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Biomedical subjects

P A Andrulonis

Publications and source records attributed to P A Andrulonis.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome in adolescents: a community-based study.

OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken to determine (1) the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms including abdominal pain in a community-based population of adolescents, (2) whether a subgroup of these subjects have symptoms resembling Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and (3) whether anxiety and depression are more commonly found in adolescents with IBS-type symptoms compared with unaffected adolescents. METHODS: We collected data by administration of a gastrointestinal symptoms questionnaire, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Children's Depression Inventory to middle school and high school students. RESULTS: A total of 507 subjects participated (mean age of middle school students 12.6 years; mean age of high school students 15.6 years). Abdominal pain was noted by 75% of all students. The pain occurred weekly in 13% to 17% of the subjects and was severe enough to affect activities in approximately 21%. Irritable bowel syndrome-type symptoms were noted by 17% of high school students and 8% of middle school students (p <0.01) who reported abdominal pain (n = 381), representing 14% and 6% of all high school and middle school students (p <0.005), respectively. Anxiety and depression scores were significantly higher for students with IBS-type symptoms compared with those without symptoms. Eight percent of all students had seen a physician for abdominal pain in the previous year. These visits were correlated with abdominal pain severity, frequency, duration, and disruption of normal activities but not with anxiety, depression, gender, family structure, or ethnicity. CONCLUSION: Recurrent abdominal pain and symptoms of IBS are commonly noted in a community-based adolescent population and frequently result in use of health care resources. Health care providers who work with this age group need to be able to recognize the symptom complex associated with IBS, as well as the possible relationship to anxiety and depression.

Abdominal Pain↗

Comparison of borderline personality subcategories to schizophrenic and affective disorders.

This clinical research report identified 4 subcategories of the hospitalized borderline personality disorder: developmental, affective disorder, attentional deficit/learning disabled, and organic. Developmental and affective disorder subcategories are predominantly composed of females, while males are overly represented in the attentional deficit/learning disabilities subcategory . Comparison of the borderline patients with schizophrenic and affective disorder control groups supports the hypothesis that the borderline personality disorder is a diagnostic entity distinct from schizophrenia, but perhaps not from affective disorders.

Borderline Personality Disorder↗

Borderline personality subcategories.

A careful study of 106 patients, diagnosed as borderline using the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition, is in progress at a private psychiatric facility. Three distinct subcategories of the borderline personality disorder have been identified: history of no organicity, history of trauma, encephalitis, or epilepsy, and history of attentional deficit disorder/learning disabilities. A discriminant function analysis approach clearly distinguishes the three borderline subcategories from one another and from a schizophrenic control group. Borderline patients also show significant sex differences. The borderline personality disorder is viewed as either on a continuum with affective disorders and atypical psychoses, or with organic brain dysfunction including the episodic dyscontrol syndrome and/or adult minimal brain dysfunction. Future research should be directed toward further classifying homogeneous subgroups of borderline patients in order to provide more specific and effective treatment.

Adolescent↗

Food additives and hyperkinesis: a controlled double-blind experiment.

A double-blind crossover trial involving a control diet and a diet eliminating artificial flavors, colors, and natural salicylates as recommended by Feingold was conducted on 15 hyperkinetic children. Teachers and parents observed the children for one month prior to treatment, using standardized rating scales. Both parents and teachers reported fewer hyperkinetic symptoms on the K-P diet as compared to the pretreatment baseline. The teachers noted a highly significant reduction of symptoms on the K-P diet as compared to the control diet but the parents did not. The control diet ratings did not differ from the baseline period ratings for either parents or teachers. It is concluded that the K-P diet may reduce hyperkinetic symptoms, though this result is put forth with caution in view of several features inherent in the present study which need further evaluation, including objective measures of change, manipulation of the independent variable, and reducing the independent variable to more specific components.

Child↗