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Biomedical subjects

L Pöllmann

Publications and source records attributed to L Pöllmann.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

[On circadian variations of the placebo effect on the pain threshold of healthy teeth: Contribution to a physiology of placebo effects (author's transl)].

Placebo doses can influence the pain threshold of healthy teeth according to the label. Systematic longitudinal researches over the day with measuring the utilization time of cold stimulus on healthy front teeth demonstrate that the placebo effect is subject to significant circadian variations. During daytime a pseudo-analgesic causes a stronger and steeper onset of increase of the tooth pain threshold than during the night, when the pain threshold is influenced only minimal or even inverse. The placebo effect can come up to 40% of the pain threshold increase caused by a usual analgesic; this portion, however, is as well subject to high circadian variations. The extent of the placebo effect corresponds to the order of magnitude of the spontaneous circadian variations of pain threshold and correlates positively to it. These correlations are considered as indicating that those vegetative mechanisms causing the circadian variations of the pain threshold are equally involved in affecting the placebo actions.

Circadian Rhythm

[Acute necrotizing-ulcerative gingivitis in young men].

Acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis is a disease in which the bacilli of the flora normally found in the buccal cavity (fusiform bacilli and spirochetae) play a role. This type of gingivitis occurs relatively frequently in young men. The frequency of the disease tends to peak in the winter. We examined 72 young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one with acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis, fever and swelling of the regional lymph nodes for possible noxas. All of the individuals were smokers: approximately 3/4s of the group smoked more than 60 cigarettes per day. Roughly half of the individuals examined showed extremely poor oral hygiene or underlying psychological or physical stress at the onset of the disease. Dentitio difficilis and alcohol abuse however appeared to be less important factors. Symptomatic measures, such as mouthwash and oral hygiene, proved to be effective therapy. Diseases and disorders of internal structures of the body could not be diagnosed in any of these individuals.

Adolescent

Rhythmic changes in pain sensitivity in teeth.

In 136 healthy men, circadian variations in pain threshold have been observed in healthy front teeth, the pain being elicited by a cold stimulus, alterations in threshold then being inferred from changes in the minimum cold application time. The pain threshold is maximal in the early afternoon and at a minimum in the early morning. In previous experiments using an electrical current as the pain stimulus, a similar diurnal variation of sensitivity was also observed. These results conform with clinical experience of the time of onset of toothache, and are also in accord with known diurnal variations of pain sensitivity in other organs. Further studies were carried out on one subject. The minimum cold application time test was performed over more than 3 years on a healthy front tooth. The results suggest a circannual rhythm of the pain threshold, with a maximum in October/November and a minimum in May.

Adolescent

[The suggestive control of the pain threshold in healthy teeth].

Changes in pain tolerance after administration of differently labelled placebos were studied by measuring the reaction time after a cold stimulus. Significant changes after placebo administration were observed in the morning as well as in the evening. These differed among placebos declared to be analgetics, hyperaesthetics and medications with no effect on pain. The time of day also influenced the results.

Adult

[The dissociated hypersthesia in Vincent's symptom--an indication of the etiology].

The so-called Vincent's symptom is a functional disturbance in the region of the distribution of n. alveolaris mand. Etiologically, it may be due to pathologic disorders of different origin. In fractures of the mandible with rupture of the nerve in the mandibular canal, complete anesthesia is observed. In inflammatory processes pain is first felt differently, later anesthesia is noted. In the case of a space-occupying lesion, tactile differentiation is disturbed first and pain sensation only after a relatively long time. In the case of infiltrating tumors, a neuritis is noted first (late Vincent's symptom). Thus, partially disturbed sensitivity may be a helpful symptom for differential diagnostic considerations, as is demonstrated in a number of cases.

Adult

[Diurnal differences in the effectiveness of an analgesic].

At different times of the day, the effect of an analgesic was systematically tested on healthy teeth by using a cold stimulus. The measure of the analgetic effect was the alteration of pain threshold measured by means of the minimum cold application time. In addition to the already known spontaneous variations in pain tolerance at the various times of the day, it was found that in the evening the effect of an analgesic is reduced and begins more slowly.

Adult