Morphometric and functional changes of rat pituitary somatotropes and lactotropes after central administration of somatostatin.

This study examined effects of intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.

Comorbidity of panic disorder with agoraphobia and specific phobia: relationship with the subtypes of specific phobia.

The study objectives were to determine comorbidity rates for various subtypes of specific phobia (SP) in a sample of patients with the principal diagnosis of panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) and to examine the possible etiologic relatedness of these SP subtypes to PDA. Ninety consecutive day clinic patients with PDA were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) modified for DSM-IV. The overall comorbidity rate for SP was 65.

Testosterone treatment in men with erectile disorder and low levels of total testosterone in serum.

Since decreased serum levels of testosterone (T) do not necessarily predict good outcome of testosterone treatment for erectile disorder, the purpose, of this study was to determine which men with erectile disorder and decreased serum levels might benefit from treatment. From a sample of 31 men (mean age = 39 years), 15 (48%) with erectile disorder and decreased serum levels of T responded well after 8 weeks of testosterone treatment (100 mg of testosterone propionate in the sustained-release form given im once a week). Good treatment outcome was associated with several variables, but only high levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and low values of the T/LH (testosterone/LH) ratio consistently emerged as significant correlates and/or predictors of effective treatment.

Empathic understanding revisited: conceptualization, controversies, and limitations.

Regardless of the controversial philosophical aspects of understanding another human being, it is a useful concept in psychotherapy because understanding of the patient is one of the factors determining the course of therapy. Understanding resulting from empathy refers to the perception of the patient's innermost feelings and meanings, but inevitably represents only an approximation of what the patient truly experiences. It crucially depends on the vicissitudes of interactions between the patient and the therapist.

Diagnostic agreement between the DSM-IV and ICD-10-DCR personality disorders.

The SCID-II Personality Questionnaire, modified for DSM-IV and ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research (ICD-10-DCR), was administered to 58 consecutive patients with agoraphobia with panic disorder in order to screen for personality disorders (PDs) and assess diagnostic agreement between DSM-IV and ICD-10-DCR. The diagnostic agreement, as expressed by kappa values, was 0.78 for the presence of any personality disorder (PD), but it ranged from 0.

Inhibitory effects of centrally administered somatostatin on the adrenal zona glomerulosa in male rats.

This study examined the effects of intracerebroventricularly administered somatostatin (SRIF-28 and SRIF-14) on growth and steroidogenic capacity of the rat adrenal zona glomerulosa. Male adult Wistar rats were subjected to intracerebroventricular administration of three 1 microgram doses of SRIF-28 or SRIF-14 every other day. Five days after the last dose, the rats were sacrificed by decapitation.

The outcome of sex reassignment surgery in Belgrade: 32 patients of both sexes.

Several aspects of the quality of life after sex reassignment surgery in 32 transsexuals of both sexes (22 men, 10 women) were examined. The Belgrade Team for Gender Identity Disorders designed a standardized questionnaire for this purpose. The follow-up period after operation was from 6 months to 4 years, and four aspects of the quality of life were examined: attitude towards the patients' own body, relationships with other people, sexual activity, and occupational functioning.

Personality dimensions in panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

To make a dimensional assessment of personality in individuals with pathological anxiety, the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) was administered to 32 patients with panic disorder (PD) and 49 patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The most striking findings were a substantially increased score on the harm avoidance dimension in both groups of patients, and a lack of significant differences between the TPQ scores in patients with PD and GAD. The former finding suggests that higher levels of harm avoidance may be common to (although not necessarily specific for) various types of anxiety disorders.

Characteristics of neurasthenia: examination and cross-cultural applicability of ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research.

The purpose of this study was to examine characteristics of Yugoslav patients with neurasthenia diagnosed according to the ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research (ICD-10-DCR), and to examine the ICD-10-DCR symptoms of neurasthenia and applicability of the corresponding diagnostic criteria to Yugoslav patients with this condition. Thirty-four patients with the ICD-10-DCR neurasthenia and 31 patients with mixed anxiety and depressive disorder were compared in terms of demographic variables, results of several questionnaires, symptom profiles and comorbidity with other mental disorders. Patients with neurasthenia were less educated and more often held jobs as unskilled and semiskilled workers; they had a more chronic course of illness, tended to report more symptoms, manifested more hostility, somatization and hypochondriacal tendencies and received a comorbid diagnosis of hypochondriasis more frequently.

Pathological worry in major depression: a preliminary report.

Forty-nine Ss with the DSM-III-R generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and 32 Ss with the DSM-III-R major depressive episode (MDE) were administered the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) in order to assess the frequency and severity of worrying. The PSWQ scores were almost equally elevated in Ss with GAD and MDE, indicating that high PSWQ scores may not be specific for the diagnosis of GAD. This finding also suggests that except for the uncontrollability of worry, which was not measured by the PSWQ, there may be no difference in the process of pathological worrying between Ss with GAD and MDE.

Dexamethasone and ergonovine effects on cerebrospinal fluid pressure in conscious rats.

Prior work showed that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.

The frequency and severity of generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. Toward a less cumbersome conceptualization.

The frequency and severity of the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) were determined in a sample of 49 patients with the DSM-III-R diagnosis of GAD. The frequency of the symptoms was considered to meet the DSM-III-R requirement of "often" if the symptoms were present for at least 3 days in every week over a 6-month period. The severity of the symptoms was rated on a 5-point scale.

Generalized anxiety disorder, worries about illness, and hypochondriacal fears and beliefs.

