bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PROGNOSTIC FACTORS IN THE NEUROTIC ILLNESS
Authors: Sund A.
Published: August 2007

A total of 103 young men in compulsory military service, diagnosed and treated for neurotic illness, were studied on the basis of medical and social background data, follow‐up and personal re‐examination to investigate prognostic factors in neurotic illness. Functional capacity was used as a criterion of neurotic illness. Functional capacity was used as a criterion of neurotic disability, and 55% of the patients had no ‘Funtional failure' during the average observation period of 10.7 years.

Factors having a positive prognostic significance were: no psychiatric disorders in the immediate family, a good emotional environment in childhood, neither very strict nor unstructured upbringing, ability for social adjustment during adolescence, a harmonious marriage during the observation period and fitness for military service at follow‐up. Factors indicating high level of education and high social class did not effect long‐term prognosis, nor did mental capacity.

Good social adjustment in adolescence has a positive effect on later functional capacity, and might be a more reliable prognostic evaluator than ordinary clinical personality assessment. A harmonious marriage provides a sense of specific security essential to the neurotic's capacity to function adequately in society. The ability to adjust to military service in spite of neurotic disorders has a high degree of correlation to a good civilian prognosis. The fact that education and social class did not affect prognosis might be an indication that factors traditionally regarded as predisposing to psychiatric illness are becoming less significant.
ON ARSON COMMITTED BY SCHIZOPHRENICS
Authors: Virkkunen M.
Published: August 2007

The purpose of this investigation was primarily to clarify motives for arson. The statements of the mental examination of 30 schizophrenics who had committed arson plus 30 other arsonists for controls were examined.

Expressions of hate were equally often the principle motive in both groups or in about half of the cases. Other expressions of hate associated with arson itself, and previous aggressiveness toward the victim were equally common. For the controls, however, expressions of hate were more often directed against family, relations and acquaintances, whereas for the schizophrenics they were directed against outsiders or the community as a whole. This difference approached statistical significance (P<.05). The arsons were sometimes associated with drunkenness, which triggered off aggressiveness more often in the controls than in the schizophrenics. This difference was statistically especially significant (P<.001).

Hallucinations and delusions were principal motives in 30% of the schizophrenics statistically significantly more than in the controls (P<.01). Motives of hate were combined on top of psychotic motives in some cases. The objects for arson chosen by the schizophrenics were often places where nobody lived even temporarily, and thus harmless in this respect. For the controls, the objects were more often residential houses. This difference was statistically significant (P<.01) and could be considered to reflect either a desire to see fire only and/or an impulsive action in a psychotic state on the part of the schizophrenics. The attainment of sexual pleasure from watching the fire was not the essential factor except in a few cases. Contrary to the controls, there were no cases whatsoever of insurance fraud as motive for arson among the schizophrenics.
THE EFFECT OF LITHIUM CARBONATE IN COMBINATION WITH TRICYCLIC ANTIDEPRESSANTS IN ENDOGENOUS DEPRESSION: A double‐blind, multicenter trial
Authors: Lingjærde O. , Edlund A. H. , Gormsen C. A. , Gottfries C. G. , Haugstad A. , Hermann I. L. , Hollnagel P. , Mäkimattila A. , Rasmussen K. E. , Remvig J. , Robak O. H.
Published: August 2007

Forty‐five endogenously depressed patients in nine different hospitals were given, randomly, tricyclic antidepressants plus placebo, or tricyclic antidepressants plus lithium carbonate, for a minimum of 4 weeks. At the hospital with the largest single material, the six patients in the lithium group showed significantly greater improvement after 1 and 4 weeks than the seven patients in the placebo group. At the other hospitals, a total of 14 patients received lithium and 18 placebo, with no significant difference in outcome. However, the heterogeneity of this part of the material might easily have obscured any real difference in treatment outcome. Treatment response in the total material did not correlate significantly with diagnosis (e.g., whether unipolar or bipolar affective illness), age or sex. No significant side effects were reported.

It is concluded that lithium does not antagonize, but rather seems to enhance the therapeutic effect of tricyclic antidepressants. Therefore, when an endogenously depressed patient is considered suited for longterm prophylactic lithium medication, such medication ought to be started while the patient is still depressed and under treatment with anti‐depressant drugs.
MORTALITY AMONG PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS
Authors: Rorsman B.
Published: August 2007

The mortality of all patients seen at the Department of Psychiatry, the General Hospital in Lund, Sweden during 1962 was studied for the years 1962–1968. The number of deaths was 260. The expected number of deaths in a corresponding sample of the general population was 159. The mortality was significantly increased in both men and women. The ratio between observed and expected mortality was highest in the younger age groups. The overmortality was due mainly to an increased number of suicides, accidents and nervous and circulatory diseases in the men and suicide and cancer in women.

The patients who died were compared with a randomized subsample of psychiatric patients sill alive at the end of the observation time. The items chosen for comparison were social and medical factors previously found to be related to mortality. The purpose was to try to recognize high risk groups within the psychiatric population.

