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Biomedical subjects

H R Chaudhry

Publications and source records attributed to H R Chaudhry.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Familial history of opium use and reported problems among opium addicts in Pakistan.

One-hundred and twenty-nine opiate addicts on a monthly maintenance regimen were studied. Subjects with a positive family history of opium use had an earlier age of onset than the subjects without a family history of opium use. Self-reported psychosocial problems resulting from opium use were documented in only seven subjects. Individuals who began opium use after 1979, when it became illegal to use the drug, had a significantly later age of onset than subjects who began before 1979, suggesting that negative legal sanctions can delay initiation of opium consumption.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

5-Hydroxy-indolacetic-acid (5-HIAA) serum levels in depressive patients and ECT.

In 31 drug and ECT naive melancholic patients, serum levels of the major metabolite of serotonin 5-hydroxy-indolacetic-acid (5-HIAA) were estimated in the first and third ECT of a course. Plasma samples were taken before ECT and 1, 60 and 120 min thereafter. The estimations were done by a new high performance liquid chromatography method (HPLC). After the seizure, a statistically significant decrease of 5-HIAA serum levels was observed over both ECTs. There was a significant increase in 5-HIAA serum levels from the first to the third ECT. ECT was found to influence serotonin turnover. It might be interpreted that ECT improves serotonergic responsiveness and neurotransmission. There was no significant correlation between 5-HIAA levels and gender, or age of the patients, or seizure duration. Furthermore, the severity of depression and treatment response did not correlate with certain 5-HIAA serum level patterns.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Amantadine infusions in mild dementia: acute double-blind placebo-controlled EEG mapping and psychometric studies.

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the acute central effects of amantadine infusions (200 mg for 1 h) were studied in 20 mildly demented patients (DSM-III-R) utilizing EEG mapping as well as psychometry and psychophysiology at the hours 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8. Multivariate analysis of the EEG demonstrated a significant CNS effect of 200 mg amantadine as compared with placebo mostly at the 4th and 6th hour. These effects were primarily over temporo-occipital, fronto-temporal and temporal regions. Univariate analysis showed a decrease of total power and of absolute power in all frequency bands. Furthermore, an increase of relative delta and beta activities, a decrease of theta and alpha activities, as well as an acceleration of the respective centroids of the alpha, beta and total activity were observed. The delta/theta centroid showed initially a slight increase and thereafter a clear decrease. The changes were similar to those seen after psychostimulants. Multivariate analysis of noopsychic variables showed an improvement in the 6th hour after amantadine and no changes after placebo, but inter-drug differences did not reach significance. Univariate analyses revealed differential results which included improvement in digit span and deterioration in the speed related test such as DSST and reaction time. In thymopsychic variables, de-activation was observed after amantadine as compared with placebo in the 2nd to the 6th hour with a maximum in the 4th hour. As patients felt themselves slightly over-activated before treatment, de-activation may be regarded as improvement of vigilance in the narrow sense of the word. There were no psychophysiological changes.

Clinical Trial↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of delusions among schizophrenics in Austria and in Pakistan.

One of the central purposes of cross-cultural psychiatry is to scrutinize the sociocultural influences on the phenomenology of psychiatric diseases. On the other hand it is possible to lay bare a nucleus of symptoms, common to all cultures, which, independently of all influences, occupies a central position for an understanding of the disease considered. In this study an attempt was made to approach this problem by means of investigating the contents of delusion of schizophrenic patients in Austria and Pakistan. The contents of delusion among 126 Austrian and 108 Pakistani patients diagnosed as having schizophrenia according to DSM-III-R (art. 295) were compared following the classification of Huber and Gross. Additionally the kind of persecution and the type of the persecutor were registered. However it appeared that only a few contents of delusion are frequent in both countries. In both countries persecution was the most frequently mentioned content of delusion. The comparison of the contents of delusion revealed significantly higher frequencies of delusions of grandeur, guilt and religious delusions in Austrian patients. Significant differences could also be found with the kind of persecution and the persecutor's type. Cultural factors seem to have a decisive influence on shaping the contents of delusion.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sibling orders of schizophrenic patients in Austria and Pakistan.

The influence of siblings on the socialization of the individual has been recognized as a fact by both psychology and sociology. The significance of sibling order for the outbreak of psychiatric diseases on the other hand is still discussed controversially. In our study, we compared the expected values and the positions actually found in the sibling order of 379 (233 males, 146 females) Austrian and 144 (101 males, 43 females) Pakistani patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to DSM-IV (295). The position in the sibling order had no influence on the outbreak of schizophrenia in Austria; with Austrian schizophrenics, the results found were very near to the expected values. In Pakistan on the other hand, the eldest brothers from families with 2-4 siblings had a significantly higher risk of falling ill. The investigation of the composition of the sibships of schizophrenic patients also showed a high overrepresentation of men in the firstborn position in Pakistan. These facts seem to exercise influences that may either protect against the outbreak or encourage it. The differences found agree well with the fact that in Pakistan, both the gender of a child and the position in the sibling order entail different ways of treatment and different scopes of responsibility. Socialization in Austria on the other hand, at least in the recent decades, has become very uniform for both sexes, regardless of the sibling position.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Guilt and depression: a cross-cultural comparative study.

Although nearly a century has passed since Kraepelin's investigations in Java [Cbl Nervenheilk Psychiatr 1904; 27:468-469], one crucial question regarding guilt in the course of depression has still not been decided: Is there a more or less stable connection independent of culture, or is guilt confined to certain civilisations? This study investigated this issue in 100 Pakistani and 100 Austrian out-patients diagnosed with 'major depression' according to DSM-IV by means of standardised instruments (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Life Time Version, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, 21-item version). The experiences of guilt were subdivided into ethical feelings (ethical anxiety and feelings of guilt) and delusions of guilt. It turned out that ethical feelings could be found in both cultures regardless of age and sex. They seem to be primarily related to the extent of depressive retardation. However, the distribution of the two subsets of ethical feelings was culture dependent. Delusions of guilt were confined to patients of the Austrian sample. So, our data qualify the exclusivity of the aforementioned two points of view and support the need for a psychopathologically differentiated approach.

Adult↗