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Biomedical subjects

M Fink

Publications and source records attributed to M Fink.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

ECT in metropolitan New York hospitals: a survey of practice, 1975-1976.

Of New York psychiatric facilities surveyed, 83% used ECT. Five percent of patients in university and private nonprofit hospitals, less than 1% in public hospitals, and 21% in private for-profit hospitals received ECT. Practices and procedures were remarkably uniform, except that less than 17% of units used unilateral ECT. Training programs were minimal and unplanned. Differences in incidence of use result from staff training, public antipathy, and economic factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

EEG and psychopharmacology.

The waking EEG bears direct relations to chemical changes in the brain induced by drugs. The waking EEG is responsive to the unique characteristics of psychoactive drugs. Their EEG signatures are predictive of their short-term behavioral effects and of their clinical efficacy. This association has led to the development of cerebral electrometry - a technique to predict a drug's clinical profile from experimental trials in normal volunteers. The technique is also useful in pharmacodynamic studies. Cerebral electrometry depends on careful control of behavioral variables, quantification of EEG effects and statistical processing of the data. The EEG-behavioral associations do not depend on a single method of quantification. Behavioral association is predicted for animal studies as well. Lacking, however, are studies in animals with adequate behavioral controls, clinical correlations of direct use to the individual patient and robust tests of this association hypothesis. The past decade has shown the utility of quantitative EEG studies and improved the methodology to a practical art. The next decade should see the techniques used by classical pharmacologists, mindful of the restraints inherent in animal models of the mental aspects of behavior.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Electroencephalogram study of mianserin in depressed patients.

1. Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and blood level assessments were included in a clinical comparison of the effects of mianserin (GB-94), imipramine and placebo in depressed, hospitalized patients during a 3-week observation period. 2. Temporal changes in behavioural ratings were observed, but these failed to be distinguished among the active drugs and placebo. EEG measures also showed temporal changes, but these also failed to distinguish among the drug conditions, except at 2 h after administration of the first dose. 3. Plasma levels of mianserin were obtained with EEG recordings in a temporal relationship to the behavioural assessments. There were no correlations between the changes in EEG variables and plasma levels of mianserin, or between EEG and behavioural variables, except on acute administration. The lack of discrimination for the EEG variables may be related to the quality of the EEG recordings and the poor control of the temporal relationships of behavioural assessments to EEG recording and drug dosing.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

EEG, blood level, and behavioral effects of the antidepressant mianserin (ORG GB-94).

A pharmacokinetic analysis of a new antidepressant drug, mianserin (ORG GB-94), was undertaken in 4 male volunteers, each of whom received 15 mg mianserin on two occasions. Plasma levels peak at 2 h with a median level of 11.0 ng/ml, a median beta-phase half-life of 10.0 h, and a median apparent volume of distribution of 3.3 X 10(3) 1. EEG profile analysis shows mianserin to increase frequencies below 6 Hz, decrease those from 7.5 to 15 Hz, and increase frequencies above 18 Hz, a pattern similar to amitriptyline. Peak EEG effects range from 2 to 5 h with a pattern of measured changes that parallels plasma levels with varying latency. Decreases in vigilance measures and in critical flicker-fusion frequency show a similar time course. Mianserin is a putative thymoleptic on EEG profile analysis with high cerebral penetrance.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

[Suppressive effect of somatostatin on secretin-CCK-PZ-stimulated endocrine and exocrine pancreatic function in man (author's transl)].

With a view toward the therapeutic use of somatostatin in the treatment of acute pancreatitis, a preliminary investigation was conducted with 6 healthy volunteers, in which the suppressive effect of somatostatin on endocrine and exocrine pancreatic function was observed. A 30-minute baseline measurement period was followed by the administration of cyclic somatostatin (100 microgram by i.v. injection plus a 90-minute infusion at a rate of 200 microgram/hr). After the first 45 minutes of this infusion secretion was submaximally stimulated by the infusion of secretin-cholecystokinin-pancreozymin (CCK-PZ) (75 U each), over two hours. No decrease was observed in basal bicarbonate or enzyme concentration under somatostatin administration alone. However, secretion did not show the usual steep rise after the commencement of stimulation. After the somatostatin infusion was stopped, i.e. under secretin-CCK-PZ alone, a significant increase occurred in the values of secretin-induced volume, bicarbonate concentration and total bicarbonate contents of the duodenal aspirate, as well as in CCK-PZ-induced enzyme secretion. The release of insulin, both basal and stimulated, was also significantly decreased by somatostatin.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

[The Holoscan: a great improvement for diagnosis by ultrasonics].

We present a new B-scan device, the Holoscan, which combines real time imaging and high resolution capabilities. These capabilities are given by electronic scanning of a linear array and by a holographic focusing technique. This instrument is easy to use and allows high quality pictures to be obtained. Some results are presented.

Aorta, Abdominal↗
PubMed1977

EEG sleep diagnosis of medical disease in depression.

The diagnosis of medical disease in the context of a depressive syndrome which may mimic medical illness has traditionally relied on a combination of exhaustive medical screening and neuropsychological testing. When 10 patients with primary depression were compared to 10 patients whose depression occurred in the context of concurrent medical disease, a single EEG sleep variable, total phasic REM activity (RA), correctly identified 95% of all 20 patients as either primary depressives or medical patients with depression. Conventional psychiatric assessment and neuropsychological testing were significantly less powerful discriminators among this sample.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Myths of "shock therapy".