Divorced persons were more common among those who died than among controls, and more males who died were living along, unemployed or invalid pensioners. Mortality seemed to be independent of type of care in 1962 in terms of hospitalization and out‐patient contact. Differences found in psychiatric services by those who had died and controls before and after 1962 were of low significance. The one outstanding psychiatric diagnosis among those who died was the organic brain syndrome. Alcoholism was more common among men who died accidental deaths compared with controls.

More than 50% of the patients who committed suicide had previously attempted suicide. A high proportion of those who died were hospitalized in somatic wards and sent to the psychiatric out‐patient department for psychiatric assessment. Common reasons for referral were recently attempted suicide and pain, often of unknown origin.
QUANTITATIVE RATING OF DEPRESSIVE STATES
Authors: Bech P. , Gram L. F. , Dein E. , Jacobsen O. , Vitger J. , Bolwig T. G.
Published: August 2007

A step‐by‐step analysis of Beck's and Hamilton's rating scales showed that both, scales failed to differentiate adequately between moderate and severe depression measured by a global clinical assessment. Each item of the scales was tested for calibration, ascending monotonicity, and dispersion parallel to the clinical assessment. Twelve items of Beck's scale and six items of Hamilton's scale were found valid with respect to these criteria. Those items should be taken into account in future research for baseline ratings and for change ratings of depressive states quantitatively.
PIGMENTATION AND THE CHEMICAL BASIS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
Authors: Patch I. C.Lodge
Published: August 2007

Using a Lovibond flexible fibro‐optic tintometer, no differences of skin pigmentation were found between chronic male schizophrenic patients untreated with phenothiazines, and non‐schizophrenics. No differences were found between chronic male schizophrenics receiving phenothiazines and those not so treated. This latter comparison may however be questioned on the grounds that the treatment had consisted not of chlorpromazine alone (which is particularly associated with pigmentation), but of a variety of drugs, including fluphenazine. An ideal, chronically treated group proved impossible to assemble.

No support is thus provided for the hypothesis proposed by Greiner & Nicholson linking the supposed chemical basis of schizophrenia with pigmentation.
DOES PIRACETAM COUNTERACT THE ECT‐INDUCED MEMORY DYSFUNCTIONS IN DEPRESSED PATIENTS?
Authors: Mindus P. , Cronholm B. , Levander S. E.
Published: August 2007

A double‐blind, intra‐individual cross‐over comparison of the effect of piracetam on retrograde memory impairment as measured by the KS memory test battery was performed in connection with second and third Bi‐ECT in 18 inpatients diagnosed as suffering from depression. The seizure duration and the post‐ECT EEG patterns were examined visually and the post‐ECT confusion time was measured. Piracetam was given orally in the dose of 4.8 g/day for 3 days. No significant effects were obtained on memory scores, electrical stimulus duration, EEG pattern or post‐ECT confusion time. The findings may indicate that the protective effect of piracetam shown in animal electroconvulsive stimulation (ECS) is due to a counteraction of the disturbing effect of hypoxia on memory functions. It is concluded that more information is needed as regards the pharmacokinetics and the mode of action of the drug.
QUANTITATIVE RATING OF MANIC STATES
Authors: Bech P. , Bolwig T. G. , Dein E. , Jacobsen O. , Gram L. F.
Published: August 2007

We have investigated Biegel's manic‐state rating scale and found the interrater reliability high when the scale was administered both by nurses and psychiatrists. In our study of validation, we tested each item of the scale for calibration, ascending momtonicity and dispersion parallel to a global clinical assessment of the manic state. Six of the scale items were then found valid and those items differed from the valid items in studies of Biegel by including increased social contact. Like Biegel, we found a positive correlation between items concerned with depressed mood, indicating a fluctuation in the mood of manic patients during 8 hours of observation.
CONCURRENCE OF TURNER'S SYNDROME AND ANOREXIA NERVOSA
Authors: Theilgaard A. , Philip J.
Published: August 2007

The ninth known case of the concurrence of anorexia nervosa and Turner's syndrome is presented. The question whether the presence of Turner's syndrome represents a greater risk for a patient to develop anorexia nervosa is considered.
MORBIDITY AND SOCIAL MOBILITY IN AN UPPER CLASS EDUCATIONAL GROUP
Authors: ØDegárd Ø.
Published: August 2007

Approximately 18,000 19‐year‐old graduates from the high schools of Norway were followed for 50 years after graduation by means of a national case register of hospitalized psychoses Six hundred and sixty‐eight graduate were found to have been admitted to a psychiatric institution. The admission rate for male graduates was found to be 95.7 % of the expected rate, while for the female sex the percentage was 115.8. In both sexes, the number of manic‐depressive cases was higher than the national average, while schizophrenia was rarer. The number of admissions related to alcohol or drug addiction was much higher in the graduates, and these admissions were concentrated mainly among members of the medical professions.

A detailed study was made of 450 male and 218 female graduate patients for whom information was available about the occupation of the father as well as that of the graduate himself. The hospital admission rate was significantly higher in the graduates who had an occupation lower than that of their fathers, and vice versa.

