Biomedical subjects

G Caradoc-Davies

Publications and source records attributed to G Caradoc-Davies.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1994

Depression in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed the prevalence of major depression (DSM-III-R) among Parkinson's disease patients and compared this rate with that of matched physically disabled subjects. METHOD: The 30-item General Health Questionnaire and measures of physical disability were completed by all patients in Dunedin, New Zealand, identified as having Parkinson's disease. Patients scoring over 5 on the General Health Questionnaire were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R--Non-Patient Version. Each patient living in the community was matched for age, sex, and level of physical disability with a comparison subject who did not have a neurological condition. RESULTS: Of the 73 subjects with Parkinson's disease who agreed to participate and were judged not to be demented, 34.2% scored higher than 5 on the 30-item General Health Questionnaire, but only 2.7% met the criteria for major depression. No difference from the comparison group was found. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of major depression in patients with Parkinson's disease may be no greater than in age- and sex-matched physically disabled persons.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Is the prevalence of Parkinson's disease in New Zealand really changing?

The prevalence of idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (IPD) in Dunedin, New Zealand on 31st July 1990 was 110.4/100,000. When corrected to a standard population based on the 1960 U.S. census, the prevalence fell to 76.0/100,000 due to changes in the age structure of the population. The corrected prevalence in Wellington (another New Zealand city), in 1962 was 99.6 (before the introduction of levodopa), and in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1984 was 102.7. The principal difference was fewer people under 65 years of age in our study. Case finding methods and diagnostic criteria were similar in all three studies, and case ascertainment was adequate. Under representation of younger people could be due to either a lower incidence rate or poorer survival due to treatment with high doses of levodopa compounds. Prospective research is required to explain our findings.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Feigned alcohol abuse. A unique case report.

A man presenting with factitious alcohol abuse and its alleged complications is described. It is argued that chronic factitious disorders are more logically viewed as part of that spectrum of conditions where there is abnormal illness behaviour, including somatoform disorders and other related conditions, than as separate nosological or diagnostic entities.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Anticholinergic equivalents and parkinsonism: a model for predicting side-effects of antipsychotic drugs.

The tendency of antipsychotics to produce extrapyramidal side-effects varies inversely with their antimuscarinic activity. This paper reviews the antipsychotic and antimuscarinic potency of these drugs and compares the total antimuscarinic activity in standard daily doses of antipsychotics, antiparkinson agents and antidepressants. The authors examine factors associated with tolerance of benztropine withdrawal in 39 inpatients. Patients with serious EPS relapse after benztropine withdrawal had an excess of antipsychotic over antimuscarinic activity in their remaining medications. The results suggest an optimal ratio between total antipsychotic and anticholinergic doses, and a simple model for predicting antiparkinson drug requirements.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

A study of the need for anticholinergic medication in patients treated with long-term antipsychotics.

Studies on the withdrawal of anticholinergics from patients on antipsychotics have produced conflicting results. This 12-week study employed a double-blind crossover design on 39 adult in-patients selected from a total hospital population of 620. The Colombia Scale was used to determine extrapyramidal side effects (EPS). All patients were stabilised prior to the study on benztropine mesylate 2 mg b.i.d., and gradual withdrawal was employed. Benztropine withdrawal produced a significant increase in overall EPS scores. Ten patients (26%) required reinstatement of benztropine while on placebo. Sialorrhoea, rigidity and postural instability were the most prominent changes. Neither age, sex, nor diagnosis were significantly predictive of EPS. Depot medications and doses greater than 1000 mg/day chlorpromazine-equivalent were related to significant EPS increase. The intrinsic anticholinergic properties of the antipsychotics themselves and concomitant medications, such as antidepressants, appeared protective against development of EPS. Most patients on a combination of antipsychotics and anticholinergics can safely be withdrawn from the latter.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Polymicrobial nature of vaginitis in young women: a microbiological and therapeutic study.

Thirty-six young females attending the Student Health Service with vaginitis were investigated by serial semiquantitative aerobic, anaerobic, fungal, mycoplasma and viral cultures over a 10 day period and results were correlated with signs and symptoms. Antifungal therapy (econazole pessaries and cream) resulted in clearance of candida from 13 out of 16 patients where there was no increase in the anaerobic flora. In the four subjects where candida was isolated along with Gardnerella vaginalis plus abnormal anaerobic flora, only one cleared with econazole, the remaining three clearing during therapy with metronidazole. In the nine subjects with Gardnerella vaginalis and abnormal anaerobic flora, metronidazole relieved symptoms despite failure to eradicate G. vaginalis in seven indicating the pathogenic role of the anaerobic flora rather then G. vaginalis. Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum and gram negative enteric bacilli were not implicated as primary agents in causing vaginitis.

Adolescent↗