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Biomedical subjects

S Grandi

Publications and source records attributed to S Grandi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Prodromal symptoms in panic disorder with agoraphobia: a replication study.

The majority of 20 patients suffering from panic disorder with agoraphobia reported experiencing agoraphobic avoidance, generalized anxiety, and/or hypochondriacal fears and beliefs before the first panic attack. The results replicated those of a previous investigation and are in accordance with an increasing number of studies concerned with prodromal symptoms, epidemiologic surveys, and analysis of mechanisms of change upon treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Characterological traits of recovered patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia.

Three self-rating personality inventories were administered to 33 patients who had recovered from panic disorder associated with agoraphobia and to 33 healthy subjects matched for sociodemographic variables. The personality inventories comprised the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), which provides three major dimensions (novelty seeking, harm avoidance and reward dependence), the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and the Emotional Inhibition Scale (EIS). Agoraphobic patients reported significantly more TPQ harm avoidance and anxiety sensitivity than controls. Although these findings might have been influenced by residual anxiety symptoms in panic-free patients and could also apply to patients with other anxiety disorders, they suggest that harm avoidance and anxiety sensitivity may be risk factors for developing agoraphobia and panic disorder. There may be overlap between this characterologic cluster and prodromal symptoms of panic disorder with agoraphobia, such as anxiety, phobias and hypochondriasis.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Prodromal symptoms and intermittent drug medication in mood disorders.

There has been very little interest in research on prodromal symptoms of mood disorders. This paper reviews the literature concerned with bipolar disorder and unipolar depression. In both illnesses, recent preliminary studies would suggest that within each patient there is a striking consistency in prodromal symptoms preceding each episode. Since the appearance of prodromal symptoms generally precedes the full syndrome by weeks or months, the findings pave the way for the intermittent use of medications (antidepressants and lithium) in mood disorders.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1991

Differential diagnosis of hypochondriacal fears and beliefs.

Any undue concern with bodily function is often labeled as hypochondriacal. Kellner's Illness Attitude Scales, self-rating instruments, distinguish between generic worry about illness, concern about pain, health habits, hypochondriacal beliefs, thanatophobia, disease phobia, and bodily preoccupations. The Illness Attitude Scales have been used in a number of studies concerned with patients suffering from DSM-III-R hypochondriasis, panic disorder, melancholia, in the medically ill, in pregnant women, during medical procedures such as mammography, and in experiments in therapeutics, such as drug trials. The results of these studies and of clinical investigations suggest that the differential diagnosis between hypochondriacal beliefs (characterized by resistance to reassurance), disease phobia, thanatophobia, and the other less specific illness attitudes, is worthy of clinical attention and may entail prognostic and therapeutic implications. Pilowsky's concept of abnormal illness behavior, unlike the DSM-III-R, provides a framework for such differentiation.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1991

Peripheral vascular circulation in trained athletes.

Modifications in the neurogenic control are important in cardiovascular adaptation to physical training. To examine the influence of such variations on arterial blood pressure, heart rate and limb blood flow the Authors have studied the reaction to cardiovascular stress tests of soccer players and sedentary controls. No difference was found in the blood flow response between athletes and sedentary subjects. However, the tests inducing sympathetic activation determined blood pressure response of different intensity, possibly related to the differences in the autonomic nervous system control.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Prodromal symptoms in primary major depressive disorder.

Prodromal symptomatology was investigated, by means of a modified version of Paykel's Clinical Interview for Depression, in 15 outpatients at their first episode of primary major depressive disorder. Compared to normals, generalized anxiety and irritability were significantly more frequent. Impaired work and interests, fatigue, initial and delayed insomnia were also reported. Four patients who relapsed upon discontinuation of antidepressant treatment displayed the same prodromal symptomatology as in the initial episode.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Hypochondriacal fears and beliefs in pregnancy.

