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Biomedical subjects

H Krystal

Publications and source records attributed to H Krystal.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Elevated salt and nitrate levels in drinking water cause an increase of blood pressure in schoolchildren.

AIM: To assess the influence on blood pressure in schoolchildren, of elevated sodium (Na(+)) and nitrate (NO(-)(3)) levels in the drinking water. METHODS: The blood pressure was recorded in three groups of age- and weight-matched schoolchildren (fourth and fifth graders) ingesting differing Na(+) and NO(-)(3) concentrations with their drinking water. Group 1 (n = 452) imbibed high-Na(+), high-NO(-)(3) water (196 and 49 mg/l, respectively); group 2 (n = 418) consumed low-Na(+), high-NO(-)(3) water (25 and 49 mg/l, respectively) and group 3 (n = 86) drank low-Na(+), low-NO(-)(3) water (35 and 25 mg/l, respectively). The chloride (Cl(-)) concentrations varied in parallel to those of Na(+). RESULTS: Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were significantly increased in group 1 versus groups 2 and 3 (115.6 +/- 12.2 and 86.4 +/- 9.6 mm Hg vs. 111.1 +/- 11.6 and 83 +/- 8.3 and 107 +/- 8.8 and 81 +/- 7.2 mm Hg, respectively, p < 0.05). The SBP in group 2 was also significantly higher than in group 3 (111.1 +/- 11.6 vs. 107 +/- 8.8 mm Hg; p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Elevated Na(+) (and possibly Cl(-)) in combination with high NO(-)(3) concentrations in drinking water leads to an increase of SBP and MAP in fourth and fifth graders. The effects of Na(+) (and/or Cl(-)) and NO(-)(3) on SBP and MAP appear to be additive, yet independent of each other.

Blood Pressure↗
PubMed1988

On some roots of creativity.

The possibility has to be considered that the infant, in danger of overwhelming himself with his own excitement, forms object-representations in ways dictated by expediency. It is necessary for survival to establish in one's mind an all-powerful and loving object-representation that contains in it major parts of the self-representation. In fact, all the vital and affective functions are attributed to the parenting object and are used only under a "franchise-like" illusion. From infancy we are just like the "hypnotized" person or the patient who has received a placebo and carries out self-caring or self-soothing functions under the illusion that he/she is not doing it on their own but the transference object is doing it. In considering the challenge of creating a coherent self-representation within the amazing world of perceptions and affects, it can be readily seen that it is very easy to overwhelm oneself, even for an adult just trying to imagine it. It is most helpful to use Stern's suggestion that probably a sense of self emerges gradually from the consolidation of various nuclear clusters of self-views. He listed (1) a self-agency, representing the recognition of one's volition and capacity to act; (2) a sense of self-coherence, representing a sentience of what remains constant within one's own purveyance; (3) a sense of self-affectivity, representing the recognition of feelings, that is, the subjective aspect of affective living; and (4) a sense of self-history, representing a registration of continuity and a recognition of what "goes on being." In our perusal of what we can learn by confronting the alexithymia picture lessons from developmental psychobiology and direct observations of infant behavior, we get useful clues to the origins of creativity. The epigenetic history of affects and the development of affect tolerance show us how these functions evolve in the context of the interaction of the infant and mother. The success in containing one's own excitement and keeping one's affects in manageable intensity so that they are useful for information processing is made possible by congruent responses of the mothering parent. This situation prolongs the illusions of symbiosis and omnipotence to their optimal duration, permitting a period of guilt-free practicing of self-soothing and self-gratification. By not forcing the conscious recognition of mother's externality and the confrontation with one's own rage and helplessness, the mother helps the infant to avoid a premature formation of an "external" object-representation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Affective Symptoms↗
PubMed1979

Alexithymia and psychotherapy.

Alexithymia represents a disturbance in affective and cognitive function which overlaps diagnostic categories. Emotions are not differential, and are poor verbalized. Imagination related to drive fulfillment is limited. These and other problems seriously interfere with the patients' capacity to benefit from dynamic, uncovering or "anxiety-producing" psychotherapy. In order to consider possible remediation of the problem, we must explore the nature and causes of this disturbance.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Alexithymia and the effectiveness of psychoanalytic treatment.

A subgroup of those patients who are not responsive to analytic treatment, despite meeting the usual criteria of analyzability, is considered. These patients typically have significant addictive, psychosomatic, and post-traumatic problems. They show a characteristic picture, now called "alexithymia." This involves an impairment of the ability to recognize, name, or verbalize emotions. The effects manifest themselves mainly in mixed physiological responses, which call attention to themselves rather than to their meaning or story. These emotions, which are less useable as signals, are dedifferentiated and resomatized. There is also a type of "operative thinking" with marked limitations in wishfulfillment and drive-related fantasy. There is a diminution of symbolization, and with it an impairment in the capacity to elaborate the kind of fantasies that underly neuroses and the related transferences. They also have a seriously diminished emotional involvement with their objects and a lowered capacity for empathy. Lastly, there are frequently associated problems such as anhedonia, impairments in the capacities for self-care, and affect tolerance. The impediments to psychoanalytic treatment resulting from this picture are considered, and some theories of its causation and therapeutic modifications calculated to enable these patients to benefit from psychotherapy are offered.

Adult↗