Body, Mind & Spirit Articles and Latest News

Cochlear Implantation in Unilateral Deaf Subjects Associated With Ipsilateral Tinnitus.

Otol Neurotol. 2010 Aug 20;

Authors: Buechner A, Brendel M, Lesinski-Schiedat A, Wenzel G, Frohne-Buechner C, Jaeger B, Lenarz T

OBJECTIVE:: In subjects who are deaf and who also have tinnitus in the affected ear, tinnitus treatments based on acoustic input are impossible. On the other hand, tinnitus suppression using electric stimulation has been reported to be successful. Therefore, a study was initiated to investigate the potential of cochlear implantation (CI) in unilateral deaf subjects regarding tinnitus suppression, device acceptance, and restoration of spatial hearing. METHOD:: Five subjects with severe to profound unilateral deafness having also ipsilateral tinnitus were enrolled. In monthly visits, the speech processor program was optimized, and the hearing performance as well as tinnitus were monitored. In addition, it was investigated whether the CI improves hearing in adverse listening situations when combined with the normal hearing side. RESULTS:: In 3 participants, the tinnitus was significantly suppressed while wearing the device. In the other 2 participants, the tinnitus could be reduced in certain situations. Speech perception tests revealed a significant benefit with the CI in combination with the normal-hearing side for 3 participants. All participants accepted the device in a clinical setting; adaptation of the frequency allocation was not required. CONCLUSION:: Improvements were found regarding the hearing and the tinnitus. Not all participants benefit from the CI to the same degree and in the same situations.The results indicate that cochlear implantation in subjects with unilateral severe to profound hearing loss and ipsilateral tinnitus may be beneficial on a case-to-case basis. Further work needs to be performed to define the appropriate indication criteria.

PMID: 20729788 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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[Association of sub-health symptoms with family environment factors in middle school students in Bengbu District]

Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 2010 Jul;39(4):498-500

Authors: Yao R, Tao F, Zhuang Y, Han H, Zhou C

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of psychosomatic sub-health symptoms in middle school students and to explore the related family factors affecting the sub-health symptoms. METHODS: Based on stratified, random cluster sampling method, 2 910 students from 6 middle schools in Bengbu district were sampled. Questionnaire on demographic characteristics and family factors, and the multidimensional sub-health questionnaire of adolescents (MSQA) were used to investigate the risk factors of sub-health symptoms. RESULTS: The prevalence of overall sub-health symptoms was reported in 64.0% of students, physical symptoms was reported in 13.6% of the students, and the rates of physical inactivity, physiological dysfunction and immunity decline were in 53.0%, 68.7% and 55.0% of students respectively. Mental sub-health symptoms were reported in 55.4% of students, emotional symptoms, behavioral symptoms and social adaptation problems were reported in 78.4%, 51.5% and 85.6% of students respectively. There was an increase in the prevalence of self-reported sub-health symptoms with the increase of the grade (P < 0.05), boys were more likely to report sub-health symptoms than girls (65.7% vs. 62.0%, P < 0.05). The main family factors affecting sub-health symptom of students were the health status of their parents and major accompanying persons. CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate of sub-health symptoms in middle school students was very high and increased with the length of time and the grade at school. The risk factors for sub-health symptoms of students were the lower health level of their parents and not their parents accompanying them.

PMID: 20726248 [PubMed - in process]

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[Autonomic cardiac rhythm regulation in adolescents during simulation of conflict-inducing medium]

Gig Sanit. 2010 May-Jun;(3):66-8

Authors:

Autonomic balance shifts were studied from the parameters of cardiac rhythm variability in subjects of both sexes with a varying conflict potential under the influence of a conflict-inducing factor. There was autonomic balance displacement towards a reduced sympathotonus in conflict subjects irrespective of gender and in non-conflict girls during simulation of a conflict-inducing medium, which suggests their favorable response to presented loads. The sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system was found to play an increased role in the regulation of cardiac performance in examined non-conflict boys during simulation of a conflict-inducing medium, suggesting the development of psychogenic emotional tension by the negative psychosomatic type.

PMID: 20737691 [PubMed - in process]

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Dysfunctions in understanding other minds in borderline personality disorder: A study using cartoon picture stories.

