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Biomedical subjects

K Millar

Publications and source records attributed to K Millar.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Alcohol placebos: you can only fool some of the people all of the time.

Some data from three studies of the acute psychological effects of alcohol are presented. After blind administration subjects could often tell that they had consumed alcohol, presumably because of its physiological effects. About 50% of subjects who received placebo alcohol felt slightly drunk and guessed that they had received alcohol. But, subjects who had actually received alcohol rated themselves as more drunk and were much more likely to guess that they had received alcohol. Subjects could also approximately estimate how much alcohol they had drunk. These findings suggest that the effects of unblinding should be considered when alcohol is administered in placebo designs. True blind placebo administration may only be possible when achieved BAL is < 40 mg/100 ml.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1992

Reduction of alcohol-induced performance impairment by prior ingestion of food.

The study examined the effectiveness of eating a meal prior to drinking alcohol as a means of reducing both peak blood alcohol level (BAL) and alcohol-induced performance impairment. In a separate-groups design, 133 male volunteers either fasted or received a standard meal of fixed calorific value and composition. Alcohol was then administered as placebo or at doses to achieve a BAL of 0, 20, 40 or 80 mg/100 ml. Subjects performed a dual task of primary tracking and secondary reaction time, short-term memory, five-choice reaction time and critical flicker fusion. Alcohol significantly impaired dual task performance but impairment was significantly reduced for those subjects who had eaten beforehand. BAL was also significantly lower in such subjects. It was concluded that prior ingestion of food might reduce the adverse effects of alcoholic intoxication, although performance remained impaired relative to the sober state.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Psychomotor recovery after outpatient anaesthesia: individual impairment may be masked by group analysis.

Recovery from outpatient anaesthesia with propofol was followed in 10 patients, using a semantic recognition memory test (SemRT) (in a new implementation on a Psion hand-held microcomputer), choice reaction time (CRT) and critical flicker fusion threshold (CFFT). Group analysis of results revealed an effect on psychomotor performance as measured by the SemRT and CFFT (but not the CRT), 30 min after the end of the procedure. Performance on all three tasks had returned to baseline values within 60 min of completing the anaesthetic. Group analysis, however, masks individual impairment which may be clinically important. There was no statistically significant correlation between post-anaesthetic task performance and age, sex, dose of propofol, anxiety or depression score.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Stress in dental practice.

The life of a GDP is stressful, and the reasons why dentists may experience stress in their chosen profession are many and varied. This article discusses the causes of stress, and outlines some strategies for coping with it.

Dentists↗
PubMed1990

Advice for the dental team on coping with the nervous child.

It is increasingly recognized that the provision of dental care should not be seen in isolation from the psychological make-up and social background of the patient. The General Dental Council has recently approved the report of its Working Party giving guidance on the teaching of the behavioural sciences (psychology and sociology) in the dental curriculum. One of the members of the Working Party was Professor Keith Millar. In this five-part series edited by Professor Millar we will cover the practical application of behavioural science in dentistry, covering communication with patients, ways to change your patients' behaviour, the management of anxious adult and child patients, and stress in dentistry. This first article offers some advice on coping with the nervous child.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1990

Sustained peripheral vasoconstriction while working in continuous intense noise.

The study examined the effects of exposure to continuous noise on pulse volume (vasoconstriction) and rate, as well as four-choice serial reaction time. There were 2 separate groups of 12 subjects that performed the 20-min task during simultaneous monitoring of their physiological response to continuous 93 dBA white noise or 70 dBA quiet control conditions. Pulse volume showed marked reduction, implying increased arousal, in the first 3-min exposure to noise. Although some habituation of the vasoconstriction response then occurred, pulse volume continued to remain significantly higher than in quiet throughout the work period. Serial choice performance was unaffected by noise. The results confirm that there is a physiological cost incurred when working in noise and one may be concerned for long-term effects on noise-exposed people.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Vasopressin and memory: improvement in normal short-term recall and reduction of alcohol-induced amnesia.