Within each social group, the rate of admission was highest in the graduates who had remained in the Same occupation as their fathers: Professional sons of professional fathers had an admission rate of 109 % of the expected rate, while those who had moved to other occupations had a rate of only 87 % of the expected. It would seem that inter‐generational change of occupation is associated with a lowering of psychiatric morbidity.

High admission rates were found in groups which can be regarded as relative failures in relation to their level of aspiration (or that of their parents) in going to high school.
PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY IN ISRAEL: AN ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY STUDIES
Authors: Aviram U. , Levav I.
Published: August 2007

A review is presented of all psychiatric surveys conducted thus far in Israel. A brief description of these five epidemiological studies is followed by an analysis which focuses on the objectives of the studies, their respective methodology and data sources. The results obtained in these studies are discussed according to several parameters, i. e., the range of prevalence rates found, the differential distribution of rates among social groups and the relationship found between psychopathology and several variables such as age, country of origin, social class and area of residence. Suggestions for further epidemiological research are included.
VIRAL INFECTION AND PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
Authors: Chacon C. , Monro M. , Harper I.
Published: August 2007

A psychiatric population of 94 inpatients and 12 outpatients was investigated on referral to a psychiatric unit in a general hospital for serum antibody titres to several viruses by a complement fixation technique. Of the total population studied, only eight were considered to have antibody titres of possible significance. This result would appear to indicate that viral infection does not play a major part in the causation or precipitation of psychiatric disorders.
IMPLICATIONS OF PHENOTHIAZINE SIDE EFFECTS: A STUDY OF ANTIPARKINSONIAN AGENTS IN AN OLDER POPULATION
Authors: Martin I. C. A.
Published: August 2007

A study of anti‐Parkinsonism agents in prolonged phenothiazine therapy seeks to clarify some anecdotal misconceptions. Antiparkinsonian agents do not appear to affect the therapeutic efficiency of phenothiazines, nor does using them on a “demand” basis increase the problems of control of parkinsonian side effects. Older patients, however, appear to require the extended usage of antiparkinsonian agents rather more than some studies would suggest. Sustained release antiparkinsonian agents may yet further simplify the management of schizophrenia.
PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT IN A DELIMITED POPULATION – WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO OUTPATIENTS
Authors: Kastrup M. , Nakane Y. , Dupont A. , Bille M.
Published: August 2007

The present investigation analyses the psychiatric service available to and utilized by a population in a geographically delimited area, namely the Randers area with a population of 108,928.

During the period 1970–74, the average yearly rate of patients admitted to the three psychiatric institutions covering this area was per 1,000: 7.9 males and 9.1 females. During 1970–71, 1.2 males and 1.8 females per 1,000 were treated as outpatients in a psychiatric clinic affiliated to a psychiatric hospital, and a psychiatric outpatient clinic in a general hospital discharged 4.1 males and 7.7 females per 1,000.

It seems probable that despite outpatient treatment the number of admissions increases slightly rather than decreases, and consequently, outpatient treatment cannot replace psychiatric admission.
GLUCOSE TOLERANCE AND SERUM LIPIDS INMAN AFTER LONG‐TERM LITHIUM ADMINISTRATION
Authors: Vendsborg P. B. , Prytz S.
Published: August 2007

Intravenous glucose tolerance and serum lactate concenration during the tolerance test were determined in the same 12 patients after 6 months of lithium treatment. At the end of these periods values of glucose, lactate, serum free fatty acids, and serum triglycerides were measured in fasting patients. Long‐term lithium treatment had no influence on these parameters.
COMMUNITY CARE AND THE PROGNOSIS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
Authors: Cottman S. B. , Mezey A. G.
Published: August 2007

A group of 41 schizophrenic patients were followed up for a period of up to 81/2 years after their first admission to a general hospital psychiatric unit.

During the follow‐up period one third of the patients were not readmitted, and the remainder had between one and eight readmissions. Half of the patients spent less than 5 % of the follow‐up period in hospital. Twenty‐one patients remained in fairly close contact with at least one of the community services. A greater degree of clinical disturbance characterized high users, as compared with low users, of these services. At the end of the follow‐up two patients were in hospital, half of the original cohort was considered clinically recovered and four‐fifths socially recovered.

The contribution of the general hospital and of the community services to the improved prognosis for schizophrenia is discussed.
GAZE AVERSION IN AUTISTIC AND NORMAL CHILDREN
Authors: Richer J. M. , Coss R. G.
Published: August 2007

Autistic children rarely engage in eye contact, and whilst observation suggests this is due to a specific avoidance of eye contact, some experimental studies have challenged this. In this study the effects on autistic and normal children of an adult looking at them with both eyes, with one eye covered, or apparently not looking at them (both eyes covered) were investigated. As expected, autistic children looked more at the adult with his eyes covered, and also engaged in less flight behaviour. They looked less when two eyes were exposed than one, confirming the potency of the two‐eye pattern in provoking gaze aversion. Normal children engaged in much more eye contact than the autistic children, with fewer flight behaviours and stereotypies, supporting the hypothesis that autistic children are predominantly flight motivated. Other, sometimes conflicting, results of previous studies are discussed. Teachers and nurses are recommended not to make efforts to engage autistic children even in friendly eye contact as this provokes more flight behaviour.
DIFFUSE HAIR LOSS IN WOMEN: THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF THOSE WHO COMPLAIN
Authors: Eckert J.
Published: August 2007

