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A 50-year-old married woman with a history of recurrent depression developed a severe abnormal grief reaction following the death of her son (who had recovered from an eating disorder) in a car crash. The patient reported a number of bizarre rituals involving her son's ashes and personal effects obtained post mortem. She developed anorexia nervosa four months after his death.
A 31-year-old woman was diagnosed as having a malignant melanoma of the choroid in the right eye. Twenty months later her 7-year-old son was diagnosed as having retinoblastoma in the right eye. Both diagnoses were confirmed histopathologically after enucleation. A chromosomal study revealed normal karyotypes in the son. The family history was positive for cancer of the stomach. The implications of this rare association are discussed.
Familial idiopathic membranous nephropathy, an immune-complex-associated glomerulopathy, has not been previously reported in father and son, despite its striking immunogenetic correlation, especially with HLA-DR3. As a dysfunction of the monocyte-phagocyte system (MPS), it has been observed linked to DR3 antigen, so we studied the MPS Fc receptor function in a father and his son with a histologically proven membranous nephropathy, associated with the haplotype A9-B35-DR3-DQw2. The Fc receptor function of the MPS was examined by measuring the clearance of IgG-sensitized, 51Cr-labeled erythrocytes and by measuring the ability of isolated monocytes to ingest autologous red blood cells coated with IgG anti-Rh (D) antibody. Immune clearance and in vitro phagocytosis was normal in both patients and not related to their levels of immune complexes (as measured by ELISA C1q and Conglutinin solid-phase binding assay). This report suggest that genetic factors may play an important role in the development of membranous nephropathy, and it seems not to be related to a dysfunction of MPS as measured by these tests.
Testicular tumors in closely related family members are rare. We report a case of familial testicular cancer occurring in father-son pairs. The father had teratocarcinoma and his son developed pure seminoma. The association of a genetic factor in the etiology of testicular malignancy is discussed.
Studies of normotensive offspring of hypertensive parents offer the potential to identify inherited abnormalities that contribute to essential hypertension. We compared renal and systemic hemodynamic responses to saline infusion between normotensive sons of two hypertensive parents (SOHT) and sons of two normotensive parents (SONT) selected from the general population of Rochester, Minn. Hemodynamic measurements were performed after a week of low sodium intake (10 meq/day) and were repeated after a week of high sodium intake (200 meq/day). Despite being in the normotensive range, blood pressures in SOHT were higher than those in SONT during low sodium (124 +/- 3/85 +/- 3 versus 118 +/- 2/71 +/- 2 mm Hg, p less than 0.01) and high sodium (122 +/- 3/80 +/- 3 versus 112 +/- 2/70 +/- 2 mm Hg, p less than 0.05) conditions. Higher pressures in SOHT were associated with elevated systemic and renal vascular resistance. After a high sodium diet, renal vascular resistance in SOHT rose further during acute saline infusion, whereas systemic vascular resistance did not change. After a low sodium diet, this renal vasoconstrictor response to saline infusion in SOHT was not present, and renal vascular resistance fell to levels not different from SONT. Plasma renin activity, aldosterone, and atrial natriuretic peptide did not differ between SONT and SOHT. Circulating levels of norepinephrine were higher in SOHT. These data demonstrate a renal vasoconstrictor response to saline infusion in normotensive SOHT, which depends on prior sodium intake. This alteration in renal hemodynamics may represent an inherited abnormality related to the development of hypertension.
