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Biomedical subjects

T Betts

Publications and source records attributed to T Betts.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Increased plasma kynurenine and its relationship to neopterin and tryptophan in Tourette's syndrome.

Fasting plasma levels of tryptophan, kynurenine and the pteridines, neopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin were measured in seven patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) and 10 healthy controls. Plasma kynurenine was significantly elevated in the GTS patients. The lowest patient value was higher than the highest control value. Values for tryptophan, neopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin were similar in TS patients and controls. However, in TS patients only, there was a significant negative correlation between tryptophan and neopterin and a significant positive correlation between kynurenine and neopterin when controlling for tryptophan. This finding indicates that activation of cellular immune processes is a possible explanation for the rise in plasma kynurenine.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Elevated plasma kynurenine in Tourette syndrome.

Fasting plasma kynurenine concentrations were significantly elevated in a group of 7 patients (4 female) conforming to DSM-III-R of the American Psychiatric Association (1987) criteria for Tourette syndrome, in comparison with 10 healthy controls (7 female). Simultaneous normal plasma biopterin and neopterin concentrations indicated that this rise was probably not a consequence of peripheral cellular immune mechanisms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

New departures in epilepsy care: an epilepsy liaison service.

Epilepsy care in the UK is patchy, fragmented and poorly coordinated. Primary care management is appropriate for many people with epilepsy but there are practical difficulties in delivering care at this level which renders the service that patients get far below the best they could receive. Epilepsy care in a primary setting is often not audited: patients managed purely in a primary setting may be denied access to recent advances in diagnostic techniques and therapies for epilepsy. As healthcare becomes more consumer led, purchasers of epilepsy care [largely general practitioners (GPs)] must be more aware of what they need to purchase to improve care for people with epilepsy within their own practice. People with epilepsy and their relatives are already beginning to make their own demands and requests for improvement in epilepsy care, both at primary and secondary levels of care: their needs will have to be taken into account. The Birmingham University Epilepsy Liaison Project aims to bridge the gap between primary and secondary care, and provide both advice about audit of epilepsy care and educational materials for the primary care physician. It also provides for better communication between the primary care physician, the patient and secondary and tertiary facilities. We hope, if it fulfils its designed function, that it will provide a model of future care for epilepsy in this country.

Clinical Protocols↗
PubMed1993

An epilepsy needs document.

Services for epilepsy in the UK are poor in quality, fragmentary and poorly organized. We attempt to define and quantify the scope, content and standards of medical, paramedical and nursing services required, from primary health care to specialist centres. This document has been approved by the Joint Epilepsy Council of Great Britain and Ireland, representing all major patient organizations and care providers.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗
PubMed1992

Epileptic seizures induced by sexual abuse. Pathogenic and pathoplastic factors.

Previous sexual abuse is now thought to be a common cause of non-epileptic seizures (pseudoseizures). However, since sexual abuse is common, a previous history of sexual abuse may also occur in people with actual epilepsy. We present six patients in all of whom sexual abuse may, by acting as a stressor in the already predisposed, have precipitated epilepsy and in some of whom the abuse may have affected the actual experiences of the epilepsy itself: all but one of the patients had partial seizures.

Abreaction↗
PubMed1992

Diagnosis, management and prognosis of a group of 128 patients with non-epileptic attack disorder. Part I.

Three hundred and forty three patients with attack disorder labelled as epilepsy were admitted for assessment to a Neuropsychiatry ward in a small English mental hospital over a 5 year period. After assessment it was decided that 63% (215) of these patients had epilepsy, but in 128 (37%) a diagnosis of non-epileptic seizures was made. Just over a third of these patients (46) had an additional history of present or past epileptic seizures as well, so that 24% of the total population had non-epileptic seizures only. The methods used to make this diagnosis are reviewed and an attempt made to classify the non-epileptic attacks from which the patients were suffering. A variety of management strategies were offered and at discharge from hospital the majority of patients had practically lost their non-epileptic seizures. At follow-up 2 years later, seizures had returned in most patients. In 8% of the patients it was clear that the diagnosis of non-epilepsy had been erroneous. The importance of classifying the kind of non-epileptic event the patient suffers from and of translating treatment in hospital to the community is emphasized.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Diagnosis, management and prognosis of a group of 128 patients with non-epileptic attack disorder. Part II. Previous childhood sexual abuse in the aetiology of these disorders.

In a group of female in-patients clinically diagnosed as having non-epileptic attack disorder there was an increased incidence of a proven previous history of sexual abuse in childhood, when compared with a group of women with epilepsy and a group of women with other psychiatric disorders admitted to the same ward. This was particularly true of women with the 'swoon' and 'abreactive' type of non-epileptic attack disorder (see Part I). The incidence of a history of previous abuse was similar to the two control groups for other types of non-epileptic attack disorder. The swoon was seen as a cut-off phenomenon: the abreactive attack as a kind of acting out the memory of the abuse, part of a post-traumatic stress disorder. Both may respond to counselling for the abuse although it is too early to be certain, and there is a risk of further episodes of the non-epileptic attack disorder during periods of stress. Some patients with epilepsy, however, also had a history of previous sexual abuse: in some the stress of the abuse may have precipitated the epileptic seizures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Seizure behaviour in a patient with post-traumatic stress disorder following rape. Notes on the aetiology of 'pseudoseizures'.

A patient is described who began to have paroxysmal convulsive behaviour, followed by a post-ictal aggression, which was initially diagnosed and treated as epilepsy. The behaviour began after the patient was raped. She had many of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is suggested that the paroxysmal behaviour was an 'acting out' of intrusive and vivid memories of the rape, so called 'flashbacks'. Because the rape had occurred comparatively recently and the events that occurred during the rape were known, it was easy, in this particular patient, to understand the relationship between the previous trauma and the paroxysmal behaviour. The case throws some light on the relationship between similar paroxysmal behaviour in the victims of child sexual abuse and the trauma they had suffered and explains why they behave in the way that they do.

Acting Out↗
PubMed1991

The effects of two anti-vertigo drugs (betahistine and prochlorperazine) on driving skills.

1. The effects of betahistine 72 mg three times daily, prochlorperazine 5 mg three times daily and placebo taken for 3 days before testing were compared on two actual driving tasks (weaving and gap estimation) and two psychomotor tasks (reaction time and kinetic visual acuity) in normal subjects in a double-blind prospectively randomised cross-over study. 2. The psychomotor effects of betahistine could not be distinguished from those of placebo. 3. Prochlorperazine impaired driving performance causing increased carelessness and slowing on the weaving test. 4. There was little subjective appreciation of impairment whilst taking prochlorperazine.

Adult↗