In order to compare hypochondriacal phenomena in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder (PD), and in order to examine the relationship between worries about illness on one hand, and disease fears/phobias and hypochondriacal beliefs on the other, the authors administered the Illness Attitudes Scales to patients with both GAD and PD, and determined the spheres of worry in patients with GAD. Patients with GAD were significantly less hypochondriacal than PD patients. A specific relationship between GAD and hypochondriasis was not found because worries about illness, which characterize some GAD patients, were largely independent from disease fears/phobias and hypochondriacal beliefs, which are a hallmark of hypochondriasis.

Comorbidity rates do not support distinction between panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

Groups of patients with principal diagnosis of panic disorder (n = 54) and generalized anxiety disorder (n = 49) were compared on the basis of their comorbidity with other mental disorders. The rates and patterns of comorbidity were similar, except for comorbid simple phobia and past drug abuse. This finding was interpreted as failing to support a notion that there is essential distinction between panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

Comorbidity in panic disorder: II. Chronology of appearance and pathogenic comorbidity.

Ages of onset and the sequence of appearance of panic disorder (PD) and comorbid conditions were determined in a sample of 54 patients with the principal DSM-III-R diagnosis of PD. The onset of PD was earlier in patients with moderate to severe agoraphobia (AG) than in panic patients without AG. Patients with alcohol abuse and drug abuse before the onset of PD also had a tendency to develop PD earlier, which suggests that these conditions might have specifically predisposed to PD.

Comparison of primary and secondary panic disorder: a preliminary report.

We examined the onsets of comorbid psychiatric disorders in patients with panic disorder (PD) (N = 54). In 42 patients (77.8%), PD was preceded by another psychiatric condition (secondary PD group), while in 12 patients (22.

The phenomenology of panic attacks in panic disorder with and without agoraphobia.

The frequency of symptoms during panic attacks and anticipation of the panic consequences were compared in patients with the subtypes of panic disorder (PD). Patients with moderate and severe agoraphobic avoidance reported that they had experienced more symptoms than patients with an uncomplicated PD (without agoraphobia [AG]); they also experienced almost all of the symptoms more frequently, with the difference being significant for a quarter of the examined panic symptoms. Panic patients with moderate and severe AG were also significantly more concerned about the loss of control and social and physical consequences of panic attacks.

Patterns of comorbidity in panic disorder and agoraphobia.

Diagnoses of comorbid disorders were determined in a sample of 54 patients with panic disorder as defined in DSM-III-R. The sample was divided into the following three groups: (1) uncomplicated panic disorder (PDU); (2) panic disorder with mild agoraphobia (PDM); and (3) panic disorder with moderate to severe agoraphobia (PDA). In comparison with patients with PDU, patients with PDA had higher comorbidity rates in general, received multiple comorbid diagnoses more frequently, had a higher prevalence of major depression, dysthymia, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and scored higher on most measures of self-rated psychopathology.

Panic disorder and hypochondriacal fears and beliefs.

The purpose of this study was to examine correlates of hypochondriacal fears and beliefs in patients with panic disorder (PD) (n = 54). They were evaluated using the structured diagnostic interviews for axis I and axis II disorders (SCID-UP-R and SCID-II). They were administered the Illness Attitudes Scales (IAS) as a measure of hypochondriacal fears and beliefs, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 90 (HSCL), and the Fear Questionnaire (FQ).

Mechanism of delayed intracranial hypertension after cerebroventricular infusions in conscious rats.

Prior studies showed that cerebroventricular infusions of artificial cerebrospinal fluid, 8 microliter/min for 10 min, followed by a 10 min rest and a 24 h infusion of 0.5 microliters/min, raised cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSFp) of conscious, unrestrained rats after about 2 h. Here, we report that the 10 min infusion alone evoked a delayed, prolonged rise in CSFp.

Study of the mechanism of prostacyclin (PgI2) action on myocardial contractility.

The experiments done on the isolated right ventricle of rat heart suspended in the bath for isolated organs with oxygenated Tyrode's solution showed the PgI2 (2.3 x 10-6 mmol) produced its positive inotropic effect indirectly by promoting both beta-adrenoreceptors and calcium entry through slow calcium channels because this effect could be blocked by propranolol (2.3 x 10-2 mmol - beta-adrenoreceptor blocker) or verapamil (4.

Neurasthenia: a paradigm of social psychopathology in a transitional society.

A particular social aspect of an illness is reflected in an emphasis on those symptoms that the society considers socially detrimental and/or destabilizing. Thus, in the work- and production-oriented society, chronic fatigue, which affects one's productivity and ability to work, becomes a hallmark of neurasthenia or neurasthenia-like syndrome. In a society based on rigid social structures and severely limited possibilities for social change, excessive irritability and outbursts of anger are perceived as a greater threat to the stability of the existing social order, and therefore they come to dominate the concept of neurasthenia.

Reassurance and treatment of hypochondriasis.

This article critically examines views that reassurance is ineffective or antitherapeutic in the management of hypochondriasis. It presents a comprehensive definition of medical reassurance, and describes a therapeutic approach to hypochondriasis based on repeated and consistent provision of reassurance within a framework of psychodynamic psychotherapy. "Relational" aspects of reassurance-giving are emphasized over the sheer explanatory power of reassurance, so that this treatment is most suitable for those hypochondriacal patients who primarily seek a "sheltering" or soothing therapeutic relationship, along with acceptance from the reassurance-giving figure.