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Biomedical subjects

D Healy

Publications and source records attributed to D Healy.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

D1 and D2 and D3.

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Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1990

Memory deficit in clinical depression: processing resources and the structure of materials.

Resource theory predicts that the relative memory deficit shown by depressed patients should be greater with unstructured than structured material. Previous data using semantic categories word lists supports this, but lists approximating to text have produced the opposite result. Both types of structure were studied in this experiment. The prediction from resource theory was found to hold only when comparing medium and high levels of structure, and to hold more clearly for word lists approximating to text than for semantic categories lists. When word lists of low and medium levels of structure were compared, depressed patients showed relatively greater deficit with the more structured material. Ways in which this could be accommodated in a revised version of resource theory are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Dysfunctional attitudes and vulnerability to persistent depression.

Forty-four patients who met criteria for major depressive disorder were assessed for presence of dysfunctional attitudes and negative self-schema on admission. After six weeks, of sixteen patients who had shown high dysfunctional attitudes, six (35%) had not recovered. By contrast, of seventeen patients who had been equally severely depressed at the outset, but had low dysfunctional attitudes, only one (6%) had not recovered. The rating by the patients of themselves, as opposed to their attitudes, did not however predict. Thirty-one patients were tested six months later. Twenty-one (68%) remained asymptomatic, ten patients had relapsed or not responded to treatment, but neither type of admission measure predicted the state at this point. This is consistent with previous evidence which suggests that vulnerable attitudes assessed when symptomatic predict recovery, but that for prediction of relapse, cognitive measures need to be used when the patient is asymptomatic.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

3H-imipramine binding to previously frozen platelet membranes from depressed patients, before and after treatment.

3H-imipramine binding in 39 drug-free patients with major depression and 44 healthy controls did not differ significantly between the two groups, in male or female subjects or in subgroups of depressed patients divided by endogenicity or dexamethasone suppression test result. 3H-imipramine binding in depressed patients drug-free for less than three weeks did not differ from those drug-free for longer intervals or from controls. A significant seasonal variation of 3H-imipramine Bmax was found, with lower values in summer and autumn. Treatment of depressed patients with imipramine or lofepramine for six weeks increased KD and Bmax. Methodological modification (in preparation and storage of platelets) does not explain the major differences in results between this study (using frozen platelets), a previous one (using freshly prepared platelets) and others in general, although it might contribute to the range of values reported.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

The circadian system and affective disorders: clocks or rhythms?

There have been a number of proposals that a pathology of the circadian system involving clock functioning underlies the affective disorders. It is argued that neither current findings from research into the neurophysiological substrates of the affective disorders, recent clinical findings regarding these illnesses or their phenomenology support such a contention. This does not mean however that there is not a primary pathological disturbance of the circadian system at the heart of the affective disorders. The same neurophysiological, phenomenological and clinical evidence can be offered in favour of a disturbance of circadian rhythms in the presence of grossly normal clock functioning. The research and remedial implications of this alternative are outlined briefly.

Biological Clocks↗
PubMed1989

Pregnancy results following embryo transfer in women receiving low-dosage variable-length estrogen replacement therapy for premature ovarian failure.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of a new, constant low-dose, variable-length estrogen replacement therapy in preparing the endometrium of women suffering premature ovarian failure for embryo implantation. Five of 10 patients receiving the new regime became pregnant following a total of 14 embryo transfers. This study proves the efficacy of low-dosage variable-length estrogen replacement therapy for preparing the endometrium for embryo implantation in patients suffering premature ovarian failure. These studies confirm earlier observations that sequentially increasing doses of estrogen during the follicular phase are unnecessary for implantation and that the length of the follicular phase within certain undefined limits is not critical. A second important observation arising from this study concerns the relative effectiveness of the route of administration of progesterone. Five of seven patients became pregnant after receiving vaginal pessaries, compared to none of seven following intramuscular injections.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Do raised serum luteinizing hormone levels during stimulation for in-vitro fertilization predict outcome?

