Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R G Jacob

Publications and source records attributed to R G Jacob.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Otoneurological examination in panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks: a pilot study.

A battery of vestibular and audiological tests was administered to eight patients with panic disorder and 13 patients with agoraphobia and panic attacks, all of whom experienced dizziness during their panic attacks. Positional or spontaneous nystagmus was present in 67% of the subjects. Abnormal responses were found in caloric testing (56%), rotational testing (35%), and posturography (32%). Pure tone audiograms were abnormal in 26% of the subjects and acoustic reflexes were abnormal in 44% of the subjects. Six of eight patients tested had an abnormal brainstem auditory evoked potential. The possible importance of the findings and their implications for further research are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Fluoxetine treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Fluoxetine hydrochloride, a new antidepressant, was administered to 10 obsessive-compulsive patients, and the effects of treatment were examined in a single-blind placebo design. The effects of fluoxetine were examined with respect to depressive symptomatology and obsessions and compulsions per se. The results suggest that fluoxetine affected depressive symptoms but also had an effect on self-reported measures of obsessions and ritualistic behavior. Results are discussed in terms of improvement in obsessive-compulsive disorder, the relation of improvement to initial levels of depression, and patients' ability to tolerate the drug.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Paradoxical interventions in behavioral medicine.

This article discusses the current and potential use of paradoxical interventions in behavioral medicine. Paradoxical interventions are considered to be of two types: intra-individual and interpersonal. Treatment indications differ for the two types of interventions. Intraindividual paradoxical interventions have been successful in the treatment of insomnia, psychogenic urinary retention and constipation. Interpersonal paradoxical interventions have been subjected to less empirical research, but have been useful in the treatment of anorexia nervosa and in family based interventions where medical patients maladaptively cope with their rehabilitation. Paradoxical procedures are also used in the treatment of sexual dysfunction and may be of value in pain management. Further possible applications as well as limitations of paradoxical interventions in behavioral medicine are discussed.

Anorexia Nervosa↗
PubMed1982

Behavioral control of L-dopa induced dyskinesia in Parkinsonism.

A patient experiencing L-dopa induced dyskinesia severe enough to prevent normal functioning was treated with behavior therapy utilizing meditation. The effects of treatment were assessed in a single case experimental design. Phase 1 consisted of baseline monitoring of severity and duration of episodes of left extremity jerking. During Phase 2, treatment was started with twice daily meditation for 30 minutes with an accompanying decrease in dose of daily L-dopa. Severity and duration of episodes were significantly reduced, and this was maintained through Phase 3 when the Phase 1 dose of L-dopa was reintroduced. The subject resumed normal functioning following treatment. A natural reversal occurred when he stopped meditating. During Phase 4, the recurrent high severity and duration of jerking were once again reduced when meditation was reinstated.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

The California drought: A quasi-experimental analysis of social policy.

The effect of fines for failure to conserve water during the California drought of 1976 to 1978 was evaluated in a retrospectively arranged multiple-baseline design across three San Francisco Bay area cities. The data indicated that, on a community level, significant savings of water occurred regardless of whether fines were introduced or not. However, on an individual level, fines appeared to have an effect on private, as opposed to commercial or industrial, consumers who had received at least one fine. The limitations imposed on these conclusions by the quasi-experimental nature of the design were highlighted. Possible reasons for water conservation in the absence of fines were discussed within the framework of stimulus control. It was suggested that an area for future research should be the delineation of stimulus parameters involved in producing behavior change in entire communities.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1978

Formal and informal classroom settings: effects on hyperactivity.

The behavior of hyperactive children was compared to controls in two different classroom settings. One setting (Informal) involved choice and variety of tasks; the other setting (Formal) involved teacher specification of a small number of tasks. As assessed by a composite observational measure of hyperactivity, there were significant differences between the hyperactive and control groups in the Formal but not in the Informal setting. Analyses of five individual categories of hyperactive behavior showed that, with one exception, the hyperactive group tended to display higher frequencies of behavior than did controls in both settings. For two of the categories, the difference between the groups was significantly larger in the Formal than in the Informal setting. Finally, a modified observational code was suggested that differentiated hyperactives from controls equally in the two settings.

Aggression↗
PubMed1977

Relaxation therapy in the treatment of hypertension. A review.

The literature on the use of relaxation or relaxation-like procedures (relaxation therapy) in the treatment of hypertension was critically reviewed. Relaxation therapy resulted in greater reduction of blood pressure than placebo or other control procedures. A positive relationship was found between the average blood pressure decrease and the average pretreatment pressure. Relaxation-like therapies shared the features of muscular relaxation, regular practice, mental focusing, and task awareness. Research on the relative contributions of these components indicated that task awareness adds to the treatment effect in the laboratory setting, and that regular practice is necessary for optimal results in the clinical setting. The role of muscular relaxation and mental focusing is unclear. We concluded that relaxation therapy may become a useful adjunct to medication in the clinical management of hypertension, especially for individuals whose blood pressures remain high despite pharmacological treatment.

Antihypertensive Agents↗
PubMed1975

Propranolol in the treatment of opiate dependence -- a controlled study.

Two doublebling placebo controlled experiments designed to elucidate the alleged narcotic blocking effect of propranolol wer performed. In the first experiment, propranolol 40 mg or 20 mg was given together with methadone during the acute withdrawal phase of opiate addiction. The second experiment assessed whether 10 mg of propranolol, given 2 hrs before 30 mg of morphine i.v., reduced the euphoric effects of the latter drug. In none of the experiments could narcotic blocking effects be detected. The group receiving 40 mg propranolol during detoxification exhibited the highest proportion of patients staying for the whole prescribed detoxification period.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A clinical taxonomy of dizziness and anxiety in the otoneurological setting.

Dizziness can be associated with otologic, neurologic, medical, and psychiatric conditions. This paper focuses on the interface between otologic and psychiatric conditions. Because dizziness often is situation specific, concepts of space and motion sensitivity (SMS), space and motion discomfort (SMD), and space and motion phobia (SMP) are needed to understand the interface. We present a framework involving several categories of interactions between balance and psychiatric disorders. The first category is that of dizziness caused by psychiatric disorder (psychiatric dizziness), including hyperventilation-induced dizziness during panic attacks. The second category involves chance cooccurrence of a psychiatric disorder and a balance disorder in the same patient. The third category involves problematic coping with balance symptoms (psychiatric overlay). The fourth category provides psychological explanations for the relationship between anxiety and balance disorders, including somatopsychic and psychosomatic relationships. The final category, neurological linkage, focuses on the overlap in the neurological circuitry involved in balance disorders and anxiety disorders.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Background and history of the interface between anxiety and vertigo.

The comorbidity of vertigo and anxiety has been an integral component of the medical literature since antiquity. In the works of Plato, the same terms were used in the context of vertigo, inebriation, height vertigo, disorientation, and mental confusion. In classical medicine, vertigo had the ambiguous status of being both a disease per se and a symptom of other diseases such as hypochondriacal melancholy. Further, two etiologies were described for vertigo: an origin in the head (brain) and an origin in the hypochondria (abdominal viscera). In the course of the development of a detailed neurologic taxonomy of vertigo in the latter half of the nineteenth century, a debate ensued whether agoraphobia was a form of vertigo or a distinct psychiatric condition. Elucidation of this forgotten debate, within its historical context, provides insights into the recent rediscovery of the balance-anxiety interface.

Agoraphobia↗