases of maniac-depressive psychosis. On the basis of the symptomatological and social variables considered (age of onset, cultural level, social adaptation, family history, early and recent events, response to short-term pharmacological treatment, symptomatology during the observation period), we believe that we are able to distinguish schizoaffective subjects from both schizophrenic and dysthymic subjects.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Body illness and changes in verbal communication. Study of the alexithymic phenomenon in somatic disease].

The Schalling--Sifneos Personality Scale was administered to several groups of subjects (patient suffering from chronic hepatitis or from ulcerative colitis, patients undergoing chronic periodic haemodialysis, encephalopathic patient and healthy subjects) in order to assess the presence of alexithymia in healthy subjects, in patients suffering from chronic organic pathologies and in psychosomatic patients. The results obtained permit one to distinguish the psychosomatic patients from other groups of subjects: compared to healthy subjects, patients suffering from ulcerous rectocolitis obtained higher average scores, while compared to patients suffering from other organic pathologies their scores showed a wider scatter. A distinction is therefore proposed between primary alexithymia, of a distinctive cognitive-affective kind which predisposes towards psychosomatic pathology, and secondary alexithymia which is associated with stressful situations, such as illness, and which is essentially defensive in origin.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Chronic dialysis and forcing of the ability to fantasize. Evaluation of the alexithymic phenomenon in a group of dialyzed patients].

In order to evaluate personality modifications toward greater concreteness and a consequent reduction of fantasizing in subjects undergoing chronic haemodialytic treatment, the Shalling Sifneos Personality Scale (S.S.P.S.) was administered to a group of patients undergoing dialysis and to two control groups: one consisting of patients with chronic hepatitis and the other of healthy subjects. The S.S.P.S. measures the alexithymic traits of the personality. Subjects undergoing dialysis scored significantly higher than chronic hepatitis patients and healthy subjects; the latter group had the lowest scores. The alexithymic score, moreover, appears to be directly correlated with the duration of dialysis. It is suggested that the prominence of the alexithymic phenomenon may be related to defense mechanisms against recurrent anguish about dying and to the tendency to assume certain characteristics of the particular therapeutic regimen, such as concreteness and rationality, so as to be able to tolerate the aggressive aspects of the treatment.

Adolescent↗