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Biomedical subjects

H D Abraham

Publications and source records attributed to H D Abraham.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Stable quantitative EEG difference in post-LSD visual disorder by split-half analysis: evidence for disinhibition.

Hallucinogen persisting perceptual disorder (HPPD) may follow the ingestion of LSD or other hallucinogens in a subset of users. It is characterized by chronic, intermittent or constant visual hallucinations of many sorts persisting beyond the period of acute drug effects. We studied 44 LSD-induced HPPD subjects and 88 matched controls to search for spectral and evoked potential differences using quantitative EEG (qEEG). HPPD subjects demonstrated faster alpha frequency and shorter VER (visual evoked response) latency, consistent with prior animal and human data on response to acute LSD administration which suggest LSD-induced cortical disinhibition. AER (auditory evoked response) latency was prolonged consistent with a differential LSD effect upon visual and auditory systems. The exploratory T-statistic significance probability mapping (T-SPM) technique demonstrated HPPD-control differences mostly involving temporal and left parietal scalp regions, confirmed by a split-half analysis. Significant variables were all derived from the long latency flash VER and click AER. None were derived from spectral analyzed EEG data. Canonical correlation between SPM-derived measures and variables reflecting disease severity was highly significant. A between-group stepwise discriminant analysis based upon a full set of qEEG measures demonstrated 87% prospective classification success by jackknifing and 88% success in a separate split-half analysis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

The psychopharmacology of hallucinogens.

Hallucinogenic drugs have been inhaled, ingested, worshipped, and reviled since prehistory. With the purification and synthesis of bontanical preparations and the ensuing discovery of chemically unique agents, hope was raised regarding their therapeutic potential, but this hope has been clouded by an epidemic of abuse and an inventory of adverse effects. This review examines aspects of that controversy, including the history of hallucinogens, epidemiology of current hallucinogen abuse, the association of LSD use with prolonged psychoses and hallucinogen persisting perception disorder, and the efforts to demonstrate the drug's therapeutic efficacy. Human subject ramifications in hallucinogen experimentation are discussed. Future lines of research are suggested in human, animal, and tissue culture paradigms.

Hallucinogens↗
PubMed1996

LSD-like panic from risperidone in post-LSD visual disorder.

Risperidone, a novel antipsychotic agent, is an antagonist of postsynaptic serotonin-2 and dopamine D2 receptors. In certain individuals, the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is associated with apparently lifelong continuous visual disturbances, characterized in DSM-IV as hallucinogen-persisting perception disorder (HPPD). Because the hallucinogenic mechanism of LSD is known to act in part at postsynaptic serotonin-2 receptors, it is noteworthy that three HPPD patients treated with risperidone reported an exacerbation of LSD-like panic and visual symptoms. We conclude that HPPD may be a relative contraindication for the use of risperidone.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome in the elderly.

Four cases of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) were identified in a general hospital over a 5-year period. Two cases presented to the psychiatric consultation liaison service, and two were found by a computerized review of discharge diagnoses. Cases were examined for age, sex, administered neuroleptic potency and dose, premorbid history, prodromal symptoms, methods of treatment, and clinical outcome. The mean age of cases was found to be 14 years greater than the age of the non-NMS patient population. All NMS cases had premorbid neuropsychiatric disorders and recognizable prodromal symptoms. The mean neuroleptic dose was significantly lower than in previously reported cases. A systems model integrating premorbid factors, intercurrent illness, and drug effects in pathogenesis is presented.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Adverse consequences of lysergic acid diethylamide.

The continued endemic use of hallucinogenic drugs, and of LSD in particular, raises concern regarding their short and long term adverse consequences. The epidemiology of LSD abuse is reviewed suggesting an increase in LSD use among the young as the prevalence rates for other substances continues to fall. Evidence supports the association of LSD use with panic reactions, prolonged schizoaffective psychoses and post-hallucinogen perceptual disorder, the latter being present continually for as long as 5 years. Evidence does not support claims of genetic disorders arising from hallucinogens. In light of the foregoing, current data confirm earlier findings of long lasting psychopathology arising in vulnerable individuals from the use of LSD. A hypothetical long term molecular mechanism of adverse effects is proposed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Length of stay in a general hospital psychiatric unit.

