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Biomedical subjects

S Fisher

Publications and source records attributed to S Fisher.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Placebo response, placebo effect, and two attributes.

Two putative predictors of placebo response were studied in three samples of psychiatric outpatients. Two groups, 73 university medical center patients and 56 college health service patients, underwent 1 week of placebo treatment. A quasi-control group of 112 patients receiving no medication waited about 1 week before beginning psychotherapy. One attribute, acquiescence or traditionalism, predicted placebo response, thereby replicating prior findings. Acquiescence was unrelated to change in controls indicating that it may represent a correlate of true placebo effect under some conditions. Additional findings suggested qualifications as to the generality of the relationship. The second attribute, autonomic awareness, was associated with change in all three samples. It appeared to predict nonspecific improvement unrelated to placebo probably due to its relationship to intensity of somatization.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Body opening symptoms and right-left sets.

Previous work demonstrated a relationship between the frequency with which an individual experiences stomach symptoms and the asymmetry he displays in perceiving and responding to the spatial dimension of up-down. This suggested that spatial asymmetries may mirror attitudes that have physiological and symptom consequences. The generality of this formulation was tested by examining the correlation between right-left perceptual asymmetries and various symptoms. It was demonstrated in both males and females, although more strongly in the former, that symptoms involving the body openings are significantly correlated with a left perceptual bias. A theory concerning the meaning of this relationship was offered and found to be supported in a male and also a female sample.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Effects of maternal themes upon death imagery.

Two samples (n = 47, n = 45) of women were studied to determine the impact of maternal messages upon death imagery as measured by the Holtzmann Inkblots. In both samples a maternal symbiotic message significantly decreased death imagery. A maternal monosymbiotic message resulted in decreased death imagery in only one sample. Control messages produced no changes in death imagery. The findings are congruent with theories that link death anxiety with concern about separation from parental figures.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Effects of cannabis intoxication on primary suggestibility.

Thirty-five subjects of known hypnotizability were tested for primary suggestibility in the waking state with and without marijuana intoxication. The drug caused an increase in suggestibility similar to that produced by the induction of hypnosis. The effect did not persist when subjects were retested one week later in their normal waking state.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Nutritional assessment of senior rural Utahns by biochemical and physical measurements.

Biochemical composition of blood and urine was used to evaluate the nutritional status of 187 ambulatory, older residents of five rural Utah communities. Measurements were also taken of height, weight, and blood pressure. The sample included 58 men and 129 women, with a mean age of 69 years. No deficiencies were observed for hemoglobin, hematocrit, and serum iron levels, although approximately 15% of the men had low levels for the first two indices. Serum mineral status for zinc, copper, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium was adequate for most of the participants. Of the women 40% and of the men 21% had low serum total protein levels. No low serum levels of vitamin A and carotene were observed. Urinary excretion of riboflavin and thiamine was high for approximately 90% of the participants. Of the women 46% and of the men 37% had serum cholesterol values above 249 mg/100 ml of serum. One half of the women and 30% of the men were determined to be obese. Approximately one-fourth of both sexes had systolic pressures above 160 mm Hg.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Dirt-anality and attitudes toward Negroes. A test of Kubie's hypothesis.

Lawrence Kubie's hypothesis that dirt-anal parameters predict attitudes toward Negroes was evaluated. Four samples of males and four samples of females were studied. Multiple indices were used to tap attitudes toward Negroes; and a variety of measures were employed to tap the dirt-anality dimension. The results were significantly supportive of Kubie's formulation.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Unusual case of adrenal cortical carcinoma in a female infant.

Adrenal cortical carcinoma in a 4 1/4-month-old girl was treated by surgery in combination with actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide, and 5-fluorouracil given daily for 5 days every third week for 13 1/2 months. Postoperative hypertension and raised 24-hour 17-hydroxy- and 21-oxosteroids suggested residual microscopical tumour activity. These findings resolved during chemotherapy. The patient is alive and well 22 months after completing chemotherapy. Adrenal cortical carcinoma may rarely mimic neuroblastoma or nephroblastoma when the tumour is not clinically secretory.

Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms↗
PubMed1978

Relationship of mortality to socioeconomic status and some other factors in Sydney in 1971.

In Sydney in 1971 low socioeconomic status was found to be associated with high mortality and this became more marked with increasing age; it was not statistically significant in relation to infant mortality. Mortality was higher among those born in Australia than among immigrants. A more varied pattern in the differences in cause specific death rates was noted in those born in Australia compared with those born overseas. Socioeconomic status was characterised by an area-type index applied to the results of 1971 census and calculated for local government areas in the Sydney Statistical Division.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Body experience before and after surgery.

20 hospitalized male subjects were evaluated with a battery of body-perception tests both pre- and post-operatively. Their scores were also compared with those of normal healthy adults. The results indicated great stability in organization of body experience even in the context of the surgical experience.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Doxepin or diazepam for anxious and anxious-depressed outpatients?

A six-week double blind comparison of doxepin and diazepam in the treatment of 61 anxious outpatients showed few drug differences. Diazepam treated patients improved significantly more early in the trial, according to a few measures. They also had significantly fewer complaints of drowsiness. By six weeks, the medicines appeared roughly equal in efficacy. Practically no support was found for the position that doxepin may be more beneficial for anxious-depressive syndromes. In all patients, and also within the anxious-depressive subgroup, there were small mean differences on many criteria favoring doxepin at six weeks, but none reached significance. The doxepin group gained significantly more weight. Possible biasing influences were present requiring that the results be interpreted with particular caution.

Adolescent↗