Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K O'Sullivan.
We report 7 infants suffering from seizures induced by chronic boric acid ingestion. The boric acid was given by dipping a soother in a proprietary borax and honey mixture. The babies have remained well since the mixture was withheld.
Three hundred male Irish alcoholics were selected from 508 consecutive alcoholic admissions to hospital. Using well defined diagnostic criteria, they were divided into three subgroups (1) primary alcoholics, (2) alcoholics with secondary affective disorder and (3) those with primary affective disorder and secondary alcoholism. Although the three groups reported differences in past history and family history of affective disorder and in time spent in hospital for both alcoholism and affective disorder, there was little to distinguish them in behaviour associated with alcoholism or in family history of alcoholism. The implications of these findings and their significance for the relationship of affective disorder and alcoholism are discussed.
Blood from chronic schizophrenic patients in two hospitals (A and B) and from institutional and noninstitutional controls was analyzed for platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity toward three different substrates (tryptamine, phenylethylamine, and p-tyramine) and for plasma levels of conjugated and unconjugated phenylacetic acid (PAA) and m- and p-hydroxyphenylacetic acids (mHPA and pHPA). Compared to the controls, schizophrenic patients were found to have significantly reduced MAO activity. Although significant differences were found between unconjugated PAA (reduced) in Hospital B, conjugated pHPA (increased) in Hospital A, and conjugated PAA (increased) in Hospitals A and B and noninstitutional controls, the most consistent significant finding was a reduced unconjugated mHPA in both groups of schizophrenic patients compared with both control groups.
We have investigated some biochemical properties of platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) isolated from chronic schizophrenic and agoraphobic patients, nonschizophrenic institutional controls, and healthy volunteers. The enzyme activity level in the healthy population was reasonably constant over at least a 6-week period. High correlations were found between MAO activity assessed for different substrates (p-tyramine, beta-phenylethylamine, and tryptamine). Some heterogeneity of the platelet MAO may exist, however, at least in some of the chronic schizophrenics, since the substrate specificities were changed and the Km values reduced. The half-life of the enzyme at 58 degrees C was 2-3 minutes and the transition temperature derived from Arrhenius plots was 16-17 degrees C with respect to beta-phenylethylamine. Platelet MAO from chronic schizophrenics was not significantly different from control values with respect to temperature effects. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the 3H-pargyline-MAO adduct revealed that the subunit of platelet MAO is a single band protein with a molar individuals. The adjacent structure of the flavine site of the platelet MAO was chromatographically identical to the penta-peptide isolated from MAOs from other tissues. The response of platelet MAO to thimerosal, a new differential type A MAO inhibitor, could be distinguished not only from type A MAO isolated from human placenta, but also from type B MAO isolated from bovine liver.
1. Kidney function during long-term lithium treatment was studied in the representative sample of patients with recurrent affective disorders. Creatinine clearance, maximum urinary osmolality and 24-hour urine volume were determined. 2. Patients were divided according to their type of response to long-term lithium treatment, expressed by the effect on the frequency of recurrencies. Various indicators of kidney function were compared in excellent responders and in non-responders. 3. Long-term lithium treatment did not lead to any detectable changes of glomerular filtration in either group. 4. In comparison with responders, non-responders showed a significantly greater increase in 24-hour urine volume and a trend towards a greater reduction of maximum urinary osmolality, and thus a greater impairment of tubular function. 5. The findings stress the need for a careful selection of patients for long-term lithium stabilization.
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This article describes a group of 23 Irish women with vaginismus. This figure represents 42% of the total female referrals to the author, and is quite high when compared with other reports. The type of treatment before referral, and the characteristics of the patients, tend to confirm the author's diagnosis, which was made only after vaginal examination. Social and cultural factors unique to Ireland are believed to be of importance in the clinical presentation of this form of sexual dysfunction. A number of differences are seen when women with vaginismus are compared with those who complain of orgasmic dysfunction. These differences relate to childhood experiences, their perception of their marriage, and their sexual dysfunction. The success rate, number of sessions required for treatment, and recovery rate at follow-up are described for vaginismus. All women with this condition who persisted with treatment recovered, whereas those described as failures stopped within three visits. The author believes that the therapeutic claims of sex therapists in recent years must be viewed critically, as self-selection seems to be an important influence on prognosis.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The process of applying for refugee status in Australia is complex, lengthy and often poorly understood by asylum seekers. The psychological reaction patterns of detainees whose claims for asylum are unsuccessful are characterised by stages of increasing depression, punctuated by periods of protest, as feelings of injustice overwhelm them. These reactions have a marked secondary impact on their children in detention. The prolonged detention of asylum seekers appears to cause serious psychological harm. Even if many of those who spend long periods of time are not deemed to have proven their refugee claims, this administrative decision should not be grounds for inflicting grave ongoing psychological injury on the applicants.