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Biomedical subjects

K John

Publications and source records attributed to K John.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

The effects of age and sex on depression ratings in children and adolescents.

The self-reports of depressive symptomatology of the 89 children and the parental reports of 62 parents whose children had such symptoms from a sample of 220 children, aged 6 to 23 years, in a family-genetic study of children at high and low risk of depression were examined for the effects of the age and sex of the child. The age of the child at interview proved to have a significant effect upon the dating of the onset of dysphoric episodes and the dating of the worst ever episode of dysphoria. The older girls reported about two more depressive symptoms on average than the younger girls. This finding was obscured unless account was taken of the age at which the subjects were interviewed. However, these effects did not apply to a group of melancholia-related symptoms. There were no consistent effects of age at interview or age at episode on the symptom reports of the boys or in the reports from the parents about both their male and female children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Prognostic value of hyperkinetic syndrome in children with epilepsy].

In a retrospective study the data of 43 children suffering from epilepsy were analysed. The first epileptic seizure was observed in all patients before the age of 6 years. The relationship between behavioral disturbances with hyperactivity, developmental respectively intellectual test scores, and efficiency of antileptic drug therapy have been investigated. Psychological testings were performed two times, at first after the start of drug therapy, and a second time after a period of 1 year 11 months in average. There were behavioral disturbances with hyperactivity in 20 patients. The epileptic seizures were intractable in 26 patients. The developmental respectively intellectual test scores have decreased to values below 85 in 7 patients with and 3 patients without hyperactivity. There was a decline by more than 10 points of the IQ score between first and second psychological testings in 16 patients with and 4 patients without hyperactivity, respectively in 17 patients with intractable seizures, but in one child only with prompt cessation of epileptic seizures. An increasing retardation of mental development was seen in children with hyperactivity at the start of seizures, in children with intractable seizures, but especially in patients with a combination of intractable seizures and hyperactivity.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed1990

[Symptoms and diagnosis of tumors of the central nervous system in children].

Prognosis of brain tumors in children is altogether bad. For this reason it is necessary to diagnose brain tumors earlier as yet to improve the outcome. Symptoms of intracranial space occupying lesions are at first ambiguous: vomiting and headache, frequently associated with changes of behavior. Complaints of patients with brain tumors are multiple and progressive, in contradiction to patients suffering from spinal tumors showing only vague symptoms for a long time. Modern neuroimaging techniques such as sonography, computed tomography (CT) and nuclear magnetic resonance tomography (NMR) should be used early in patients with suspected symptoms.

Brain Neoplasms↗
PubMed1990

[Antimutagenic activity of vegetable and fruit extracts against in-vitro benzo(a)pyrene].

About 80% of the juices from twenty vegetables and fruits showed antimutagenic activity when tested in the presence of the mutagen and carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene using the Ames' Salmonella/microsome assay. In a standardized test system juices from raw celeriac, broccoli, red cabbage, carrots, green, peppers, lettuce, asparagus, apricots, red-currants, gooseberries, raspberries, and pineapple showed more than 50% inhibition. Leek, kohlrabi, cucumber, zucchini, French beans, fennel leaves, rhubarb, and sweet cherries were less effective. No antimutagenic activity was detected in onions, Chinese cabbage, radish, and white cabbage. Cooking considerably reduced the antimutagenic activity of celeriac, leek, broccoli, French beans, carrots, asparagus, cherries, and pineapple, but was ineffective or only moderately effective with kohlrabi, zucchini, cucumber, fennel leaves, lettuce, apricots, red-currants, gooseberries, and raspberries.

Benzo(a)pyrene↗
PubMed1990

[Ambulatory long-term EEG monitors].

Ambulatory EEG monitoring is indicated in patients with attacks of uncertain origin. The method is useful to distinguish non-epileptic and epileptic attacks and to differentiate the kind of epileptic seizures which is important for the choice of antiepileptic drugs and for prognosis. It is necessary to describe in detail behaviour and seizures of patient during monitoring. EEG long term monitoring is only useful if attacks were seen frequently, at least once or twice a week.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1989

The effects of a mother's second pregnancy on the firstborn child.

Mothers in the last trimester of the second pregnancy admit to being less active, more tired and moody than previously. Many were more anxious than usual. Their first child frequently showed behavioural changes. Those surveyed were between 1 1/2 and 4 years of age and showed more clinging, sleep disturbance and misbehaviour with tantrums than expected. It is presumed that the mother's pregnancy induces anxiety in her child with consequent behavioural changes.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1988

The assessment of lifetime psychopathology: a comparison of two interviewing styles.

A structured respondent-based version of the SADS-L interview was compared with a semi-structured investigator-based version of the same interview in terms of efficiency in assessing lifetime psychopathology. There was substantial agreement across most Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) categories, but there was less agreement on the rating of symptoms. The implications of these similarities and differences between the techniques are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Assortative mating and affective disorders: psychopathology in offspring.