Thirty‐two women complaining of diffuse alopecia were examined by a psychiatrist. Seven of them were found to have severe, usually long‐standing marital and sexual problems and two of them were overtly depressed. In a previous investigation the results of tests to assess the degree of hair loss of these seven women showed no significant difference from the values obtained in a control series of women. The psychopathology underlying this complaint is discussed and it is suggested that those women whose anxiety seems disproportionate to their degree of hair loss should be carefully questioned regarding depression and marital difficulties as these may cause them to be unusually sensitive to a hair loss which normally might not worry them sufficiently to seek further advice. They may then use their hair in a symbolic way to obtain help with their underlying problems.
LITHIUM EFFECTS ON DIURNAL RHYTHM OF CALCIUM, MAGNESIUM, AND PHOSPHATE METABOLISM IN MANIC‐MELANCHOLIC DISORDER
Authors: Mellerup E. T. , Lauritsen B. , Dam H. , Rafaelsen O. J.
Published: August 2007

The diurnal rhythm of plasma phosphate, calcium, and magnesium was studied in 34 lithium treated patients, in 42 other psychiatric patients, and in 47 healthy persons. Seventeen blood samples were drawn from each person during the 24‐hour period.

Lithium was given at 10 p.m. and in the next few hours plasma phosphate decreased compared with the two control groups. In the same period plasma calcium showed a temporary increase, whereas plasma magnesium was increased during the whole 24‐hour period.

The lithium treated patients had a reduced urinary calcium excretion during the night, and an increased urinary magnesium excretion during the day, whereas no changes were found in urinary phosphate excretion.
Psychiatric disorder in children with birth anomalies
Authors: Sandberg S.
Published: August 2007

A group of 273 children and adolescents, aged 8 to 19 years, who had been treated for a congenital malformation during their 1st month of life, were studied using psychiatric interviews with the child and at least one of his parents. The child was also given a Wechsler intelligence test. The rate of psychopathological disturbance was as high as 49% (the classification used included organic brain disorder and mental retardation). Developmental deviations, psychoneurotic disorder and reactive disorder were the commonest types of disturbance (in 18, 17, and 11% respectively). Eleven per cent were suffering from organic brain disorder and 8% had an IQ of no more than 50. The malformed children were compared with 509 children from the general population in terms of behaviour disturbance as rated by their teacher. Approximately one child in five in both groups presented behaviour problems, and behaviour was labelled as antisocial in 10% of children in both groups. The two groups of children did not differ significantly in regard to the family's social class, annual income, father's educational background, or the number of children in the family, but the parents of the malformed children had received psychiatric treatment more often than the control group parents.
Psychic disorders among pre‐school children in a geographically delimited area of Aarhus county, Denmark
Authors: Kastrup M.
Published: August 2007

A study was undertaken concerning prevalence of psychic disorders among 175 5‐ to 6‐year‐old, pre‐school children randomly selected from the general population in the municipality of Aarhus and the island Samsø of Aarhus County, Denmark.

Deviant behaviour was arbitrarily defined, with a symptom considered aberrant if it occurred in 10% or less of the children studied. Mental health of the children was assessed by (a) the number of deviant symptoms, (b) opinions of the parents and (c) the personal assessment of the author, who interviewed all the families. Thirty‐five probands (20%) showed good adjustment, 113 (65%) were coping well with only minor symptoms, and 27 children (15%) were poorly adjusted.

A high prevalence of psychosomatic, behavioural, and emotional symptoms was observed, some of them more frequently among boys than girls. No significant difference was found between urban and rural children. The need for psychiatric help even among supposedly normal, pre‐school children is discussed and emphasized.
Severe mental retardation in the county of Arhus, Denmark
Authors: Bernsen A. H.
Published: August 2007

An epidemiological census investigation on severe mental retardation among children under 15 years was carried out on July 1, 1970, in the community of Aarhus. Case finding procedures are described in detail. One hundred and seventy‐one severely retarded children were found in a total population of 233, 162 with 50, 667 children under 15 years. The age‐specific prevalence rate was 3.38 per 1,000. About 20% of the severely retarded children are not registered in the Danish National Mental Retardation Service when they reach school age. One third of the children are under residential care, but only half of these are in subnormality hospitals while the other half reside in waiting homes. Among the 64% living at home, two thirds receive day‐care or training. Comparisons are made especially with two other prevalence surveys, one covering the same area, and the other identical in methods.
Electrophoresis of platelet monoamine oxidase in schizophrenia and manic‐depressive illness
Authors: Belmaker R. H. , Ebstein R. , Rimon R. , Wyatt R. J. , Murphy D. L.
Published: August 2007

Monoamine oxidase is an important enzyme in the catabolism of biogenic amines and can be measured in human platelets. Platelet MAO has been reported to be reduced in schizophrenic and manicdepressive patients, though other reports are contradictory. The present study evaluated the possibility that qualitative genetic enzyme abnormalities of MAO could be responsible for the different enzyme activities of platelet MAO in different populations. However, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of platelet MAO from 10 manic‐depressive, 12 schizophrenic, and 11 normal individuals did not reveal any genetic mutant forms.
An analysis of homicide by young persons in England and Wales
Authors: Walshe‐Brennan K. S.
Published: August 2007

An analysis of 11 children (one girl, 10 boys) convicted of homicide indicates a maternal over‐dominant relationship in eight of the males studied.