The author discusses the myths of the ECT process--that shock and the convulsion are essential, memory loss and brain damage are inescapable, and little is known of the process--and assesses the fallacies in these ideas. Present views of the ECT process suggest that its mode of action in depression may best be described as a prolonged form of diencephalic stimulation, particularly useful to affect the hypothalamic dysfunctions that characterize depressive illness. The author emphasizes the need for further study of this treatment modality and for self-regulation by the profession.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗
PubMed1976

Blood levels and electroencephalographic effects of diazepam and bromazepam.

Blood levels and electroencephalographic (EEG) data were collected for 2 hr after single oral doses of bromazepam (9 mg), diazepam (10 mg), and placebo in 13 male adult volunteers. Both drugs caused an increase in beta activity (above 13 Hz) and a decrease in alpha activity (9 to 11 Hz) in the EEG. Blood levels of 100 ng/ml of diazepam or 50 ng/ml of bromazepam were associated with significant changes in EEG beta activity. Temporal changes in the EEG after administration of diazepam or bromazepam paralleled development of plasma levels of these drugs. Although a weakly significant correlation was found between measurable diazepam blood levels and amount of increased EEG beta activity, the relationship between measurable bromazepam blood levels and the degree of EEG changes was not significant. Quantitative EEG is a sensitive continuous response measure, useful in defining cerebral activity, response latency, and relative potency of psychoactive benzodiazepines.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

On the use of ultraviolet light to study protein-DNA crosslinking.

Irradiation of Ehrlich ascites chromatin with ultraviolet light (u.v.) leads to protein-DNA crosslinking as determined by CsCl isopycnic ultra-centrifugation and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. At the most 4.5% of the chromatin proteins labelled with (14C)-lysine and (14C)-arginine can be crosslinked to DNA at u.v. doses between 3.6 X 10(4) to 10.8 X 10(4) ergs/mm2. We find however that the crosslinking reaction is hindered by protein breakage induced by u.v. light of wave length of less than 2950 A. Our results point out that caution must be used in the interpretation of studies on protein-nucleic acid interactions using u.v. light.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Effects of acute and chronic inhalation of hashish, marijuana, and delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol on brain electrical activity in man: evidence for tissue tolerance.

An EEG profile for cannabis preparations equated for delta 9-THC activity has been defined in occasional cannabis users in New York and in long-term, high-dose hashish users in Athens. The EEG effects of enhanced alpha activity, decreased beta activity, and decreased mean frequency are dose dependent, both in intensity and in duration. The behavioral measures, particularly self-ratings of euphoria ("high" or "mastura") and heart rate, are also dose dependent and interrelated with the EEG measures. Tolerance to the cerebral, heart rate, and behavioral effects of repeated inhalations of delta 9-THC are demonstrable in chronic users and also in short-term (21-day) experimental administration studies. delta9-THC and cannabis preparations are distinguishable from opiates, hallucinogens, and deliriants by their EEG effects. No differences in incidence of abnormal EEG records were found between long-term heavy hashish users and controls. Taken in conjunction with the neurologic, echo-EEG, and psychopathologic data in these men, we failed to define a syndrome of persistent brain damage as a result of hashish use, although persistent adaptational changes are noted in the development of tissue tolerance.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

EEG and task performance after ACTH4-10 in man.

Effects of the heptapeptide ACTH4-10 (Org OI-63) on EEG, some memory tests, and behavior were examined in 12 normal male volunteers under 30 years of age. An intravenous dose of 60 mg was compared to placebo in a Latin square design. EEG was recorded for 2 h after administration of ACTH4-10 or placebo and was quantified by power spectral density analysis. Drug differences were tested by analyses of variance and covariance. No statistical drug effect was seen on the EEG or behavioral measures. Of the psychological tests, only the digit span test showed a decrease in number of errors with ACTH4-10 (p less than or equal to o.05). These results are consistent with previous studies and suggest that an intravenous bolus of ACTH4-10 has a limited effect on the brain function tested.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1976

Chronic hashish use and mental disorder.

The authors compared 47 long-term users of hashish with a control group of 40 subjects matched for age, ethnic origin, education, etc., in order to determine whether they differed significantly on psychiatric, physical health, and demographic variables. There was a significantly higher incidence of personality disorders, unemployment, and prison sentences in the group of chronic users. However, in contrast to the findings of other researchers, the hashish users did not have organic psychoses, nor did they differ from control subjects in neurologic signs or EEG and echo encephalogram patterns.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Concentration of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, homovanillic acid, and tryptophan in the cerebrospinal fluid of depressed patients before and after ECT.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA), tryptophan (TRYP), and homovanillic acid (HVA), were determined prior to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and after an average course of 6.7 ECT in six endogenous depressed patients. Depression rating scale (DRS) scores were also obtained by a "blind" research psychiatrist before and after ECT at the time of each lumbar puncture. ECT markedly reduced DRS scores but did not significantly alter CSF levels of 5HIAA, TRYP, or HVA. We found no correlation between ECT-induced DRS score reductions and changes in any of the CSF constituents studied, or between the absolute DRS score and the corresponding CSF concentration of any of the compounds. These data are consistent with those previously reported for ECT and do not suggest that ECT alters cerebral amine metabolism in depressed patients. Neither do they provide any evidence for direct amine mediation of the depression-relieving effects of ECT in man, nor for any relation between severity of depressive illness and CSF concentrations of 5HIAA, TRYP, or HVA.

Adult↗