The objective of this study was to evaluate whether renal excretion of sodium is impaired and whether tubular reabsorption of sodium is increased in normotensive white men with a familial predisposition to develop essential hypertension. We compared 11 normotensive sons of two hypertensive parents (SOHT) with 11 normotensive sons of two normotensive parents (SONT); renal sodium handling was assessed after 1 week of low-sodium diet (10 mmol/d) and after 1 week of high-sodium diet (200 mmol/d). The SOHT were on average 5.5 years older than the SONT (46.9 +/- 5.2 [SD] vs 41.4 +/- 4.1, P = .012). On the sixth day of each diet, mean urinary sodium excretion did not differ between the two groups (12.9 +/- 6.3 vs 12.7 +/- 6.7 mmol/d on low-sodium diet, P = .930; 197 +/- 25 vs 200 +/- 27 mmol/d on high-sodium diet, P = .817). On the seventh day of each diet, baseline means for filtered load of sodium, absolute excretion of sodium, fractional excretion of sodium (an index of total tubular sodium reabsorption), and fractional excretion of lithium (an inverse index of proximal tubular sodium reabsorption) also did not differ between the groups. To assess renal sodium handling under non-steady-state conditions, we infused 2 L normal saline intravenously over a 2-hour period. The means for absolute excretion of sodium, fractional excretion of sodium, and fractional excretion of lithium increased from baseline, but the increases did not differ in magnitude between the groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Six families are described in which 10 sons were involved incestuously with a natural father (N=4) or step-father (N=2). Father-son incest as a part of the spectrum of child abuse appears to be a more frequent clinical entity than was thought previously.
The authors evaluated changes in serum prolactin levels as a measure of differences in response to ethanol between 30 healthy, drinking, young adult sons of alcoholics and 30 matched control subjects with no family history of psychiatric or substance abuse problems. The control subjects were matched for demographic variables, drug use histories, and alcohol use histories. Each individual was tested on three occasions, receiving, in random order, placebo, 0.75 ml/kg of ethanol, and 1.1 ml/kg of ethanol. Controlling for baseline prolactin measures and hormonal changes after placebo, the authors found that the sons of alcoholics had significantly lower prolactin levels in response to the high-dose ethanol challenge.
Reported cases of mother-son incest are very rare in the psychoanalytic literature; the fact of such incest, however, may not be so rare as has generally been believed. A detailed case report of the analysis of an adult with a history of severe physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, including consummated incest with his mother during latency, is considered in the context of other reported studies. The author raises some issues of resistance and countertransference that may influence the reporting, treatment, and perhaps even recognition of cases of mother-son incest.
Although the low income, female-headed, inner-city family has been repeatedly linked to child behavior problems, the family processes related to child misbehavior in this high risk group have not been identified. In a group of predominantly African American inner-city low-income mothers who lived alone with their children, the relationships between family stress, social support, mothers' conflict resolution tactics, and sons' behavior were examined using the family stress adaptation model, and potential nursing interventions were identified. The sample of low-income, inner-city mother-alone families reported more family stress and less social support than normative White Anglo-Saxon Protestant families. Family violence rates did not differ between the sample and nationally representative normative groups. Thirty-nine percent of sons, referred to the study because of school difficulties, were reported to have behavior problems requiring additional assessment. Analysis confirmed the fit of sample data to the model and identified family stress as the best site for nursing intervention for these high-risk families.
Sir William Newbigging was a surgeon to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary from 1802. While a dextrous operator, he was regarded principally as an excellent general practitioner. He was President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 1814-16 and was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1838. He had five sons, four of whom followed him into the medical profession. Four of his sons died young-only Patrick outlived him. When Patrick returned from a Continental tour in 1842 he joined his father's general practice and when Sir William died in 1852 he took it over. From 1861 to 1863 he was also President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. His last few years were plagued by ill health and he died in 1864, shortly after his fiftieth birthday.
With increasing availability of interventions for children with autism, it is important that these are backed by rigorous evaluation data that have high levels of ecological validity. To achieve this, a key prerequisite for any evaluation is to gather data on typical consumers and typical implementation patterns of the intervention. This study collected such data longitudinally in relation to the Son-Rise Program, a home-based parent-run intervention for autism. Questionnaires and interview data on family demographics, implementation patterns, and perceived treatment fidelity were gathered three times over the course of a year from families who had attended a Son-Rise initial training course. Although it proved possible to produce a profile of intervention use, findings indicated that the programme is not always implemented as it is typically described in the literature. The study also highlighted methodological challenges likely to be encountered in any future evaluation of this and similar interventions for autism.
