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Biomedical subjects

R J Mathew

Publications and source records attributed to R J Mathew.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Driving phobia in the city of Houston: a pilot study.

To study the fear of driving phenomenon the authors contacted 48 subjects who, in response to a newspaper article, had expressed an intense fear of driving in the city of Houston and compared them with an age- and sex-matched control group. The information elicited from the subjects suggested the existence of a driving phobia. No significant differences emerged between the phobic subjects and the controls on relevant driving history and background. Although the phobic subjects reported significantly higher levels of anxiety while driving in normal and difficult situations, most of them reported anxiety of phobic intensity only about difficult driving situations, such as driving on freeways and in congested traffic.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Vegetative symptoms in anxiety and depression.

The incidence of vegetative symptoms was found to be higher in 61 medication-free patients with anxiety compared to an equal number of age and sex-matched normal controls. Multiple regression analysis identified depression, as rated by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), as the most highly predictive factor associated with these symptoms. Twenty-two anxious patients who obtained scores less than 5 on BDI (absent or minimal depression) were compared with an equal number of age and sex-matched patients with depression. The depressed patients reported a higher indicence of sleep disturbances, weight loss and appetite loss.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Depression, antidepressants, and plasma DBH.

Plasma levels of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) were determined in 16 unmedicated patients with major depressive episodes (nonpsychotic) and in an equal number of normal subjects, before and after 4 weeks of treatment with tricyclic antidepressants. Some eight patients were treated with amitriptyline, and the remainder received desipramine. The controls remained medication free during the entire experimental period. Degrees of depression were quantified before and after treatment with the Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression (HRSD). There were no significant differences between the depressed patients and the controls on levels of DBH. Similarly, there were no within-group, pre-posttreatment differences on the enzyme levels in either group. Pre- and posttreatment HRSD scores did not correlate with corresponding plasma DBH levels. Plasma levels of amitriptyline, nortriptyline (product of amitriptyline in the body), and desipramine at the end of 4 weeks of treatment also failed to correlate with the enzyme levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Catecholamines and monoamine oxidase activity in anxiety.

Levels of platelet monamine oxidase activity, state anxiety and trait anxiety were quantified twice in 20 drug-free subjects with generalized anxiety and an equal number of healthy drug-free controls at 4-week intervals. Fifteen subjects in each groups also had plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine measured. The index group received relaxation training during the interval between the two evaluation sessions. Post-relaxation training values for monoamine oxidase, epinephrine, norepinephrine and the anxiety levels were found to be significantly lower than the pre-treatment values for the index group. No significant changes were seen in the control group values. For the index group, catecholamine levels and monoamine oxidase activity were seen to correlate significant before and after relaxation training.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Anxiety and platelet MAO levels after relaxation training.

The authors measured platelet MAO activity with phenylethylamine and tryptamine substrates in a group of 20 subjects with chronic anxiety before and after they underwent relaxation training. Levels of anxiety were quantified using a self-rating scale. Posttreatment values for anxiety and enzyme activity were significantly lower than pretreatment values. Anxiety and enzyme activity levels were not significantly correlated at any stage of the study.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Directional effects of skin temperature self-regulation on regional cerebral blood flow in normal subjects and migraine patients.

Vascular headache of the migraine type is associated with vasomotor changes in cerebral arteries. The authors studied whether skin temperature training (biofeedback) reduces the frequency, severity, and duration of these headaches by measuring the regional cerebral blood flow in 11 migraine patients and 9 normal volunteers using the noninvasive 133Xe inhalation technique. Half of each group was randomly assigned to a hand-warming or a hand-cooling group. Cerebral blood flow increased in several regions of the left hemisphere to a statistically significant degree only for the migraineurs who were in the hand-warming group. The pattern of vasomotor regulation apparently differs between migraine subjects and normal subjects. The migraineurs' headache symptoms were affected by both warming and cooling, but warming produced more salutary effects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Daytime sleepiness in depression.

Daytime drowsiness and other sleep related symptoms such as attention and concentration difficulties, blurred vision and slurred speech were evaluated using seven point rating scales in 51 drug free depressed patients and an age and sex matched control group. Degrees of depression and anxiety were quantified using the Beck Depression Inventory and State Trait Anxiety Inventory respectively. Daytime drowsiness and sleep related symptoms were seen to be significantly higher in the index group. Both depression and anxiety scores significantly correlated with daytime drowsiness.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Physical symptoms of depression.

The incidence of physical symptoms in depression was studied in 51 drug-free patients and in an age and sex-matched control group. Mean symptom intensity and number of symptoms were significantly higher in the patient than in the control group. The subjects' personality structure and relationships between their symptoms and degrees of depression and anxiety were examined using the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, respectively. Of the variables studied, only the N score of the EPI was shown to influence the symptoms significantly. The effect of such non-specific factors as age, gender, use of alcohol, coffee, tea, and cigarettes was also evaluated and found to be minimal.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Catechol-O-methyltransferase and catecholamines in anxiety and relaxation.

Levels of anxiety, plasma epinephrine and norpinephrine, and red blood cell (RBC) catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity were measured before and after 4 weeks of relaxation training in a group of 15 drug-free, anxious subjects and at a similar interval in a group of 15 drug-free, healthy controls. The index group showed significant decreases in levels of anxiety and plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine after treatment. No changes were observed in the control values. RBC COMT did not show any significant differences in activity between the index and control groups and between the pre- and posttreatment values. Similarly, COMT activity levels failed to correlate with levels of anxiety and catecholamines before or after treatment. These findings indicate that anxiety is unlikely to have an effect on RBC COMT activity, whereas it has a direct effect on plasma catecholamines.

Adult↗