The murderers were found to have more cooperative personalities than other children found guilty of non‐capital offences and showed both normal intelligence and personality factors. Despite a history of “blackouts” in several cases, all were found on investigation to be free from both major and minor epilepsy.

Difficulty was experienced in determining the presence or absence of parental alcoholism, promiscuity, and criminal convictions. All of the children came from normal homes and apart from minor offences none had been involved previously in serious antisocial behaviour.

Future research is indicated on two aspects: (a) Role of the working mother with particular reference to maternal dominance, and (b) The “Cycle of Deprivation” theory.
A follow‐up study of a child psychiatric clientele with special regard to the diagnosis of psychosis
Authors: Dahl V.
Published: August 2007

A 20‐year follow‐up of a child psychiatric clientele of 322 patients demonstrates that nearly one third have been admitted to psychiatric departments or mental hospitals in adulthood. One tenth belonged to the group with psychoses either as a child or grown‐up.

While the incidence of manic‐depressive psychosis did not differ from a normal population of the same sex and age, the child psychiatric clientele is overrepresented by psychotic patients later on diagnosed as schizophrenia. The outcome of infantile psychosis was in half of the cases chronic psychosis; five of 10 psychosis proto‐infantilis patients were diagnosed schizophrenia in adulthood. This result is not in accordance with the modern view that psychosis proto‐infantilis is a special disease with no clinical connection to schizophrenia.

The clinical entity of infantile psychosis and borderline psychosis seems to be affirmed by a common clinical and diagnostic course into borderline psychosis or schizoid character disorders.

Nine patients with psychosis in adulthood did not belong to the group of psychosis in childhood.
Family constellation and psychosexual disturbances
Authors: Lidberg L.
Published: August 2007

In patients with psychosexual disturbances (importence and ejaculatio praecox) the family constellation during childhood and the patients' occupations were compared with the Swedish population census. The parents of the patients were older, and the patients were more often the only son or the only child. A greater percentage of the patients had technical or office administrative professions than the inhabitants in Stockholm. The findings are discussed with references to a supposed focus on achievement in the upbringing of the oldest or only son. Focus on achievement may cause emotional restraint and subsequently psychosexual disturbances.
Gonadotropin response to synthetic gonadotropin hormone‐releasing hormone (GnRH) in chronic schizophrenia
Authors: Brambilla F. , Rovere C. , Guastalla A. , Guerrini A. , Riggi F.
Published: August 2007

GnRH stimulation tests were performed in 15 adult male chronic hebephrenic schizophrenics and 15 oligophrenic controls, matched for age and length of hospitalization.

GnRH was given at doses of 50, 100 and 150 gamma to five subjects of each type, and FSH and LH levels in the blood were assayed at 0, 10, 20, 30, 60, and 90 minutes. The tests were performed twice in schizophrenics off therapy and after 10, 20 and 30 days of chlorpromazine therapy (4 mg/kg body weight/day, peros). The controls were not given chlorpromazine and were tested only twice.

Schizophrenics showed relative increases in both FSH and LH which were greater than those of the controls, and the response persisted longer. Chlorpromazine had no effect on the test.
Piracetam‐induced improvement of mental performance
Authors: Mindus P. , Cronholm B. , Levander S. E. , Schalling D.
Published: August 2007

A double‐blind, intra‐individual cross‐over comparison of the mental performance of 18 aging, non‐deteriorated individuals during two 4‐week periods of piracetam (1‐acetamide‐2‐pyrrolidone) and placebo administration was performed using conventional and computerized perceptual‐motor tasks. In a majority of these tasks the subjects did significantly better when on piracetam than on placebo, a finding consistent with ratings completed by two independent observers. The findings indicate new avenues for the treatment of individuals with reduced mental performance possibly related to disturbed alertness — a neglected group of psychiatric conditions.
Season of birth among siblings of schizophrenics
Authors: McNeil T. , Kaij L. , Rogalska M. Dzierzykray
Published: August 2007

Many studies have shown schizophrenics to be born with unusual frequency in the period January‐April, and one interpretation of this seasonality of birth is that the parents of schizophrenics have an unusually strong general tendency to conceive offspring who will be born in January‐April. This parental conception habits interpretation may be tested by studying whether the siblings of schizophrenics are also born with increased frequency in January‐ April.