The vasopressin analogue 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) has been shown in healthy male volunteers to cause significant improvement in short-term memory and to reduce alcohol-induced amnesia. There was no significant effect upon semantic retrieval or simple reaction time. It was concluded that vasopressin benefited the initial processes of consolidation and learning, while the reduction of the amnesic effects of alcohol may support the contentions of other authors that the peptide improves memory in states of mild amnesia.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Limy 'milky' bile: without apparent gall-bladder obstruction by a gallstone.

Limy bile, characterized by excessive precipitation of calcium carbonate, is an uncommon complication of gallstone disease, and is a condition that seems to follow gall-bladder obstruction. Limy bile was observed at cholecystectomy in a 57 year old woman who presented with biliary colic. At operation a mass of precipitated cohesive crystals, that had coalesced into a whitish paste of calcium carbonate, was observed obstructing the outlet of the gall-bladder. This case report is unique in that calcium carbonate precipitation appears to have preceded gall-bladder obstruction.

Bile↗
PubMed1983

Clinical trial design: the neglected problem of asymmetrical transfer in cross-over trials.

The paper illustrates drawbacks of the popular cross-over design in clinical trials in psychiatry where treatment effects become distorted by, and confounded with, the effects of their order of administration. It is argued that research workers should analyse data from cross-over trials for asymmetries due to order of treatment and seriously doubt the reliability of data if such effects are found. The problem is avoided by the use of separate-groups designs.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1983

Asymmetrical transfer: an inherent weakness of repeated-measure drug experiments.

When subjects act as their own controls in drug experiments there is a risk of asymmetrical transfer between treatment conditions, with the result that treatment effects are determined largely by order of administration. In such cases the effect of a drug may be reduced or exaggerated, and prior treatment with a drug may affect placebo conditions. Asymmetrical transfer is probably much more common than is generally realized. Suggested causes include inadequate wash-out between treatments, state-dependent learning, adoption of learning strategies, and practice effects. The problem is illustrated by the reanalysis of a paper on the effects of benzhexol on memory, published recently in this journal (Potamianos and Kellet, 1982). The advantages of separate-group experimental design are reconsidered.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Differences in performance impairment due to brompheniramine maleate as a function of the sustained-release system.

1 study examined whether different sustained release systems would cause variation in the effect of an antihistamine, brompheniramine maleate 10 mg, upon mood and psychomotor performance. Two commercial preparations were examined, one giving linear release (LR) of the drug over time, the other releasing the drug in a non-linear fashion (NLR). 2 Thirty-six males were allocated to four separate groups receiving either the drug with LR, drug with NLR, placebo or drug-free control. Single dosage of the drug occurred at 08.30 h and subjects completed mood inventories and performed serial choice reaction time and visual search tasks at 1 h, 2.75 h, 5.5 h and 7.25 h post dosage. 3 The NLR system significantly increased feelings of unco-ordination at 2.75 h and significantly slowed reaction time at both 2.75 and 5.5 h post dosage. The LR system significantly slowed reaction time only at 5.5 h but increased pausing in serial choice performance at that time. Neither system impaired visual search. 4 Results suggest that two preparations having identical active constituents may vary in their effects on psychomotor performance and mood as a function of their sustained release systems. A system giving linear release of the drug can reduce the early post-dosage performance decrement associated with a non-linear release system.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The effects upon vigilance and reaction speed of the addition of ephedrine hydrochloride to chlorpheniramine maleate.

The addition of stimulant, ephedrine hydrochloride (15 mg), to the antihistamine, chlorpheniramine maleate (10 mg) is shown significantly to reduce the adverse drowsy effects of the latter upon various components of human performance. Auditory vigilance--a test of long-term attentiveness--is shown particularly to benefit from the addition of ephedrine. Whilst ephedrine does not aid simple reaction speed, it does reduce the pausing in serial-choice performance, indicative of a drowsy state, which otherwise occurs under chlorpheniramine alone.

Adolescent↗