Fifty psychiatric inpatients with a prolonged length of stay were compared to 50 control admissions for factors associated with prolonged hospitalizations in a general hospital. Seven variables were found to be significantly overrepresented among the long stayers, including treatment with electroconvulsive therapy, medical consultations, underemployment, dementia, disposition to a place other than home, absence of alcohol or drug abuse, and presence of psychosis without affective symptoms. The clinical and policy implications of these finding are discussed.

Cost Control↗
PubMed1983

Visual phenomenology of the LSD flashback.

One hundred twenty-three persons with a history of LSD use were studied for the presence of the LSD flashback phenomenon and compared with 40 control subjects. A syndrome emerged that included ten distance visual disturbances. It had lasted for five years in half of the population, was treatable with benzodiazepines, exacerbated by phenothiazines, and precipitated by 19 different stimuli, most commonly emergence into a dark environment. Sensitivity to LSD as determined by flashbacks appears to divide the study sample into three discrete subgroups. There may be a genetic basis to LSD sensitivity.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1983

L-5-hydroxytryptophan for LSD-induced psychosis.

The serotonin precursor L-5-hydroxytryptophan reversed the symptoms of a 23-year-old man suffering from LSD-induced psychosis who participated in a randomized, double-blind crossover study of the drug and a placebo. This finding is compatible with the speculation that some LSD-induced psychotic disorders may be caused by a relative deficiency of CNS serotonin.

5-Hydroxytryptophan↗
PubMed1982

A chronic impairment of colour vision in users of LSD.

Forty-six users of the hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide were compared with 31 controls on a test of colour discrimination an average of two years after their last exposure to the drug. Controls performed better than users, and LSD users without flashbacks performed better than users with flashbacks. An analysis of variance between the three groups was significant at P less than 0.001. This study suggests that some users of LSD may have a sustained or irreversible impairment in colour discrimination.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Somatization disorder in sphincter of Oddi dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE: Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD) is a biliary disorder with a recognized pathophysiology and demonstrated surgical treatment. We sought to examine whether women with SOD were overrepresented on measures of somatization, sexual and physical abuse, socially compliant attitudes, and familial psychiatric illness. METHOD: We matched 33 women with SOD to 33 normal controls by age, sex, and race, and, with a case-controlled cross-sectional questionnaire, compared the groups on the study variables. Statistics included a chi 2 for categorical variables, t tests for scores of somatization and attitudes of social desirability, and Pearson correlation coefficients for post hoc associations of variables. Bonferroni corrections were used with chi 2 values to reduce capitalization by chance. RESULTS: SOD patients exhibited excessive nongastroenterological somatic complaints compared with controls (p < .0001). There was a statistical increase in reports of childhood sexual, but not physical, abuse in the SOD women (p < .02) compared with controls. The severity of the abuse correlated strongly with the severity of somatic complaints. There were no differences in social desirability attitudes or family psychiatric histories of the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that SOD is associated with a high degree of somatization in adulthood, and a mean rate more than four times that of controls in self-reports of sexual abuse in childhood. The severity of childhood sexual abuse is correlated with the severity of somatization in later life. A psychological model for this disorder is suggested by the data. Increased psychiatric attention is indicated in the treatment of women with this disorder.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Bulimic vomiting alters pain tolerance and mood.

Bulimia, a disorder of episodic binging and purging, remains without a known etiology. A case report is presented of a patient who attributed bulimic episodes to efforts at inducing euphoria. Experimental pain tolerance was increased by bulimic vomiting, blocked by naloxone, but not by saline. Vomiting was also associated with falls in depression and anxiety. Plasma ACTH and cortisol, putative markers for beta-endorphin, also rose following vomiting. It is hypothesized that in some bulimics, the disorder arises by virtue of an addiction to one's own internally released endogenous opioid peptides.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