The present study investigated the season of birth of 288 full siblings and 44 half‐siblings in 91 families of male schizophrenics. Approximately 5 % of the siblings were known to be schizophrenic; with the schizophrenic siblings excluded from the analyses, the full siblings showed a birth pattern much closer (nonsignificant) to that of the schizophrenics than to that of the general population. Half siblings showed January‐April birth rates at or below the population level. Although the mechanisms responsible for the current results still remain unclear, the study suggests that seasonality of births of schizophrenics may be related to the parents' conception habits as well as to an etiological or triggering effect on the development of schizophenia in the offspring.
Prolactin secretion in chronic schizophrenia
Authors: Brambilla F. , Guastalla A. , Guerrini A. , Rovere C. , Legnani G. , Sarno M. , Riggi F.
Published: August 2007

Basal prolactin secretion and its response to various stimuli have been studied in 20 chronic hebephrenic schizophrenics, 10 males and 10 females, aged 20–54 years. The duration of the disease varied between 4 and 30 years. Eight normal subjects from the hospital staff, four males and four females, matched for age, were used as controls. The patients had been off medication for 10 days in 17 cases, for 3 months in one case and for 1 year in two cases. The TRH stimulation test was done by giving 500 μg of TRH i.v., both to schizophrenics and controls. Schizophrenics only were subjected to a 2‐day therapy with chlorpromazine (4 mg/kg body weight per day orally), and thereafter for 8 days to a combined therapy with chlorpromazine at the same dose plus 2‐Br‐α‐ergokryptine‐mesilate (500 mg per day orally). Prolactin levels were assayed radioimmunologically in the basal condition, during the TRH stimulation test, after 2 days of chlorpromazine alone, and after 4 and 8 days of combined therapy with chlorpromazine plus 2‐Br‐α‐ergokryptine‐mesilate. The results obtained showed normal basal prolactin levels, significantly enhanced responses to TRH, normal increases after chlorpromazine alone, and substantial decreases after 2‐Br‐α‐ergokryptine‐mesilate. A possible relative catecholamine deficiency, related to the mental disease, is suggested to explain the results.
The effects of unilateral brief‐interval ECT on memory
Authors: Strömgren L. Sand , Christensen A.‐L. , Fromholt P.
Published: August 2007

One hundred and three patients treated for endogenous depression with unilateral, non‐dominant ECT, half with two, half with four treatments weekly, were examined to determine the effect of the treatment on memory functions. The first‐mentioned group was studied with double‐blind technique in connection with an earlier study while the latter group was investigated under open conditions. Tests were made before the first treatment, after the sixth treatment, and after the final treatment (the Wechsler Memory Scale Forms I and II) and at the same times, ratings were made of the depressive state.

No significant differences were found between the results of the two groups, either with regard to the total results or the sub‐test results in WMS. This was true for changes between the first and the sixth treatment and between the first and the final treatment. On the whole, both groups showed improved results during the course of treatment; a memory reduction to an equal degree in both groups evident before treatment, and thus due to the depression, was eliminated concurrently with the improvement in the depressive condition. With reference to delayed reproduction a comparison made after the sixth treatment showed that the high‐frequency treatment group scored significantly higher than the other group. This can only be ascribed to a better therapeutic effect resulting from accelerated treatment.

Likewise these improved therapeutic results in the high‐frequency treatment group must be responsible for the fact that this group does not show poorer test results than the group treated at the customary frequency‐rate in spite of an expected deteriorating effect of accelerated treatment on memory functions and in spite of a larger number of treatments per series in this group.

Neither in the higher nor in the lower frequency treatment group were any age‐related variations in memory found.
Classification of the MMPI profiles of two alcoholic groups
Authors: Kristianson P.
Published: August 2007

Ninety‐two per cent of the MMPI codes of 60 alcoholics in the Link Society and institutional groups of the present study were classified according to a mixed typological‐dimensional model. The study applied reciprocal two‐digit high‐point codes and also five different spiked codes and two different codes which include more than two scales in predominant position. Related codes suggesting different diagnostic descriptions were, however, separated from each other. The present study also used new interpretations of some MMPI scales, detailed descriptions of the other scales and applied some critically examined measurements of certain authors. Of special interest is a detailed interpretation of the 4 (Psychopathic deviate) scale as a measurement of hysterical personality.

The above methods gave a more exact identification of the MMPI codes than a previous study of the present author and suggest that it is possible to give a more refined description of different personality disorders in particular but also of other psychopathological and behavioural characteristics of the alcoholic patients in the Link Society and institutional groups. The different typal dimensions measured by the MMPI high‐point codes seem to be of theoretical value but also seem to be useful for a more differentiated and adequate treatment of alcoholics.

In further corroborative studies there is a need for more case history descriptions in order to correct for local departures. It is also possible that these descriptions may aid in giving a clearer identification of the codes, including scale 5, not classified in the present study.
Comparative clinical evaluation of lofepramine and imipramine
Authors: Siwers B. , Borg S. , D'Elia G. , Lundin G. , Forshell G. Plym , Raotma H. , Román G.
Published: August 2007