Familial aggregation has been frequently observed among probands with depression, anxiety disorders, and alcoholism (Gershon et al. 1976; Goodwin et al. 1973; Crowe et al. 1983). Because of the familial nature of these disorders, offspring of such probands have been identified to be at high risk for developing these illnesses themselves (Tarter 1983). Information regarding such risk has come from several sources: retrospective studies of patients with psychiatric disorders; studies of children whose parents are being treated for these disorders; and longitudinal follow-up studies of children with symptoms of the disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Delusional depression and bipolar spectrum: evidence for a possible association from a family study of children.

Recent pedigree studies demonstrating a possible linkage of bipolar disorder to markers on different chromosomes have included family members with major depression and cyclothymia as affected. There is general agreement that cyclothymia is related to bipolar disorder and that major depression is heterogenous. It is unclear which subtype of major depression is related to bipolar disorder. Data suggesting a relationship between delusional subtype of major depression and bipolar spectrum are presented. The data derive from a direct-interview study of 220 offspring (ages 6 to 23 years) of probands with either delusional or nondelusional major depression and normal controls. The children of delusional as contrasted with nondelusional probands had nearly a threefold increase in cyclothymia, were more often described by health professionals as hyperactive, and had increased school and social impairments. These findings in children replicate earlier findings in adults on the possible relationship between delusional depression and bipolar disorder and its spectrum. The findings must be considered tentative, however, because of the small sample of children in the subgroups of interest.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Forced normalization. Acute psychosis after seizure control in seven patients.

An antagonistic relationship between psychosis and seizures has been described in some patients and is sometimes termed "forced normalization." We saw seven epileptic patients without a previous psychiatric history, who developed acute psychotic states on establishment of seizure control and normalization of previously abnormal electroencephalograms with frank epileptiform activity. A possible hypothetical relationship between psychosis and epilepsy regarding the mesolimbic dopaminergic system and kindling of this system with epileptic discharge in temporal-limbic circuits could induce a florid psychotic state in some patients. This biochemical relationship to schizophrenia with heightened dopamine activity would also easily explain the amelioration of acute psychotic activity in our seven patients with neuroleptic agents and their antagonism of this increased dopaminergic outflow state.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Assessing psychiatric disorders in children. Discrepancies between mothers' and children's reports.

Results were compared from independent interviews using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-aged Children-Epidemiologic Version and DSM-III with 220 subjects (ages 6 to 23 years) and their parent informants. In agreement with results from studies using a variety of structured diagnostic interviews or symptom scales, considerable discrepancies were found between parents' and children's reports on the degree and nature of the child's psychopathology. The children reported more illness about themselves than their parents reported about them. The parents' reports were primarily a subset of the children's reports. Various factors that might affect agreement, including demography, parental clinical status, severity of illness, and treatment, were also explored. The findings that parents under-report psychiatric disorders in their children are comparable with those reported in studies of adults when family informants are used to obtain diagnostic information. Until these parent-child discrepancies can be resolved by longitudinal, family, and other research, diagnostic assessment of children should include direct interviews with them. An independent assessment of the child's diagnosis based on information from multiple informants, including the child, may be the best estimate.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Children of depressed parents. Increased psychopathology and early onset of major depression.

Data on the psychiatric diagnosis, overall functioning, and treatment of 220 6- to 23-year-old subjects who were at high or low risk for major depression are presented. The subjects' diagnoses were made by a child psychiatrist based on best-estimate evaluation of diagnostic information derived from structured interviews (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children, Epidemiologic Version) with the subjects and separately with their mothers about their children. The major findings were an increased overall prevalence of major depression and substance abuse, psychiatric treatment, poor social functioning, and school problems in the children of depressed proband parents compared with children of normal proband parents. Overall prepubertal depression was uncommon and the sex ratios were equal. After 12 years of age, there was an increasing preponderance of female subjects in the group with major depression. The mean age at onset of major depression was similar for male and female subjects. However, it was significantly earlier in the children of depressed probands (mean age at onset, 12 to 13 years) compared with the children of normal probands (mean age at onset, 16 to 17 years). Symptom profiles and additional types of diagnoses in the depressed children from either proband parent group did not differ. These children are being followed up longitudinally to determine the prognostic significance, persistence, recurrence, and recall of their symptoms. Several research and clinical strategies are suggested by these data.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Parent and child reports of depressive symptoms in children at low and high risk of depression.

The K-SADS-E psychiatric interview was administered to children and parents (N = 220) from families containing proband parents who had previously been depressed or who were normal. Agreement between parents and their children about depressive symptoms in the children was significant but low. Boy's reports agreed more highly with their parents' reports about them than did girls' reports. Overall, the children reported more depressive symptoms than their parents reported about them and the overall pattern suggests that parents are relatively insensitive to their children's depressive symptomatology, but their reports show high specificity. The implications of these findings for research and clinical work are discussed.

Adolescent↗