OBJECTIVE: Previous research has demonstrated an association between alexithymia and a deficit in interhemispheric communication in Vietnam combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this association in a nonclinical sample. METHODS: The efficiency of interhemispheric transfer was assessed in 14 alexithymic and 15 nonalexithymic right-handed, male, undergraduate university students using a tactile finger localization task. RESULTS: The nonalexithymic subjects were significantly more efficient at transferring information between the cerebral hemispheres than the alexithymic subjects. CONCLUSIONS: This finding provides further evidence of an interhemispheric transfer deficit in alexithymia and suggests that an alexithymic cognitive style reflects poor integration of the information processing of the two cerebral hemispheres.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Alexithymia and impoverished dream content: evidence from rapid eye movement sleep awakenings.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the repeated suggestion in the literature of an association between impoverished dream processes and alexithymia, little systematic research has been conducted. METHODS: Eight nonclinical adults scoring in the alexithymia range and eight nonclinical adults scoring in the nonalexithymia range on a measure of alexithymia were awakened for dream reports during their second, third, and fourth rapid eye movement periods on the second of two consecutive polygraphically monitored nights in a sleep laboratory. RESULTS: The alexithymic and nonalexithymic groups did not differ in the number of dreams reported or the number of words used in the description of their dreams. The two groups also did not differ in their self-reports of the emotional valence associated with their dream experiences. In contrast, the dream reports of the alexithymic group were rated as less fantastic than the dream reports of the nonalexithymic group. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide additional evidence that alexithymia involves restricted imaginative processes.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A search for easy answers in complex circumstances.

During the past decade or two, both science and technology have advanced, and the cost of patient care and treatment have accelerated at unprecendented rates. At the same time, the number and complexity of ethical and biomedical ethical issues have increased and taken on new importance. As healthcare leaders, we must be aware of these issues, their significance, and our role and responsibility in dealing with them. This article highlights the ethical and biomedical ethical issues that currently face our industry, identifying some of the emerging issues which are now taking on new importance, and focuses on a few of the health-related social justice issues confronting our society and our health industry. Also presented here are some actions that we, as healthcare leaders, might take to reduce social injustice and improve the health prospect for those we serve.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The acute effects of cigarette smoking on left ventricular function.

Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor of coronary artery disease. Frequent repetition of an acute effect on the heart caused by cigarette smoking has been suggested as the etiology because of the increased incidence of myocardial infarction in cigarette smokers which drops to the incidence in non-smokers after cessation of smoking. This study of cardiac patients during cardiac catheterization evaluates the acute effect of the ordinary cigarette, smoked in the individuals own manner, on parameters of cardiac pump and muscle performance. The accuracy of measurements was enhanced by employing high-fidelity pressure signals, signal averaging, and computer analysis of the data. The results of the present study suggest that when cardiac patients smoke 1 cigarette of their own brand in their accustomed manner, no deleterious effects on pump performance, ventricular contraction or relaxation and blood pressure are evident.

Acute Disease↗