A multicentre comparative clinical evaluation of lofepramine, an imipramine analogue, and imipramine has been made with double blind technique and fixed dosage (lofepramine 70 mg t.i.d., imipramine 50 mg t.i.d.). Plasma was drawn after 3 weeks for determination of noradrenalhe‐uptake inhibitory capacity of the parent compound and or its active metabolites. Plasma concentrations of lofepramine and desmethylimipramine (DMJ) were determined in the same samples. The concentrations of lofepramine in the whole material were low (5–27 nglml) except for one patient who had a level of 53 ng/ml. In both groups of patients there was an almost 40‐fold range in the plasma levels of DMI or a parent DMI. The patients were rated for severity of depression before treatment, then once weekly for 3 weeks and finally during the Hth weak. For further information concerning the psychiatric aspects, see dElia et al. in this issue (1977). A significant correlation was found between the concentrations of DMI and the noradrenalinauptake inhibitory capacity in the plasma sample. No correlations were found between uptake inhibitory capacity of plasma samples and the amelioration scores.
Effects of ACTH 4–10 on ECT‐induced memory dysfunctions
Authors: Small J. G. , Small I. F. , Milstein V. , Dian D. A.
Published: August 2007

Double‐blind studies of ACTH 4–10 and placebo were conducted in psychiatric patients receiving bilateral ECT to determine whether the polypeptide exerted anti‐amnesic effects. Observations after a single ECT were suggestive of some positive effects, but studies between seizures after five or six ECTs showed no significant drug‐placebo differences. Although the findings were largely negative, they do not rule out positive effects of ACTH 4–10 on memory. Possibly the designs and timing of the experiments and/or the dosages of ACTH 4–10 employed were unsuitable for demonstrating such influences.
Social‐demographic aspects in the attitudes towards mental illness in a Finnish population
Authors: Lehtinen V. , Väisänen E.
Published: August 2007

Attitudes towards mental illness were studied in a random population of 1,000 subjects from southern and northern Finland using a Likert‐type attitude scale. Correlations between attitudes and social‐demographic variables were studied with one‐way variance analysis and with specific multivariable techniques (AID and MCA).

The best correlations were established between educational standard and attitudes, and between age and attitudes: higher education and younger age correlated with positive attitudes. Even social group and attitudes seemed to be distinctly correlated: the higher the social status, the more positive the attitudes. No difference could be demonstrated between residents from southern and northem Finland; rural subjects, however, possessed distinctly more negative attitudes than urban residents.

According to the authors the most striking result was the observation that females show somewhat (statistically very significantly) more negative attitudes than males. It could also be established that the attitudes of female subjects varied greatly in various groups of variables.
Birthweights of male and female schizophrenics' offspring
Authors: DeHorn A. B. , Strauss M. E.
Published: August 2007

The live birthweights and the birthweight Z score equivalents based upon state averages of 130 offspring of male and female schizophrenics were compared with state averages and with those of 150 offspring of nonschizophrenic psychiatric patient controls. Offspring of schizophrenics resembled the controls and the state averages with few exceptions. Schizophrenic fathers produced heavier birth‐weight children and the expected proportion of lower birthweight children. Offspring of schizophrenics born a year or more before onset of the parental disorder were significantly heavier than control offspring, although groups did not differ when birth was near or after breakdown.
Twenty psychotic males with Klinefelter's syndrome
Authors: Sørensen K. , Nielsen J.
Published: August 2007

Twenty males with Klinefelter's syndrome discharged from psychiatric hospitals with diagnoses classified as psychosis are presented. It is concluded that the higher frequency of psychoses in males with the Klinefelter syndrome most probably is due to reactive psychosis. Personality traits commonly found in these males may explain this. The importance of early diagnosis of the Klinefelter syndrome is stressed, as it is believed that treatment and advice in due time may prevent most of the reactive psychoses.
Stress and the major psychiatric illnesses
Authors: Mahendra B.
Published: August 2007

Sixty patients who had a major psychiatric breakdown following stress were studied. The mode of presentation of one group led to the suspicion of a reactive psychosis and comparison with the other group showed that in terms of the actual or threatened loss of an emotionally significant person, the temporal relationship between stress and illness and the distribution of vulnerable personalities, there was a significant difference between the groups. The sex ratio and frequency distribution for age were also suggestive. In view of the above and the known clinical course of the illness and comparison with the work of major workers in this field, it seems reasonable to believe that grounds exist for accepting the diagnosis of reactive psychoses in Sri Lanka.
Sleep and behavioral changes possibly reflecting central receptor hypersensitivity following catecholamine synthesis inhibition in man
Authors: Bunney W. E. , Kopanda R. T. , Murphy D. L.
Published: August 2007

This paper reports a marked decrease in total hours of sleep in depressed and manic patients on days 3 and 4 following discontinuation of alpha‐methyl‐para‐tyrosine (AMPT), a specific inhibitor of the synthesis of the neurotransmitters, norepinephrine and dopamine. Discontinuation of two precursors of biogenic amines, L‐dopa and L‐tryptophan, produced no changes in total sleep. It is suggested that the decrease in sleep following AMPT may result from catecholamine neuronal receptor hypersensitivity induced during AMPT treatment. Animal data consistent with this hypothesis are reviewed. The importance of studying rebound phenomena following psychoactive drugs and the practical therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.
Comparison of fronto‐frontal and temporo‐parietal unilateral ECT
Authors: D'Elia G. , Frederiksen S.‐O. , Raotma H. , Widepalm K.
Published: August 2007

An intraindividual double‐blind cross‐over comparison of the anterograde effect on memory of unilateral non‐dominant fronto frontal (FF) and temporo‐parietal (TF) ECT was performed in connection with the second and third treatment of an ECT‐series, the electrode placement being alternated at random. Treatment technique was standardized and seizure duration was measured by means of EEG. Memory functions were tested after treatments by means of four memory tests: the 30 Word‐Pair Test, the 30 Figure Test, the 30 Geometrical Figure Test and the 30 Face Test. Three operationally defined memory variables, immediate memory (IMS, 3 hours after ECT), delayed memory (DMS, 3 hours after IMS), and their difference, forgetting, were scored.

