Biological psychiatry
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Biological psychiatry · Nov 1998
Clinical TrialElevated awaking thresholds during sleep: characteristics of chronic war-related posttraumatic stress disorder patients.
Sleep disturbances are one of the hallmarks of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, sleep laboratory studies have provided inconsistent evidence of the existence of objective sleep disturbances in PTSD patients. Reports that awaking thresholds from sleep in war-related PTSD patients were significantly elevated compared to normals are discordant with complaints of insomnia. The present study investigated the relationship between awaking threshold from REM sleep in war-related PTSD patients and their dream recall, dream content, and clinical condition. ⋯ Elevated awaking thresholds from sleep are a characteristic finding in chronic war-related PTSD patients, which may help to explain the diverse sleep laboratory findings in this syndrome.
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Biological psychiatry · Nov 1998
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialSodium lactate and hypertonic sodium chloride induce equivalent panic incidence, panic symptoms, and hypernatremia in panic disorder.
Although experimental induction of panic by infusion of 0.5 mol/L sodium lactate in persons with panic disorder was described three decades ago, the mechanism underlying this observation remains unclear. Here we asked if the rapid administration of the large sodium load contained in the 0.5-mol/L sodium lactate infusion might be involved in panic induction. ⋯ Hypertonic sodium solution containing either chloride or lactate anion induces panic in panic disorder. The large sodium loads delivered by hypertonic saline and 0.5 mol/L sodium lactate may be involved in the mechanism of panic induction.
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The American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study II was a large survey designed primarily to examine cancer risks such as cigarette smoking. From the same survey and methods, data on usage of "prescription sleeping pills" in 1982 were examined. ⋯ Use of hypnotics was associated with excess mortality. This methodology could not determine if hypnotic compounds caused the risks associated with their use, nor could the risks of individual compounds be determined. Since millions of Americans are currently taking hypnotics, long-term controlled trials are urgently needed to further guide both patients and physicians.
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Biological psychiatry · Apr 1998
A.E. Bennett Research Award. Regulation of serotonin1A, glucocorticoid, and mineralocorticoid receptor in rat and human hippocampus: implications for the neurobiology of depression.
Disturbances of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the serotonin system are commonly found in depressive illness. Studying the effect of stress on these two neurobiological systems may give us important clues into the pathophysiology of affective illness and help us understand how stress and mood disorders are related. ⋯ Alterations in hippocampal 5-HT1A levels and in the MR/GR balance may be one of the mechanisms by which stress may trigger and/or maintain depressive episodes.