PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

I Galynker

Publications and source records attributed to I Galynker.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Negative symptoms in stroke patients and length of hospital stay.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether the presence and severity of psychiatric symptoms in stroke patients correlate with their length of stay (LOS) in a rehabilitation unit, with special emphasis on the role of negative symptoms (NS). Twenty-three stroke patients, consecutively recruited from the inpatient rehabilitation unit, were evaluated on admission with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), and the Functional Independent Measure (FIM). NS scores significantly correlated with LOS, with SANS total score being the most informative, and the attentional impairment subscale the least. The group of patients with pronounced NS stayed in the hospital twice as long as patients with the score on the NS subscale of PANSS below 16. These two groups did not differ in their cognitive performance or in the positive symptom subscale of PANSS scores. Total FIM score on admission was lower and HDRS scores higher in patients with pronounced NS. However, these differences, unlike those of LOS, have not reached statistical significance. The presence and severity of NS in stroke patients are associated with a longer hospital stay. Identification and treatment of NS might lead to a faster discharge from rehabilitation unit.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Methylphenidate treatment of negative symptoms in patients with dementia.

This pilot study evaluated response of negative symptoms (NS) to methylphenidate in patients with dementia and relationships between NS, depression, and cognitive deficits in these patients. Consecutively admitted patients with NS and dementia--12 with dementia of Alzheimer's type and 15 with vascular dementia--were rated on severity of NS (SANS and PANSS-N scales), depressive symptoms (Ham-D), and cognitive impairment (MMSE) before and after treatment with methylphenidate. NS decreased significantly, and cognitive scores increased. A decrease in depression scores was nonsignificant after all variance attributable to NS was removed. NS, depression, and cognitive scores were not significantly intercorrelated. Results were similar for Alzheimer's and vascular dementia patients. Negative symptoms in dementia patients appear responsive to methylphenidate treatment. This effect may underlie putative changes in symptoms of depression observed by other researchers.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Opioid receptor imaging and displacement studies with [6-O-[11C] methyl]buprenorphine in baboon brain.

Buprenorphine (BPN) is a mixed opiate agonist-antagonist used as an analgesic and in the treatment of opiate addiction. We have used [6-O-[11C]methyl]buprenorphine ([11C]BPN) to measure the regional distribution in baboon brain, the test-retest stability of repeated studies in the same animal, the displacement of the labeled drug by naloxone in vivo, and the tissue distribution in mice. The regional distribution of radioactivity in baboon brain determined with PET was striatum > thalamus > cingulate gyrus > frontal cortex > parietal cortex > occipital cortex > cerebellum. This distribution corresponded to opiate receptor density and to previously published data (37). The tracer uptake in adult female baboons showed no significant variation in serial scans in the same baboon with no intervention in the same scanning session. HPLC analysis of baboon plasma showed the presence of labeled metabolites with 92% +/- 2.2% and 43% +/- 14.4% of the intact tracer remaining at 5 and 30 min, respectively. Naloxone, an opiate receptor antagonist, administered 30-40 min after tracer injection at a dose of 1.0 mg/kg i.v., reduced [11C]BPN binding in thalamus, striatum, cingulate gyrus, and frontal cortex to values 0.25 to 0.60 of that with no intervention. There were minimal (< 15%) effects on cerebellum. Naloxone treatment significantly reduced the slope of the Patlak plot in receptor-containing regions. These results demonstrate that [11C]BPN can be displaced by naloxone in vivo, and they affirm the feasibility of using this tracer and displacement methodology for short-term kinetics studies with PET. Mouse tissue distribution data were used to estimate the radiation dosimetry to humans. The critical organ was the small intestine, with a radiation dose estimate to humans of 117 nrad/mCi.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Panic attacks with psychotic features.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are among the most frequently diagnosed group of psychiatric disorders in the general population. Although anxiety disorders are often comorbid with depression and personality disorders, they rarely culminate in psychosis. METHOD: Having observed psychosis in the course of a severe panic attack, the authors prospectively identified four patients who experienced panic attacks with co-occurring psychosis. All met the DSM-IV criteria for panic disorder. Distinctive features of their clinical presentation, pharmacotherapy, and follow-up were recorded. RESULTS: Three patients had a history of panic disorder, and one had a history of generalized anxiety disorder. In all cases, psychosis (auditory hallucinations or delusions) originated in the course of a severe panic attack. Psychotic symptoms occurred only during panic attacks; however, these could occur up to 10 to 15 times a day. In all four patients, psychotic symptoms resolved after a brief time either spontaneously or with benzodiazepine/SSRI treatment. None of the patients required neuroleptic treatment. CONCLUSION: The cases suggest that psychosis may develop in the course of a severe panic attack in patients with panic disorder, as was reported previously for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Distinguishing panic attacks with psychotic features from other psychotic disorders is clinically important since antipsychotic medication treatment for these psychotic symptoms is not indicated. Further research on the prevalence of psychotic symptoms in the anxiety disorders and the pathophysiology of this phenomenon is required to clarify the relationship between the anxiety disorders and psychosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The interaction of motor, memory, and emotional dysfunction in Wilson's disease.

Measures of the degree of motor, psychiatric, and declarative memory disability were made in neurologically impaired and neurologically asymptomatic patients with Wilson's disease. All three types of disability were significantly greater in the neurologically impaired than in the asymptomatic patients. There was no significant interaction between these disabilities in the impaired patients suggesting that motor, psychiatric, and memory symptoms are three relatively independent sequelae of the copper-induced central nervous system (CNS) damage that underlies Wilson's disease.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Depression and demoralization among Russian-Jewish immigrants in primary care.

The purpose of this study was to examine the levels and nature of psychological distress and depression among Russian-Jewish émigrés in primary care. Fifty-seven consecutive patients at the primary care clinic were assessed with the Hamilton Depression Scale (Ham-D). The subjects completed self-rating scales, including the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Life Orientation Test, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Attributional Style Questionnaire, and Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale. Data on demographics and physical complaints were collected and analyzed. Of the patients studied, 82.5% experienced psychological distress (BDI > or = 10), and 43.9% had clinically significant depressive symptoms (Ham-D > or = 17). BDI and Ham-D scores were significantly correlated with the number of psychosomatic complaints, hopelessness, lack of optimism, anhedonia, and dysfunctional attributional style. The distressed, but not depressed, patients had preservation of hedonic capacity. The authors found a high rate of depression based upon Ham-D scores among the Russian-Jewish émigrés in primary care. The authors suggest that this high rate is attributable to a culturally specific tendency to express distress in somatic terms. The nature of distress was phenomenologically similar to demoralization.

Adult↗