Previous reports associating raised LH concentrations with reduced fertilization and pregnancy rates in women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) have assumed a Gaussian distribution of LH values with IVF treatment. We have determined the serum LH range during ovarian stimulation for IVF with a single regimen of clomiphene citrate/hMG from 102 consecutive IVF conception cycles. The results show a non-Gaussian distribution of LH values. Application of this LH range to a consecutive series of 596 women undergoing IVF treated with this single regimen showed no difference in pregnancy rates, fertilization rates, median number of oocytes fertilized or retrieved when analysed with respect to serum LH concentrations above the 75th or 95th centile for greater than or equal to 3 days of an IVF treatment cycle. We conclude that follicular-phase LH concentrations do not predict IVF fertilization rates or clinical outcome and are not clinically useful in individual patient management.

Clomiphene↗
PubMed1989

Moods, misattributions and mania: an interaction of biological and psychological factors in the pathogenesis of mania.

Circadian rhythm dysfunction has recently been suggested to have a causal role in major depressive disorders. Against this background, experiments on circadian rhythms are outlined that yield a state of sustained sleepless activity. Such states can be brought about it seems by manipulation of the external zeitgebers to which rhythms are synchronized rather than by any alteration of the circadian clock. This can be expected to yield a disorganized rhythmic state rather than any discrete phase shifting or desynchronization of rhythms. This state it is suggested should lead to a mild dysphoria, psychomotor activation and a subtle disordering of thought form. It is proposed that these changes lead to the typical clinical picture of mania when distorted cognitively by mechanisms similar to those found in depression. There are a number of implications of this hypothesis. Firstly, mania should commonly be precipitated by similar psychosocial factors to those which precipitate depression. Secondly, similar neuroendocrine findings should be found in both depression and mania. Thirdly, similar agents should be effective in the treatment of mania and depression. Fourthly, cognitive therapy may play a significant part in the management of acute episodes of mania and reduce liability to chronicity.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1987

Immunohistochemical detection of inhibin in the gonad.

Antiserum to inhibin was produced in rabbits by immunization with a synthetic [Tyr30]alpha-chain(1-30)NH2 fragment of porcine inhibin coupled to bovine serum albumin, and the elicited antiserum was used in conjunction with the avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase procedure to localize inhibin-reactive cells in various rat tissue preparations. In the testes, only the Sertoli cells revealed immunoreactivity with the antiserum. Intense staining was also observed in ovarian follicular granulosa cells but not in the theca layer outside the basement membrane. In addition, the luteal cells in the corpus luteum were also stained by the antiserum. The positive staining in the gonadal tissues could be blocked completely by pre-adsorbing the serum with either the synthetic peptide or native inhibin. Immunostaining was not detected in brain, pituitary, thymus, stomach, pancreas, kidney and adrenal section, thus confirming that inhibin is a polypeptide originating only from specific cells of the gonad.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Rhythm and blues. Neurochemical, neuropharmacological and neuropsychological implications of a hypothesis of circadian rhythm dysfunction in the affective disorders.

Current views on the organisation and functions of the circadian rhythm system are outlined. Evidence is presented supportive of the notion that the pathophysiology of the affective disorders involves a disruption of circadian rhythms and that the primary locus of action of agents effective in the affective disorders is on the circadian rhythm system. Potential disruptions of this system are enumerated. Such a hypothesis, it is argued, might potentially unite the disparate neurochemical and neuroendocrinological findings emerging in both depression and mania. There are in addition neuropsychological and nosological implications of such a framework, which may help bridge the divide between molecular and behavioural approaches to research on the affective disorders which are outlined.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1987

A controlled study between the use of gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) and in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer in the management of idiopathic and male infertility.

A randomized controlled trial comparing the use-effectiveness between gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer (ET) procedures showed no significant difference in pregnancy rates in the management of patients presenting with idiopathic or male infertility. The cost-effectiveness of GIFT appears superior to IVF and ET with laparoscopic oocyte collection, but comparable to IVF-ET with ultrasonic oocyte collection. The lack of data on the fertilizing capacity of sperm in GIFT procedures in cases of male infertility is a real disadvantage and currently precludes the management of severe male infertility with this method.

Adult↗