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Biomedical subjects

P Crichton

Publications and source records attributed to P Crichton.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Were the Roman emperors Claudius and Vitellius bulimic?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the eating habits of Romans during the first two centuries A.D. and their attitudes towards these eating habits in the light of contemporary Latin literary and historical sources and influential Greek medical sources. METHOD: An extensive search of sources on the Roman Empire and emperors in the first two centuries A.D. was carried out. Two historical cases of binging and self-induced vomiting, namely the Emperors Claudius and Vitellius, were identified and described in translated extracts from the original Latin source. DISCUSSION: It is noted that cultural and social factors are important influences on eating habits which would now be considered pathological.

Bulimia↗
PubMed1996

Movement disorder in Down's syndrome: a possible marker of the severity of mental handicap.

This study examined the nature and prevalence of abnormal movements in adults with Down's syndrome and also the clinical correlates of orofacial dyskinesia and the relationship between dyskinesia and the level of functional and intellectual disability. Movement disorder, language age, and disability were assessed in an epidemiologically based sample of 145 individuals with Down's syndrome. Abnormal involuntary movements were common, with > 90% exhibiting dyskinesia, predominantly orofacial. Stereotypes were present in one-third of the sample. There was an association between the severity of dyskinesia and both current language age and functioning in terms of self-care and practical and academic skills, which suggested that dyskinesia may be a marker of the severity of mental handicap. The presence of dyskinesia was unrelated to neuroleptic exposure. Dyskinesia and stereotypies are very common in individuals with Down's syndrome and may represent an inherent manifestation of the disorder. The relationship between mental age and dyskinesia in Down's syndrome warrants further research.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1996

Verbal fluency in schizophrenia: relationship with executive function, semantic memory and clinical alogia.

To examine whether poor verbal fluency in schizophrenia represents a degraded semantic store or inefficient access to a normal semantic store, 25 normal volunteers and 50 DSM-III-R schizophrenic patients, matched for age, sex and IQ, were recruited. Although schizophrenic patients were impaired on both letter and category fluency, they showed a normal pattern of output in that category was superior to letter fluency, and an improvement in category fluency when a cueing technique was employed (Randolph et al. 1993). These results resemble those found in disorders of frontostriatal systems (Parkinson's and Huntington's disease) and suggest that poor verbal fluency in schizophrenia is because of inefficient access to semantic store. A measure of improvement with cueing was directly related to performance on the Stroop executive task. Of all symptom measures derived from SANS and Manchester Scales, only alogia was related to verbal fluency in that superior improvement correlated inversely with the degree of alogia. It is suggested that both alogia and poor verbal fluency are mediated by the same underlying cognitive abnormality that reflects frontostriatal dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Creativity.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1995

Primitive (developmental) reflexes, tardive dyskinesia and intellectual impairment in schizophrenia.

Primitive reflexes, also known as higher cerebral, developmental or release reflexes, are present in foetal and infant life, and are found in certain organic brain diseases. They are normally regarded as non-localising signs of cerebral immaturity or dysfunction which are uncommon in the normal population. The main aims of this study were to find out whether recent reports of an association between primitive reflexes and severity of cognitive impairment in dementia and between primitive reflexes and tardive dyskinesia in schizophrenia could be replicated in a younger population of schizophrenic patients. Forty-eight schizophrenic patients (mean age 51 years) were assessed for primitive reflexes, involuntary movements and cognitive function, and 58% exhibited at least one primitive reflex and 23% at least two. No association was found between primitive reflexes and cognitive impairment or between primitive reflexes and tardive dyskinesia. These results fail to support the hypothesis that the presence of primitive reflexes in some schizophrenic patients indicates a vulnerability to tardive dyskinesia and intellectual decline with advancing age, but long-term prospective studies would be required to test this hypothesis adequately. Nevertheless, these findings support the notion of neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative brain disease in at least a proportion of patients with schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Delusional misidentification, AIDS and the right hemisphere.

A patient with AIDS developed the Capgras' syndrome as part of an acute confusional state resulting from an opportunistic infection. Neuropsychological testing suggested non-dominant hemisphere dysfunction with impaired facial recognition. Serial CT scanning showed a right parietal lesion which resolved after the psychosis improved. These findings provide further evidence for the hypothesis that selective visuospatial deficits underlie the development of Capgras' syndrome.

AIDS Dementia Complex↗
PubMed1989

Off-period belching due to a reversible disturbance of oesophageal motility in Parkinson's disease and its treatment with apomorphine.

Two L-dopa-treated patients with Parkinson's disease who developed distressing belching during "off" periods are reported. In each case, contrast cine radiography revealed disturbed oesophageal motility which disappeared after injection of the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine. It is suggested that central dopaminergic abnormalities may be important in the aetiology of "off period belching."

Aged↗