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Biomedical subjects

D Guthrie

Publications and source records attributed to D Guthrie.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Characteristics of children admitted to a state mental hospital.

In looking at demographic, social, psychiatric, and medical characteristics of 125 mentally disturbed children admitted to a state mental hospital in southern California in 1971 and in 1976, the authors found evidence of family instability and disposition to violent behavior to be the most notable features of the group; many of the children did not reveal evidence of thought disorder while in the institution. Children with conduct disorders represented the majority of admission diagnoses. The children's mean age at admission was 13.2 years; most of them had several previous residential placements, and 80 per cent were Anglo-Caucasian. The authors believe that the ability to manage children predisposed to violent outbursts is the key issue involved in returning these children to community life.

Adolescent↗

Stress in families of children with neuromuscular disease.

Compared parents of children with neuromuscular disease to parents of children with psychiatric diagnoses using the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress. The groups showed different patterns of stress, with three of the subscales correctly classifying 93% of the cases in a discriminant function analysis. Parents of neuromuscular cases were more pessimistic, while those of psychiatric cases reported more problems in family integration and in the child's personality. For the neuromuscular group alone, parents whose children were in wheelchairs scored significantly higher than those whose children were ambulatory on six QRS scales: Excess Time Demands, Overcommitment/Martyrdom, Limits on Family Opportunity, Physical Incapacitation for Index Case, Lack of Activities for Index Case, Occupation Limitations. Hence, not only does the type of personal and family stress differ for the Neuromuscular and Child Psychiatry respondents, but within the neuromuscular sample the increase in stress as the disease progresses is related to higher scores on QRS scales.

Child↗

Long-term use and discontinuation of methylphenidate with hyperactive children.

The long-term effects of methylphenidate on the behavior and academic functioning of hyperactive children are described. 36 children having a positive response to methylphenidate entered a three-year follow-up study in which they were closely monitored physically, behaviorally and psychometrically. During this period 13 children spontaneously discontinued medication: there were no statistically significant differences between them and the children who continued medication in terms of age, IQ or ratings at initial interview. The greatest improvement in performance occurred in the early months of treatment, but was only partially maintained during long-term therapy and little further change occurred after medication was discontinued. The findings indicate that sustained improvement is related to factors other than continued medication, and they suggest that drug therapy should be regarded as a short-term intervention until more positive social and school behavior can be established.

Achievement↗

The treatment of advanced cystadenocarcinoma of the ovary with gestronol and continuous oral cyclophosphamide.

Fifty-four patients with advanced cystadenocarcinoma of the ovary were treated with gestronol (Depostat), 200 mg/week, by intramuscular injection and continuous oral cyclophosphamide, the dose of the latter being varied to maintain the patient's white cell count at about 1.5 x 10(9)/l. A combined partial and complete remission rate of 76 per cent was obtained. The length of survival depended upon the type of remission and the type of remission was markedly affected by the amount of tumour removed at initial laparotomy.

Cyclophosphamide↗

Correlations between neonatal body weight and adolescent brain development in rats.

Correlations between neonatal body weight, and body weight and several brain parameters at 30 days of age were studied in normal rats. At 30 days ('adolescence') cortex has already reached its final thickness and the rat exhibits long-term memory. Brain parameters included cerebral weight, DNA, protein and cholesterol contents and densities, as well as cortical and cerebral dimensions (cerebral sections). As expected, most of these parameters in 30-day-old animals were significantly correlated with each other. Unexpectedly, neonatal body weight was also significantly correlated with cholesterol content and density at 30 days, as well as with cortical and cerebral dimensions at 30 days. Thus, statistically, neonatal body weight already predetermines the extent of neuronal (cerebral) development at adolescence (30 days). This finding also makes it possible to make at birth statistical predictions about future brain development without having to sacrifice neonatal animals.

Animals↗

Effects of methylphenidate on hyperactive children's ability to sustain attention.

The purposes of this study were to investigate the attentional characteristics of hyperactive children, the relationship of subjective and objective measures of these characteristics, and the effects of methylphenidate on these measures of attention. Forty-five hyperactive children, ages 6 to 10 years, were entered into an 18-week study of the effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) on attention. Measures included rating scales completed by teachers and parents and a vigilance task. All measures reflected significant changes during the period of investigation. Attention and behavior were significantly improved under drug conditions and significantly worsened when methylphenidate was discontinued. However, only performance on the objective measure returned to predrug levels; final off-drug parent and teacher ratings remained improved over initial reports. Parent ratings of behavior, and specifically of children's ability to attend, were unrelated to equivalent teacher ratings. Teachers' ratings of attention correlated significantly with performance on the vigilance task, discriminated between on-drug and off-drug conditions, and discriminated between children who obtained normal or near normal predrug scores on the objective measure and those who performed poorly on this measure. Methylphenidate improved attentional performance for children who had poor predrug scores on the vigilance task, but did not produce a statistically significant change on the scores of children with normal predrug performance.

Attention↗

Relationship between classroom behavior and achievement of mildly mentally retarded children.

Although the relationship between classroom behavior and academic achievement is well established for nonretarded children, the nature of this relationship is not clear for retarded children. Behavioral observations of 177 students in classrooms for educable mentally retarded children and for educationally handicapped children were compared to their achievement scores. Although significant correlations were found between some categories of behavior and achievement in arithmetic, the general absence of strong correlations was noteworthy when compared to previous findings on nonretarded subjects. Implications for academic instruction were suggested by the particular patterns of significant correlations.

Achievement↗

Minor chromosome variants in child psychiatric patients.

The frequency of minor chromosome variants, as detected by conventional chromosome analysis, was examined among 1,289 child psychiatric patients, of whom one-fourth had only behavioral problems and three-fourths had congenital abnormalities and more severe mental disorders. There was no more than random association between prominent satellites, prominent secondary constrictions or a long Y chromosome, and congenital abnormalities or more severe mental disorders. The frequencies of these chromosome variants were affected by race as has been shown in previous studies. These findings do not support the evidence for a developmental effect of minor variants in man.

Chromosome Aberrations↗