Illness attitudes were evaluated in 26 pregnant women and 26 control subjects matched for sociodemographic variables, by means of a self-rating scale, on 3 different occasions. For each trimester of pregnancy, women displayed more hypochondriacal fears and beliefs and conviction of disease (disease phobia) than normal controls. In the third trimester, they also reported more fear of dying and bodily preoccupations. The findings should alert physicians to ask their pregnant patients whether they are preoccupied with fear of dying, or are concerned that they suffer from an undiagnosed physical illness, or dread a specific illness such as cancer or heart disease. Hypochondriacal fears and beliefs are liable to affect well-being and the health attitudes of pregnant women. If properly recognized, they may effectively be treated.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Rating depression and anxiety after mastectomy: observer versus self-rating scales.

Paykel's Clinical Interview for Depression (CID), an observer-rated scale, and Kellner's Symptom Questionnaire (SQ), a self-rating inventory, were administered to twenty-six patients with breast cancer: 1) the day prior to discharge after mastectomy or lumpectomy, 2) after six months, during a follow-up outpatient visit. There were no significant changes in depression and anxiety (except for self-rated anxiety) and, indeed, there were very high test-retest correlations. Observer and self-rated assessments were significantly related, and these correlations improved on outpatient follow-up. DSM-III-R diagnoses of affective illness (mood and anxiety disorders) based on pre-established cut-offs of the CID, showed considerable stability, particularly as to major depressive illness.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1990

Incidence and clinical significance of elevated fibrin(ogen) degradation product and/or D-dimer levels in liver cirrhosis patients.

Fibrin(ogen) degradation product (FDP) and D-dimer levels were evaluated in 168 liver cirrhosis (LC) patients without evidence of bleeding. Eighty-two (48%) had FDP higher than 10 micrograms/ml; only 43 of them had a concomitant increase of D-dimer. These alterations were more frequent in older and decompensated patients and correlated to the Child-Turcotte score. In the patients with elevated FDP and/or D-dimer levels the mean values of platelets, prothrombin activity and fibrinogen were not significantly different from those of the other patients and remained fairly stable over the period of the study. Finally, an increase of FDP is frequent in LC and this may suggest a diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), but a concomitant increase of D-dimer is rarely detectable, thus excluding this diagnosis. Moreover, even in the cases with increased levels of D-dimer the presence of clinical or laboratory evidence of a consumption coagulopathy, expression of a manifest DIC, seems to be unusual.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Psychosomatic assessment of hirsute women.

Psychiatric illness, psychological distress and illness behavior were investigated in 30 hirsute women and 30 nonhirsute healthy control subjects matched for sociodemographic variables. The majority of patients showed a good psychological adaptation to illness: they did not report significantly more anxiety, depression, and abnormal illness behavior than controls. One-sixth of the patients, however, suffered from a clinically meaningful affective disorder. Further, hirsute patients displayed significantly more hostility and irritable mood than controls (p less than 0.01).

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Cardiac neurosis and psychopathology.

Psychiatric illness according to DSM-III-R criteria was investigated in 54 consecutive patients suffering from cardiac neurosis (neurocirculatory asthenia or Da Costa's syndrome). Thirty-seven of the 54 patients (68.5%) were found to suffer from a psychiatric disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia and panic disorder accounted for most of the diagnoses. Panic disorder was frequently preceded by (and associated with) generalized anxiety, phobic avoidance and hypochondriasis. The results should alert the physician to inquire for symptoms of an anxiety disorder when a patient presents with cardiac neurosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Hypochondriacal symptoms in pregnancy.

Illness attitudes were evaluated in 26 pregnant women and 26 control subjects matched for sociodemographic variables, by means of a self-rating scale, on three different occasions. In each trimester of pregnancy, women displayed more hypochondriacal fears and beliefs and conviction of disease (disease phobia) than normal controls (p less than 0.001). The findings should alert physicians to ask their pregnant patients whether they are preoccupied with fear of dying, or are concerned that they suffer from an undiagnosed physical illness, or dread a specific illness such as cancer or heart disease. Hypochondriacal fears and beliefs are liable to affect the well-being and health attitudes of pregnant women. If properly recognized, they may effectively be treated.

Female↗
PubMed1989

Treatment of social phobia by homework exposure.

Ten consecutive patients suffering from DSM-III-R social phobia were treated by homework exposure assignments, without therapist-aided exposure or other cognitive-behavioral methods. The 7 patients who completed therapy displayed highly significant decreases in social phobic symptoms and anxiety. Such improvements were maintained on a 1-year follow-up.

Adult↗