No differences were found in the mean time of electrical stimulation, in the amount of methohexital and suxamethonium chloride, and in seizure duration between the two treatment groups. No statistically significant differences in any of the memory tests were found. The FF electrode position did not show any advantage compared with the routine TP electrode placement.
Synaptic membrane protein D2 in the cerebrospinal fluid of manic‐melancholic patients
Authors: Jørgensen O. S. , Bock E. , Bech P. , Rafaelsen O. J.
Published: August 2007

The synaptic membrane protein D2 was measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of manic‐melancholic patients. The concentration of D2 increased with the age of the patients until about 35 years of age. No difference was found between the D2‐concentration in CSF from a control group compared with different manic‐melancholic subgroups. The D2‐concentration in CSF collected from the patients during depression or mania was compared with CSF collected from the same patients when their moods were normalized. In the case of the depressed patients, we found that the D2‐concentration increased slightly when the mood was normalized.
Effects of clomiphene citrate administration on the hypothalamo‐pituitary‐gonadal axis of male chronic schizophrenics
Authors: Brambilla F. , Rovere C. , Guastalla A. , Guerrini A. , Riggi F. , Burbati G.
Published: August 2007

The clomiphene citrate stimulation test was performed in 16 adult male chronic hebephrenic schizophrenics (10 off therapy from 3 months to 1 year and six on therapy with phenothiazines or haloperidol) and in five normal controls, matched for age. Clomiphene citrate was given orally at a daily dose of 150 mg, divided into three doses, for 8 days. FSH, LH and testosterone levels were assayed before the administration of clomiphene citrate and after 4 and 8 days of treatment.

Schizophrenics showed normal increase of FSH levels during the clomiphene administration, while LH and testosterone responses were blunted. Phenothiazines or haloperidol had no effect on the test.
Sexual adjustment of male alcoholics
Authors: Whalley L. J.
Published: August 2007

This study set out to describe the sexual attitudes and behaviour of 50 hospitalized alcoholic men by comparing them with a sample of the general population, matched in age and social class. This control sample was identified by random selection from a company register, and subjects were recruited into the study with the assistance of a trade union. All subjects completed the same assessment by semi‐structured interview and the Eysenck Inventory of Attitudes to Sex. A method of scoring this questionnaire was derived, and comparison between samples showed the alcoholics differed from the controls only in describing less sexual satisfaction and not in other sexual attitudes. This difference probably arose from their greater interest in sex, loss of erectile potency and lack of a sexual partner.
Schizophrenia and communication efficiency
Authors: Blakar R. M. , Paulsen O. G. , Sølvberg H. A.
Published: August 2007

An earlier study (Sølvberg & Blakar (1975)) testified to subtle differences in communication efficiency over different communication situations by parental couples with and without schizophrenic offspring. The present study is offered as a replication of this study, but whereas the participating couples in the original study were recruited from a big city (Oslo), the parental couples in the present replication come from a typical rural district. The main findings of the original study are reproduced, but the very same method which was sensitive with respect to > the “normality‐schizophrenia” variable, also proved to be highly sensitive with regard to the cultural variation represented by the rural‐urban dimension. There‐fore, the present study is used as basis for discussing more general methodological problems involved in communication‐oriented studies on psychopathology. In particular the underlying (often implicit) model of “normal communication”, from which pathological communication deviates, is seriously questioned.
Schizophrenia and rheumatic disease
Authors: ÖSTERBERG E.
Published: August 2007

The coincidental occurrence of schizophrenia and rheumatoid arthritis is considered to be low in relation to the prevalence of the two diseases. In the present study, data from the patient statistics prepared by the Swedish Social Welfare Board were examined for the occurrence of rheumatic disease in schizophrenic patients. With the aid of the statistics and of questionnaires, 58 case‐records were collected and studied. Very few cases were found of co‐existing schizophrenia and inflammatory joint disease, rheumatoid arthritis in particular. There were, however, some cases of genuine schizophrenia and definite seropositive rheumatoid arthritis in the same patient. Rheumatoid arthritis is possibly uncommon also in combination with other psychiatric diseases that require hospital care. The ankylosingspondylitis cases were over‐represented in relation to the rheumatoid‐arthritis cases included in the statistics from psychiatric care. Most of the 13 ankylosingspondylitis patients whose case‐records were studied had schizo‐affective psychosis or atypical psychosis.

The results of the investigation should be confirmed by epidemiological studies; this may contribute to the understanding of the aetiology of rheumatoid arthritis and of schizophrenia.