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Biomedical subjects

L L Judd

Publications and source records attributed to L L Judd.

115 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1967

The normal psychological development of the american adolescent; a review.

Adolescence is a time of life marked by emotional turbulence and turmoil, which creates problems for the adolescent, his family and society in general. The psychological development that occurs during this period can be organized into developmental tasks, which emphasize the purposefulness of adolescence. An awareness of the nine essential tasks of development can serve as a basis for assessing the appropriateness and the developmental level of adolescent behavior. The establishment of a realistic self-concept (identity) is the most basic task of adolescence. Behavioral experimentation, the process through which much of the emotional growth of adolescence occurs, also accounts for the majority of the paradoxical and perplexing actions that typify the adolescent. To be in a better position to understand today's teenagers, the physician should not judge normality or abnormality by adult standards, but should view adolescence in reference to its own processes and purposes.

Personality Development↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal regulation, neurotransmitters and affective disorders.

Considerable evidence has accumulated indicating that alterations in neurotransmitters may play a role in the etiology of affective disorders on the one hand, and in the regulation of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (LHPA) on the other. Acetylcholine, norepinephrine, serotonin, GABA, the opioid polypeptides and dopamine have all been implicated in both phenomena. Although some contradictory evidence exists, norepinephrine, opioids, and GABA appear inhibitory, and serotonin and acetylcholine appear excitatory of the LHPA axis. In a correlative study, non-suppression of cortisol by dexamethasone correlated positively and significantly with methylphenidate-induced euphoric and antidepressant responses, and methadone induced growth hormone responses, possibly suggesting catecholamine and opioid receptor hypersensitivity. Although the overall effects of the cholinomimetic, physostigmine, did not correlate with dexamethasone non-suppression, strong positive correlations were found in a subgroup, consisting of affective disorder patients, between non-suppression of cortisol by dexamethasone and the physostigmine response, suggesting cholinergic hypersensitivity in the non-suppressing subjects.

Alcoholism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Changes in psychiatric diagnoses from admission to discharge: review of the charts of 159 patients consecutively admitted to a geriatric psychiatry inpatient unit.

The diagnosis of psychopathology among geriatric acute inpatients requires comprehensive evaluation. To our knowledge, no recently published papers in the geriatric psychiatry literature have systematically examined diagnostic changes during single admissions. We reviewed the charts of 159 patients consecutively admitted to an acute geriatric psychiatry unit over 18 months. We recorded admission diagnoses from initial treatment plans, and discharge diagnoses from discharge summaries. Mean patient age was 80 years and average length of stay was 17 days. The most common primary diagnoses were psychotic and depressive disorders. The most common secondary diagnoses were dementias and depressive disorders. Primary diagnoses changed from admission to discharge in 31 patients (20%), and secondary diagnoses changed in 76 patients (48%). There was a significant change involving the diagnosis of dementia, but not that of depressive or psychotic disorders. A large proportion of inpatients had their diagnoses altered, especially those involving dementias, during hospitalization. Inpatient admission may be valuable for clarifying the diagnoses of elderly psychiatric patients.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quality of well being in panic disorder: the assessment of psychiatric and general disability.

BACKGROUND: Panic disorder is a common and debilitating anxiety disorder which significantly disrupts the lives of patients and their family members. Recent epidemiological studies and analyses of data from clinical trials suggest that patients with panic disorder suffer significant work and social dysfunction. The authors hypothesized that this dysfunction could be characterized using both a well-validated, generalized scale of functioning and a specifically designed scale for assessing function in psychiatric patients and that these findings would correlate with symptomatology. METHOD: Fifty-six patients with panic disorder were characterized using the Sheehan Disability Scale, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, and the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Scale. Measures of health related quality of life from the Quality of Well Being Scale were compared with ratings for matched, historical, and population controls. RESULTS: Patients with panic disorder lost 39 quality-adjusted days for each year that they lived with the disorder. This decrease in quality of life is similar to what is observed in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes. Diminished quality of life is correlated with the number of panic attacks, state anxiety, and depressive symptoms. These patients also demonstrated significant dysfunction in Sheehan total disability and subscale scores, including work-related functioning. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the specific disabilities inherent in panic disorder can be linked to declines in quality of life as measured by the Quality of Well Being Scale and by measures of work-related dysfunction. Such an association between disease specific measures and a generalized measure of health related quality of life may offer clinicians a new tool to understand panic disorder and to conceptualize it within the broader context of disease and disability.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Naloxone augments electrophysiological signs of selective attention in man.

Previous research on the behavioural functions of endogenous opioid systems in rodents suggested a possible opioid role in the regulation of attention. This proposal was consistent with reports that opiate administration in man impairs the ability to concentrate while opiate antagonists augment behavioural and electrophysiological indices of arousal and attention. We examined the effects of the opiate antagonist naloxone on electrophysiological measures of attention in normal human subjects, using a paradigm which dissociates selective information processing from concurrent processes of general arousal or alertness that may be present. We now report electrophysiological evidence that naloxone improves the selectivity of auditory attention in the presence of competing sources of stimuli. These findings indicate a role for the endogenous opioid systems in the regulation of selective attention in man.

Acoustic Stimulation↗