At a child psychiatry clinic 122 boys were scored on scales of aggressiveness, noncompliance and antisocial behaviour. Their biological fathers were scored on aggressiveness and antisocial behaviour. The fathers' scores were modestly but significantly correlated with those of their sons. The correlations were also computed separately for the 64 boys whose biological fathers were no longer in the home and for the 58 whose fathers had stayed. Father-son resemblances for the latter group were considerably higher than those observed in the whole sample, and for the father-absent group were insignificant.
We found both renal resistance to endogenous and exogenous PTH and reduced activity of the stimulatory guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory protein (Ns) of adenylate cyclase in a man with clinical signs of pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ia (PHP-Ia). Both of his children also had reduced Ns levels and short stature. The girl, 11 yr old, had evidence of partial resistance to PTH, while the son, age 7 yr, had no apparent abnormalities in calcium metabolism or response to administered PTH. Variable expression of the metabolic abnormalities of PHP during childhood has been previously described. The occurrence of reduced Ns activity in father and son is consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance for the primary biochemical defect of PHP-Ia in this family.
This pilot study evaluated the association between substance abuse outcome and putative protective factors in sons of alcoholic fathers. A battery of questionnaires was anonymously self-administered to 24 sons of alcoholic fathers ages 16-19 years to identify relationships between alcohol and/or drug abuse and factors hypothesized to be related to parental alcoholism. Of the 24 subjects, 13 were categorized through self-identification and self-report screening measures as having alcohol and/or drug problems and 11 were categorized as not having substance abuse problems. Boys without substance problems: (1) had significantly higher maternal occupational status (p = .01); (2) experienced more good life events (p < .001), and (3) had a more internally oriented locus of control (p < .001). Good events and internal locus of control were highly correlated with each other (r = .620, p < .01). The fact that these preliminary findings are consistent with other literature despite marked methodologic and sample differences indicates that these putative components of resilience are robust and deserve further study towards improved substance abuse prevention in those at high risk.
Results of studies of sons of alcoholics (SOAs) may vary depending on the density of the family history of alcoholism of the SOA subjects selected. To assess how reliably SOA subjects report a history of alcoholism in first- and second-degree relatives, we compared family histories obtained from 20 SOAs with those provided by their fathers. In all 20 cases, SOAs and their fathers agreed that the father met criteria for alcohol dependence but for no other primary Axis I psychiatric disorder. However, agreement was not as good for whether other paternal relatives in addition to the father were affected (kappa = 0.36) or for whether the family history was unigenerational or multigenerational for alcoholism (kappa = 0.44). Whether this discrepancy was due to under-reporting by the son or over-reporting by the father is unclear. These results suggest that 18-25 year old SOAs are reliable sources regarding alcohol dependence in their fathers, but that for determination of density of the family history of alcoholism, other relatives should also be interviewed directly.
This study explored the possibility that changes in feelings of trust for mother are associated with gay males' decisions to disclose (or withhold) their sexual orientation in their mother-son relationships. Fifty gay and bisexual males completed a questionnaire about their coming out experiences in the context of their relationships with their mothers. As part of this questionnaire, they completed a retrospective graphical trust history task that involved plotting the degree of trust they felt for their mothers over time and across important events (such as disclosure). Results are discussed in terms of gay men's expectations about their mothers' responses to disclosure, the evidence for stability versus change in their memories regarding the nature of their feelings of maternal trust over time, the complexity of the trust histories participants drew, similarity between disclosers and non-disclosers in the shape of their trust curves, and the types of events and experiences that constituted the timeline or "plot" in the stories participants told about their mother-son relationships. This study offers the first empirical evidence to support speculations linking disclosure of sexual orientation to the climate of trust that exists in the relationship between discloser and target (e.g., Holtzen, Kenny & Mahalik, 1995).
This paper presents an overview of research performed in the context of a classical conditioning model of addiction to alcohol. College age sons of alcoholics were administered placebo in a single session or alcohol in repeated sessions in the laboratory. Sons of alcoholics had enhanced autonomic responses to placebo that were opposite in direction to the effect of alcohol, and they showed reverse tolerance to alcohol in three conditioning sessions. These studies are discussed in relation to theories of addiction to alcohol and a speculative model of risk for alcoholism.