PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Meduri

Publications and source records attributed to M Meduri.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Anger and ego-defence mechanisms in non-psychiatric patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome is commonly accepted as a disorder closely influenced by affective factors, which can either trigger the symptoms or contribute to their persistence, independently from their aetiology. It has been previously documented that irritable bowel syndrome patients respond to a variety of emotional states (anger, fear and anxiety) with an increase in colonic motility. AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the experience and the expression of anger and the prevalent ego-defence mechanisms in a group of non-psychiatric patients with irritable bowel syndrome. SUBJECTS: Fifty-two patients with irritable bowel syndrome (18 males, 34 females) and 100 healthy volunteers from the community (44 males, 56 females) matched for age, level of education and social-status were enrolled. METHODS: Assessment was conducted using the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory and the Defence Mechanism Inventory. RESULTS: No important differences between the two examined groups were found using the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory and Defence Mechanism Inventory. CONCLUSIONS: It can be hypothesised that stable personality features and habits, such as anger disposition and defence mechanisms, play only a marginal role in irritable bowel syndrome, while psychological and psychosocial influences may act as predisposing or precipitating factors which contribute to the pathogenesis or expression of irritable bowel symptoms.

Adult↗

Defense mechanisms in hemodialysis-dependent patients.

Defense mechanisms are automatic psychological processes that protect the individual against anxiety and from the awareness of internal or external dangers or stressors. The influence of defense mechanisms in patients on chronic hemodialysis treatment was studied. There were 53 uremic subjects (37 males and 16 females), aged between 22 and 88 years (mean age 60.11, SD 15.03), on chronic dialysis and 50 healthy subjects as controls have been enrolled in the study. According to the duration of dialysis, uremic patients were divided in two subgroups: 21 patients with less than 5 years and 19 patients with more than 10 years of dialytic treatment. Assessment was conducted using the Defense Mechanisms Inventory DMI. The inventory identifies five defensive styles: turning against the object (TAO), projection (PRO), principalization (PRN), turning against the self (TAS) and reversal (REV). Results showed DMI scores within the normal range both for uremics and controls with significant differences in TAO (t = -3.053, p = 0.003) and REV (t = 5.067, p < 0.0001) between groups. No significant differences in the use of defensive styles related to the duration of dialytic treatment were observed. Besides other psychological features, the assessment of defense mechanisms in patients with chronic and invalidating diseases may contribute to ameliorate the knowledge of the adjustment processes and of the psychological well-being of the patients.

Adult↗

Panic-agoraphobic spectrum in obese binge eaters.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the frequency of the panic-agoraphobic spectrum symptoms in a sample of obese subjects affected by Binge Eating Disorder (BED) vs controls. METHOD: Fifty obese with BED were matched by age, sex and marital status to twenty-five normal weight controls. The Structured Clinical Interview For Panic-Agoraphobic Spectrum--SCI-PAS was administered to all participants. RESULTS: Obese subjects with BED presented significantly higher frequencies of typical and atypical panic symptoms (82% vs 8%, p<0.0001), agoraphobia (58% vs 12%, p=0.002) and reassurance orientation (56% vs 8%, p=0.001) than controls. DISCUSSION: BED frequently co-occurs with other major psychiatric disorders, traditionally assessed using categorical methods of classification of mental disorders. The spectrum of the subthreshold, atypical and partial symptoms of full-blown mental disorders, often neglected by categorical approach, may also affect subjective well-being and functioning as full-blown disorders. The identification of the subthreshold symptomatology may have relevant implications for the response to treatment and the outcome of the eating disorder.

Adult↗

Prevalence of acute dystonic reactions associated with neuroleptic treatment with and without anticholinergic prophylaxis.

The occurrence of acute dystonic reactions was intensively monitored in a population of 646 patients, 379 males and 267 females, aged 18-87 years, consecutively admitted to different psychiatric units and treated with neuroleptics alone or in combination with anticholinergic drugs. Thirty-four patients experienced acute dystonic reactions yielding a total incidence of 5.3%. There was a tendency towards a higher frequency of dystonia in males than in females, and in young patients than in older ones. Patients without anticholinergic medication had a higher frequency of the reaction than those receiving anticholinergic drugs (8.5% vs. 2.8%; p < 0.02). Neuroleptic-induced dystonia was more common in patients treated with butyrophenones than in those receiving phenothiazines or substituted benzamides.

Acute Disease↗

Debrisoquine oxidation phenotype and neuroleptic-induced dystonic reactions.

To evaluate the role of defective drug oxidation as a predisposing factor for neuroleptic-induced dystonic reactions, 26 patients who developed the reaction and 53 with no history of dystonia were phenotyped by the debrisoquine hydroxylation test. The percentage of poor debrisoquine metabolizers was similar in patients with dystonic reactions (11.5%) and in the control group (9.4%). These results suggest that there is no association between the individual's drug oxidative status and the occurrence of neuroleptic-induced dystonia.

Adult↗

Computerized tomography in amyotrophic choreo-acanthocytosis.

CT has been performed in five patients affected by amyotrophic choreo-acanthocytosis (ACA) and bicaudate diameter, bicaudate index and frontal horn/bicaudate ratio (FH/CC) have been evaluated. Findings have been confirmatory of caudate nuclei atrophy as shown by previous ACA autopsy reports, but did not differ from Huntington's chorea CT picture. There was no correlation between CT measurements and age, illness duration or degree of hyperkinesia in contradistinction to that reported for Huntington's chorea.

Acanthocytes↗

Fahr's syndrome: local inflammatory factors in the pathogenesis of calcification.

Three cases of Fahr's syndrome are described. All patients had disturbances of calcium metabolism and had had a meningoencephalitis in childhood. It is suggested that gliovascular changes, induced by cerebral inflammation, can later facilitate the occurrence of calcification of the striopallidodentate system when abnormality of calcium metabolism develops.

Adult↗

Stroke in two young siblings with congenital dysfibrinogenemia.

Two young siblings (a male of 21 and his sister of 26 years) suffered from arterial thrombosis episodes of the carotid and abdominal aorta documented by angiographic studies. In the absence of any known predisposing factor in the family and personal history, the laboratory investigation of both patients revealed coagulation abnormalities compatible with a dysfibrinogenemia. The occurrence of a similar defect also in plasma of one of the propositi's asymptomatic relatives is suggestive of an inherited fibrinogen disorder.

Adult↗

[EEG and the action of TRH: comparison with amitriptyline].

A comparative evaluation of the EEG provocative action of TRH and amitriptyline was performed on 15 epileptic patients. TRH slightly increased the EEG abnormalities of 6 patients without giving important side effects. Amitriptyline was effective on 11 patients, but in two instances, gave rise to an epileptic fit.

Adolescent↗