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Biomedical subjects

L Cattanach

Publications and source records attributed to L Cattanach.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Effect of valproate on cognitive functioning. Comparison with carbamazepine. The Department of Veterans Affairs Epilepsy Cooperative Study 264 Group.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of carbamazepine vs valproate sodium on cognitive functioning in patients with epilepsy compared with normal control subjects. DESIGN: Patients with recently diagnosed, previously unmedicated seizures participated in a prospective randomized double-blind Department of Veterans Affairs multicenter study of the efficacy and toxicity of carbamazepine vs valproate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A behavioral toxicity battery was administered prior to treatment and again 6 and 12 months after the initiation of antiepileptic medication. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the effect of carbamazepine vs valproate on motor speed and coordination, memory, or concentration and mental flexibility, and there was no significant decline in neuropsychological performance from pretreatment baseline levels for either drug. No significant differences in performance were found between patients with low (mean, 52.8 micrograms/mL) vs high (mean, 94.4 micrograms/mL) serum valproate levels within the therapeutic range. Patients treated with either carbamazepine or valproate did not show practice effects experienced by normal controls, a finding that may reflect a subtle compromise in cognitive functioning. CONCLUSION: The impact of carbamazepine and valproate monotherapy on cognitive functioning is similar: both drugs produce minimal negative effects compared with pretreatment baseline performance.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The nature of elder impairment and its impact on family caregivers' health and psychosocial functioning.

This study assessed the nature of elder impairment and its impact on the health and psychosocial functioning of family caregivers. All caregivers were daughters or daughters-in-law living with an elderly parent. Contrary to expectations and previous research, no differences were revealed among caregivers of cognitively impaired, functionally impaired, and nonimpaired elderly relatives in terms of self-reported health or psychosocial functioning. Thus, other aspects of the caregiving context, such as familial generation, gender, and living arrangement, may affect caregiver health and psychosocial functioning more than the nature of the elder's impairment.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Transient left ventricular dysfunction during provocative mental stress in patients with coronary artery disease.

We studied the temporal effects of various types of mental stress and physical exercise on the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in seven normal volunteers and nine patients with coronary artery disease. Three types of psychological stress were administered: mental arithmetic, the Stroop color word test, and a personally relevant speaking task. In the normal volunteers the LVEF response was either flat or increased (p less than 0.05) compared to the baseline value during the mental tasks and increased by a mean of 10 +/- 5% (p less than 0.05) during exercise. In contrast, in patients with coronary disease in whom LVEF did not increase greater than or equal to 5% during exercise, LVEF decreased significantly during the mental tasks (p less than 0.05 for arithmetic and Stroop tasks). Typically LVEF decreased quickly during mental stress with an immediate rebound after intervention. Decreases in LVEF during mental stress occurred without chest pain and were not associated with ECG changes. In patients with coronary disease in whom LVEF increased normally with exercise (LVEF increase greater than or equal to 5%), no significant changes in LVEF occurred during mental stress. The heart rate x systolic blood pressure double product during mental stress was significantly less than that achieved during exercise (p less than 0.05) in each normal subject and patient. Thus psychological stress can provoke acute decreases in LVEF in patients with coronary disease and exercise-inducible dysfunction. The silent nature of the mental stress-induced abnormalities and their occurrence at a lower physiologic workload compared to abnormalities during exercise parallel characteristics of transient ischemia noted during ambulatory monitoring.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1983

[Neuropsychological study of decline of attention and drug therapy of patients with Alzheimer's disease].

The present study provided a neuropsychological assessment of impaired attention in Alzheimer's patients (57-89 years of age). Three control groups were evaluated: young normals (ages 18-32 years of age), an older group (55-69 years of age), and an elderly group (70-85 years of age). Alzheimer's patients showed an absence of CNV rebound and impairment in attention performance. They also showed significantly less facilitation in speed of response by a preparatory signal than the non-patient groups. These findings suggested a possible discontinuity between normal aging and Alzheimer's disease. On the other hand, a comparison of young, normal elderly, and Alzheimer's groups indicated a pattern of systematic decrease in CNV rebound, lowered short-term memory performance, and slowing of reaction time during divided-attention, a finding that suggests normal aging and senile dementia to represent quantitative differences on a continuum of gradual age-related deterioration. Alzheimer's patients showed elevated levels of basal heart rate and eyeblink rate and increased oculomotor responsiveness in divided-attention conditions. This finding was interpreted as compelling evidence against the concept of hypoactivity in senile dementia and as support for a distraction-arousal interpretation of impaired attention in Alzheimer's patients, although decreased basal myogenic activity and lowered heart rate levels during divided attention in the patients indicated selectively dampened psycho-physiological functioning. Distraction-arousal processes appeared to be curtailed in the patient group after Hydergine treatment.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychologic and physiologic reactivity to stressors in eating disordered individuals.

The present study explored a potential mechanism for the relationship between stressors and binge eating: specifically, whether subjects with behaviors and attitudes reflecting disordered eating show distinctive psychologic or physiologic reactivity to stressors. Female undergraduates participated in a laboratory study involving four psychologically stressful tasks. Blood pressure and pulse rate were monitored, and several psychologic questionnaires were administered. Analyses revealed that the tasks provoked significant cardiovascular and affective responses in both high- and low-disordered eaters. There were no differences between groups in cardiovascular responsivity or mood state in response to diverse stressors. However, those with more disordered eating reported an increased desire to binge in response to the stressors, along with more global stress, lower self-esteem, and lower mastery than the comparison group. The results suggest that the increased desire to binge in response to stressors reported by subjects higher in disordered eating cannot be accounted for by differences in cardiovascular reactivity or negative hedonic state, relative to what subjects low in disordered eating showed in response to the same stressors.

Adult↗