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Biomedical subjects

R Balon

Publications and source records attributed to R Balon.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Isoproterenol-induced panic attacks.

Eighty-six panic disorder patients and 45 nonpsychiatric controls were infused with isoproterenol at a rate of 1 microgram/min for up to 20 min in a placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Sixty-six percent of panic disorder patients experienced panic attacks during isoproterenol infusions, compared to 16% during placebo infusions. Nine percent of control subjects panicked with isoproterenol, but none panicked with placebo. Patients were more sensitive than controls to the anxiogenic effects of isoproterenol, as measured by subject self-ratings on a panic description scale. The frequency of panic attacks induced in patients was related to the dosage of isoproterenol; 79% of the patients who received a mean of 18.5 ng/min/kg of isoproterenol panicked. The panic attacks experienced by patients during isoproterenol infusions were similar to those experienced during placebo infusions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Sodium lactate infusions after treatment with tricyclic antidepressants: behavioral and physiological findings.

Fourteen patients with panic disorder were infused with sodium lactate both before and after treatment with tricyclic antidepressants. All patients had panic attacks before treatment, and only five after treatment. There was a significant decrease in measures of anxiety prior to and during infusions after treatment. The patients were able to tolerate more lactate during reinfusions. The comparison of reinfusion panickers and nonpanickers revealed that the reinfusion panickers had higher levels of anxiety, as measured by psychological symptoms on the Panic Description Scale, during both their pretreatment and posttreatment infusions. Tricyclic antidepressants appear to increase the threshold for lactate-induced panic attacks.

Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic↗
PubMed1988

Lactate- and isoproterenol-induced panic attacks in panic disorder patients and controls.

In a double-blind study using sodium lactate and isoproterenol infusions to provoke panic attacks, 73 of 86 panic disorder patients and 10 of 45 controls panicked with lactate, and 58 of 86 patients and 4 of 45 controls panicked with isoproterenol. We measured baseline and peak anxiety ratings in 10 controls with lactate-induced panic attacks, 31 controls who did not panic during lactate infusions, and 63 panic disorder patients who did panic during lactate infusions. The controls who panicked with lactate had robust increases in their anxiety ratings very similar to the increases experienced by patients who panicked with lactate.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Effects of laboratory-induced panic-anxiety on subsequent provocative infusions.

The effects of infusion-induced panic-anxiety on subsequent pre-infusion anxiety ratings and infusion-induced panic attacks were studied in 64 panic disorder patients, in a double-blind randomized study using sodium lactate, isoproterenol, and placebo infusions. While there was a decrease of preinfusion anxiety from one infusion to the next infusion both for panickers and nonpanickers, there was no evidence of either a significant decrease or an increase in the frequency of subsequent panic attacks. These results suggest that there is neither a desensitizing nor a sensitizing effect of pharmacologically induced panic attacks on subsequent infusions in a serial three-infusion design.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Phenomenological comparison of dextrose, lactate, and isoproterenol associated panic attacks.

To investigate the relationship between naturally occurring and drug-induced panic attacks, we compared the phenomenology of panic attacks in 12 panic disorder patients who panicked during both placebo and lactate infusion and in 9 panic disorder patients who panicked during both placebo and isoproterenol infusions. Panic attacks during lactate and isoproterenol infusions were similar to the panic attacks during placebo infusions.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Effect of brofaromine and pargyline on human plasma melatonin concentrations.

1. Plasma melatonin was used to determine the influence of two monoamine oxidase inhibitor drugs in 11 normal subjects. 2. Acute oral administration of the selective reversible MAO-A inhibitor brofaromine but not of the - in low doses - selective MAO-B inhibitor pargyline increased daytime melatonin with large variations in onset, degree and duration. 3. Further investigation of this selective action on melatonin might help to better understand the action of the therapeutically effective antidepressive therapy with selective MAO-A inhibitors.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1988

Melatonin plasma response to MAO inhibitor: influence on human pineal activity?

Strong negative correlation has been observed between nighttime (physiological) elevation of plasma melatonin and plasma melatonin increase induced by a single dose of MAO inhibitor, tranylcypromine. The possible use of acute plasma melatonin response to MAO inhibitor as a functional test for the evaluation of human pineal activity is discussed.

Circadian Rhythm↗
PubMed1988

Follow-up study of control subjects with lactate- and isoproterenol-induced panic attacks.

Eleven of 45 normal control subjects experienced panic attacks during lactate and/or isoproterenol infusions. Ten of the 11 subjects were followed up for a mean period of 32.5 months. Two subjects reported the development of spontaneous panic attacks during the follow-up period; one related the development of these attacks to the infusion experience. Neither subject met DSM-III criteria for panic disorder either before or after the infusions. Twenty-six healthy control subjects who did not experience panic attacks during the infusion experience did not report any attacks during a follow-up period of 31.1 months.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Carbohydrate craving and increased appetite associated with antidepressant therapy.

The symptom of carbohydrate craving and increased appetite (CHH) was studied in 180 outpatients receiving antidepressant treatment. One hundred and fifty-eight of these patients had a DSM-III diagnosis of panic disorder and 17, major depression. The incidence of CHH was similar in both diagnostic groups. Thus, antidepressant treatment is associated with CHH in patients with diagnoses, other than depression. Desipramine was least likely to induce CHH compared to imipramine, amitriptyline and doxepin. Most patients who developed CHH on imipramine no longer experienced this side effect when switched to desipramine. CHH was not more frequent among women and not associated with antidepressant dosage or treatment response. Histamine H-1 receptor blockade may be an important factor in the etiology of CHH.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Preinfusion anxiety and laboratory-induced panic attacks in panic disorder patients.

Seventy panic disorder patients participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized infusion study in which sodium lactate and isoproterenol were used to induce panic anxiety. Patients who panicked during lactate, isoproterenol, and placebo infusions generally had higher preinfusion anxiety scores. These findings held true irrespective of the order the infusions were given. Stepwise multiple regression analyses comparing panickers with nonpanickers as the criterion variable revealed that the items "afraid of going crazy," "feeling unsteady," and "feeling paralyzed" on the Panic Description Scale had the highest predicting values.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

The jitteriness syndrome in panic disorder patients treated with antidepressants.

The jitteriness syndrome (jitteriness, shakiness, increased anxiety, and insomnia) can develop with low doses of tricyclic antidepressants in patients who are sensitive to these drugs. The authors review the antidepressant treatment of 180 patients. Only those with panic attacks had jitteriness, usually during the first week of treatment. Desipramine was associated with a much higher frequency of jitteriness than was imipramine. Tolerance to jitteriness occurred with continued treatment, but fewer patients with jitteriness responded to treatment, apparently because of difficulties in increasing the dose. Characteristics of the jitteriness syndrome in panic disorder patients are consistent with noradrenergic hypotheses of panic anxiety. The clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Adult↗