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Biomedical subjects

V Rippere

Publications and source records attributed to V Rippere.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Can hypoglycaemia cause obsessions and ruminations?

Two cases of obsessional ruminations apparently secondary to functional hypoglycaemia are described. Both patients are young Caucasian males with obsessional histories at the start of dietary treatment of 18 and 6 years, respectively. In both cases, reactive hypoglycaemia was confirmed by glucose tolerance test. The first case made a complete recovery on dietary treatment which has lasted over two years; previous treatment with drugs, behaviour therapy, and counselling were unsuccessful The response of the second case has been less outstanding due to poor compliance, but improvement and worsening have been systematically related to the extent of his adherence to the suggested dietary regimen. These cases raise questions for further research on this neglected subgroup of obsessional patients.

Adult↗

Some varieties of food intolerance in psychiatric patients: an overview.

Foods may cause mental and behavioural symptoms by means of a variety of mechanisms. Food allergy is only one of many of these. The paper presents a brief overview of evidence, as of early 1982, concerning cerebral allergy, food addiction, the hypoglycaemias, caffeinism, hypersensitivity to chemical food additives, reactions to vasoactive amines in foods, and reactions attributed to neuropeptides formed from foods as causes of mental symptoms, with particular reference to psychiatric patients. It is concluded that although much work in this field remains to be done, enough is already known to benefit patients now if available knowledge is applied. An individual-centred environmental approach, extending beyond dietary factors if necessary, is recommended as more likely to help than a group-centred paradigm-based approach to treatment.

Amines↗

Biochemical victims: false negative diagnosis through overreliance on laboratory results--a personal report.

The increasing tendency of doctors to base diagnosis on the results of laboratory investigations entails a corresponding decrease in the exercise of clinical judgment. This state of affairs can have harmful consequences for patients suffering from biochemically atypical forms of disorder, who may acquire functional psychiatric labels when they are in fact suffering from organic physical disorders. The author's personal experience of this invidious predicament is described. Although hypothyroidism was correctly diagnosed on clinical grounds within a few months of presentation, laboratory results were inconclusive and three years and three specialist consultations were to elapse before replacement therapy was obtained, and then only through unofficial channels. The handling of this case illustrates some unfortunate trends in contemporary medical practice with important implications for the health of patients.

Adult↗

Food additives and hyperactive children: a critique of Conners.

Food Additives and Hyperactive Children (Conners, 1980) is the first book-length attempt to evaluate Feingold's additive and salicylate-free Kaiser-Permenente diet for the treatment of hyperactive children, and as such it requires critical scrutiny. The studies reported in the book appear to be open to criticism from a number of points of view. It is argued that the studies as reported do not constitute a methodologically adequate test of Feingold's hypothesis that many hyperactive children are hypersensitive to artificial colours and flavours and other chemical additives and naturally occurring substances in foods and that it is thus premature to reject the hypothesis on the grounds presented here. It is argued, further, that Feingold's approach to the environmental aetiology of childhood hyperactivity is too limited and may for this reason lead to a failure to discover and eliminate other possible environmental causes of this increasingly prevalent condition.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗

Dietary treatment of chronic obsessional ruminations.

Chronic obsessional ruminations may prove resistant to psychological treatment because they are not psychological in nature but epiphenomena of brain dysfunction secondary to nutritional factors. The case is described of a chronic, treatment-resistant ruminator who made a dramatic and lasting recovery when a high protein breakfast was added to his elimination diet regimen, undertaken when years of psychological and pharmacological treatment had failed. Biochemical and clinical evidence supports the hypothesis that hypoglycaemia secondary to inappropriate diet was the cause of his disorder. Dietary contributions to obsessional ruminations should probably be sought early on in the assessment of such patients.

Adult↗

Placebo-controlled tests of chemical food additives: are they valid?

Placebo-controlled studies of effects of monosodium L-glutamate (MSG) and mixed synthetic food dyes in humans which have led to claims that these additives are safe in general use may be questioned on 3 methodological grounds: both active substance and placebo may be inadequately specified in published reports and potent common food allergens are used as placebos.

Child↗