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Biomedical subjects

L S Sandler

Publications and source records attributed to L S Sandler.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Subjective symptoms and cardiac reactivity to brief hyperventilation in individuals with high anxiety sensitivity.

Cognitive models maintain that panic attacks may be initiated by fear resulting from the interpretation of somatic sensations as personally threatening or harmful. Similarly, several researchers have proposed that the enhanced response of panickers to biological challenge may result from the fear of induced anxiety sensations rather than from direct stimulation of aberrant biochemical systems. The present study examined the effects of both panic history and fear of anxiety sensations on subjective and cardiac responses to biological challenge. Eighty nonclinical subjects were chosen on the basis of level of anxiety sensitivity and history of previous panic attacks. High and low anxiety-sensitive panickers and nonpanickers (four groups of 20 subjects) were subjected to a 90 sec period of voluntary hyperventilation, during which heart rate was assessed. Regardless of panic history, total symptom scores did not differ between high and low anxiety-sensitive subjects at baseline or pre-hyperventilation, but did differ at post-hyperventilation. There were, however, no significant differences in post-hyperventilation measures of heart rate. The apparent mismatch of subjective and physiological responsivity to the challenge in high anxiety-sensitive individuals (i.e. more severe symptom self-reports in the absence of increased cardiac activation) provides support for the hypothesis that high anxiety sensitivity is associated with an enhanced tendency to panic in response to biological challenge.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Panic attacks and interoceptive acuity for cardiac sensations.

It has been suggested that perception of visceral changes, and cognitive reactions to such changes, may be important for triggering panic attacks. It remains to be determined, however, whether people with panic attacks are actually characterized by enhanced perceptual acuity for interoceptive stimuli. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between panic attacks and awareness for cardiac sensations using an objective heartbeat discrimination procedure. Twenty panickers and 20 nonpanickers were given 60 trials of the Whitehead heartbeat discrimination procedure. Thirty trials were given during rest and 30 following hyperventilation. Results indicated that panic attacks were not related to enhanced interoceptive acuity for cardiac sensations, either at rest or following hyperventilation. These results are discussed in terms of their relevance to cognitive models of panic.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Fearful and non-fearful panic attacks in a student population.

The phenomenon of non-fearful panic was investigated in a sample of 83 university students who reported histories of unexpected panic attacks. Based on severity ratings of individual panic symptoms, Ss were classified as having panic attacks characterized by No Fear (N = 22), Low Fear (N = 30) or High Fear (N = 31). The three groups were similar with respect to the age-of-onset of panic attacks, the frequency with which they experienced panic and the severity of panic symptoms unrelated to fear. However, Ss reporting fear during panic attacks were more likely to engage in avoidance behaviour and to use alcohol or drugs as ways of coping with panic. Only High Fear subjects showed significant elevations on self-report measures of depression and global psychopathology. These results indicate that the experience of fear during panic attacks may be important in the transition from non-clinical panic to panic disorder, in a manner proportional to the amount of reported fear.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Panic attacks in the nonclinical population: an empirical approach to case identification.

Although self-reports of panic attacks are common among student populations, it is not clear that their panic experiences are actually comparable to those of patients with clinical anxiety disorders. An empirical approach was taken to this problem by using a cluster analysis procedure to identify subjects within two samples of university students who reported panic attack symptom profiles that resembled those of patients with panic disorder. Such empirically defined "clinical" panic attacks were reported by 7.0% and 8.1% of the two samples. This predominantly female group accounted for most of the increased psychopathology that has been reported in previous studies of nonclinical panic.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Factors involved in nurses' teaching breast self-examination.

It has been demonstrated that breast self-examination (BSE) is a reliable method for early detection of breast abnormalities when practiced regularly and correctly. In addition, it has been found that a woman is likely to be more proficient if she has been taught BSE by a physician or nurse. In a hospital-based study, nurses were surveyed regarding both their personal practice and their teaching of BSE to patients. Although the nurses revealed themselves to be highly compliant in terms of performing the procedure themselves, only 40% included BSE in their patient teaching. The nurses' teaching of BSE was found to be unrelated to their age, BSE practice, or personal risk for breast cancer. Nurses agreed that BSE was a valuable tool in the prevention of deaths from breast cancer. They also believed themselves to be susceptible to breast cancer despite good health and low-to-medium risk sources. We suggest that nurses' ambivalent attitudes towards breast cancer and BSE may influence their teaching behavior.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Neurohormonal modulation of natural resistance to a murine lymphoma.

The hypothesis that neuroendocrine stimulation after aversive handling can alter natural resistance was examined in the tail electroshock (TES) model, a procedure that can activate pituitary neuropeptide secretion. Immediately after a brief TES session, the resistance of DBA/2J mice was suppressed in proportion to the intensity of the shock. Initial suppression of the natural resistance was rapidly reversed in longer treatment protocols, and repeated aversive stimulation augmented the antitumor response, leaving the mice more resistant to lymphoma than unhandled animals. Corticosterone was released into the serum after all acute handling procedures, and hydrocortisone inoculation suppressed antitumor responses. However, serum corticosterone levels did not quantitatively correlate with the alterations in natural resistance. The observation that TES-induced suppression of natural resistance could be reversed by the opiate receptor antagonist naltrexone suggested that endogenous opiated released after TES stimulation were immunosuppressive.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Electrical stimulation of the liver cell: activation of glycogenolysis.

To examine the role of ionic factors in the regulation of glycogen metabolism, we examined the effects of electrical stimulation on liver glycogen cycle enzymes. Passage of electric current through a suspension of rat hepatocytes caused the conversion of glycogen phosphorylase to its active (a) form and the simultaneous conversion of glycogen synthase to its inactive (D) form. The rise in phosphorylase a activity was dependent on the magnitude of current flow, was detectable after 5 s of current flow, and was rapidly reversible on cessation of stimulation. The activation of phosphorylase by shocking was completely eliminated by depletion of cellular Ca2+ and was restored by readdition of Ca2+. Cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP levels were unaffected by shocking. It is concluded that shocking, in the absence of any hormone or exogenous chemical, causes an increase in cytosol Ca2+, which in turn leads to activation of phosphorylase and inactivation of synthase. Electrical stimulation may serve as a model system for studying the role of ions in metabolic regulation.

Animals↗