Biomedical subjects

Pekka Tani

Publications and source records attributed to Pekka Tani.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2003

Insomnia is a frequent finding in adults with Asperger syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Asperger syndrome (AS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder belonging to autism spectrum disorders with prevalence rate of 0,35% in school-age children. It has been most extensively studied in childhood while there is scarcity of reports concerning adulthood of AS subjects despite the lifelong nature of this syndrome. In children with Asperger syndrome the initiation and continuity of sleep is disturbed because of the neuropsychiatric deficits inherent of AS. It is probable that sleep difficulties are present in adulthood as well. Our hypothesis was that adults with AS suffer from difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep and nonrestorative sleep (insomnia). METHODS: 20 AS without medication were compared with 10 healthy controls devoid of neuropsychiatric anamnesis. Clinical examination, blood test battery and head MRI excluded confounding somatic illnesses. Structured psychiatric interview for axis-I and axis-II disorders were given to both groups as well as Beck Depression Inventory and Wechsler adult intelligence scale, revised version.Sleep quality was assessed with sleep questionnaire, sleep diary during 6 consecutive days and description of possible sleep problems by the participants own words was requested. RESULTS: compared with controls and with normative values of good sleep, AS adults had frequent insomnia. In sleep questionnaire 90% (18/20), in sleep diary 75% (15/20) and in free description 85% (17/20) displayed insomnia. There was a substantial psychiatric comorbidity with only 4 AS subject devoid of other axis-I or axis-II disorders besides AS. Also these persons displayed insomnia. It can be noted that the distribution of psychiatric diagnoses in AS subjects was virtually similar to that found among patient with chronic insomnia. CONCLUSIONS: the neuropsychiatric deficits inherent of AS predispose both to insomnia and to anxiety and mood disorders. Therefore a careful assessment of sleep quality should be an integral part of the treatment plan in these individuals. Conversely, when assessing adults with chronic insomnia the possibility of autism spectrum disorders as one of the potential causes of this condition should be kept in mind.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor-1 axis, leptin and sleep in anorexia nervosa patients.

The present study characterizes the relationships between severe malnutrition, sleep, growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor-1 (GH-IGF-1) axis, and leptin levels in anorexia nervosa (AN) patients before and after weight gain. Eleven restricting-type anorectic females (mean age = 19.7 years) with severe starvation state [mean body mass index (BMI) = 13.3] were studied using polysomnography and spectral power analysis. The hormone levels were measured in the morning after sleep recording. Eleven normal-weight, age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers without a history of any eating disorder served as controls. After nutritional treatment for about 2 months (65.7 +/- 6.4 days), sleep examinations and blood tests were repeated. At this stage, the study group consisted of 5 patients (mean BMI = 15.6). Higher IGF-1 and leptin levels were associated with longer and deeper sleep among anorectics. The sleep parameters including the percentages of stage 1 sleep and SWS as well as IGF-1 tended to normalize after only limited weight gain. Sleep disturbances in anorectics may be mediated through changes in the levels of the GH-IGF-1 axis hormones, as well as the levels of leptin.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Sleep among habitually violent offenders with antisocial personality disorder.

The aim of the present study was to characterize the subjective and objective sleep and sleep quality in habitually violent offenders with DSM-IV diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder using a sleep questionnaire, actigraphy, polysomnography and power spectral analysis. Subjects for the study were 19 drug-free males (mean age +/- SEM 30.7 +/- 2.58 years) recruited from a forensic psychiatric examination in a special ward of a university psychiatric hospital. The most striking finding was the high amount of slow-wave sleep, particularly the deepest S4 stage (17% as compared with 6% in healthy controls), in males with antisocial personality disorder. Moreover, in the spectral power analysis, both the delta and the theta power were significantly elevated. Whether this increase in persons with antisocial personality disorder reflects a specific brain pathology, or a delay in the normal development of sleep patterns in the course of ageing needs to be clarified with further experiments.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Human impulsive aggression: a sleep research perspective.

Impulsive aggression is commonly associated with personality disorders, in particular antisocial and borderline personality disorders as well as with conduct disorder and intermittent explosive disorder. The relationship between impulsive aggression and testosterone is well established in many studies. One of the aims of this study was to characterize the relationship between earlier-mentioned different categorical psychiatric diagnosis describing human impulsive aggression and sleep using polysomnography and spectral power analysis. Another aim was to study the relationship between serum testosterone and sleep in persons with severe aggressive behaviour. Subjects for the study were 16 males charged with highly violent offences and ordered for a pretrial forensic psychiatric examination. The antisocials with borderline personality disorder comorbidity had significantly more awakenings and lower sleep efficiency compared with the subjects with only antisocial personality disorder. The subjects with severe conduct disorder in childhood anamnesis had higher amount of S4 sleep and higher relative theta and delta power in this sleep stage compared with males with only mild or moderate conduct disorder. The same kind of sleep architecture was associated with intermittent explosive disorder. In subgroups with higher serum testosterone levels also the amount of S4 sleep and the relative theta and delta power in this sleep stage were increased. The study gives further support to the growing evidence of brain dysfunction predisposing to severe aggressive behaviour and strengthens the view that there are different subpopulations of individuals with antisocial personality varying in impulsiveness. The differences in impulsiveness are reflected in sleep architecture as well.

Adult↗