Psychother Res. 2010 Aug 24;:1-11

Authors: Ghiassi V, Dimaggio G, Brune M

Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are thought to be impaired in their ability to reflect on others’ mental states. Only a few empirical studies have explored the idea that impaired mentalizing in BPD is associated with poor quality of parental care or parental separation during early childhood. Fifty patients diagnosed with BPD were examined using a cartoon task. Quality of parental care was assessed using a self-report measure for recalled parental child-rearing style. Patients with BPD did not differ from controls in their mentalizing abilities. In BPD, however, mentalizing correlated inversely with maternal overprotection, lack of emotional availability, and rejection. Moreover, maternal punishment and rejection and parental separation at an early developmental age were significant predictors of poor mentalizing skills in BPD. These findings suggest that the quality of parental care during early childhood plays a role in the development of mentalizing skills in BPD.

PMID: 20737351 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of depression: feasibility and results under naturalistic conditions: a retrospective analysis.

Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2010 Aug 25;

Authors: Frank E, Eichhammer P, Burger J, Zowe M, Landgrebe M, Hajak G, Langguth B

An increasing number of controlled studies strongly support an antidepressant effect of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. However, these data come from highly selected study populations. Whether rTMS is a feasible therapeutic tool for the treatment of depression under naturalistic condition has not yet been addressed. Here, we report results from 232 depressive patients [aged 20-76 years, baseline Hamilton Depression Rating Score (HDRS-21) 24.0 +/- 7.3] treated with rTMS add-on to continued psychopharmacological treatment in a naturalistic clinical setting. Two thousand stimuli of 20-Hz rTMS were applied daily over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with an intensity of 110% of motor threshold. Treatment duration was individually planned and varied between 10 and 20 sessions. In average, patients received 13 +/- 6.1 rTMS sessions. In 90% of the cases, treatment was terminated regularly. No severe side effects were observed. Only four patients stopped rTMS treatment because of side effects. Ratings with the HDRS-21 before and after treatment were available in 130 patients. The average improvement of the HDRS-21 in this subsample was 9.0 +/- 9.2 points. Fifty-three patients had an improvement of 50% or more. These results document that rTMS is feasible, safe and well tolerated under naturalistic conditions.

PMID: 20737275 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Related Articles

[Psychosomatic aspects of living donor liver transplantation.]

Chirurg. 2010 Aug 22;

Authors: Erim Y, Beckmann M, Gerken G, Paul A, Senf W, Beckebaum S

Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) offers the option to reduce organ scarcity and thereby waiting list mortality. The crucial ethical problem of LDLT is the fact that the well being of a donor is being jeopardized for the improvement of quality of life of the recipient. To preserve mental health of the donors, psychosomatic evaluation should be conducted including examination of the coping capacity, the mental stability of the donor and the voluntary nature of the donation. Thus a comprehensive disclosure of information to donors is necessary. Realistic outcome expectations, family relationships without extreme conflicts, sufficient autonomy of the donor-recipient relationship and social and familiar support are predictors facilitating a favorable psychosocial outcome for the donor. Before and after LDLT the health-related quality of life of the donors is similar or increased in comparison to the general population. Psychiatric complications following LDLT can occur in 13% of the donors. Female donors, donors who have surgical complications themselves and donors with unrealistic outcome expectations should be given psychotherapeutic support before they are admitted to living liver donation. Urgent indications in the case of acute liver failure and the donation by adult children for their parents are particular stress factors. For the safety of the donor, these combinations should be avoided whenever possible.

PMID: 20730409 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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The ‘Ajuda Paralyses’: history of a neuropsychiatric debate in mid-19th-century Portugal.

Brain. 2010 Aug 18;

Authors: Fontoura P

The second half of the 19th century witnessed an increasing interest in neurology and psychiatry by Portuguese physicians, in parallel with the overall development of these disciplines in other countries. This process is reflected in the numerous case report publications as well as in debates taking place at the Lisbon Society of Medical Sciences, the major scientific forum of that time. The ‘Ajuda Paralyses’ were a mysterious succession of epidemics that occurred during 1860-64 in the Ajuda asylum for cholera and yellow fever orphans, which were extensively discussed during 1865-66 by Bernardino Antonio Gomes, Antonio Maria Barbosa, Abel Jordão and Eduardo Motta. Studying this debate helps understand the initial stages of development and the great interest that ‘nervous diseases’ had for Portuguese clinicians in the mid-19th century and possibly provides one of the first modern descriptions of nutrition-related polyradiculoneuropathy and the ocular findings associated with avitaminosis A. This debate took place at a decisive time for the scientific development of neurology and psychiatry, concurrent with the widespread application of the clinical-anatomical method and neuropathology to the study of diseases of the nervous system, which would set the foundations for our own modern pathophysiological framework. Therefore, the ‘Ajuda paralyses’ debate also provides a good basis for a discussion on the evolution of the concepts of hysteria and psychosomatic disease and the description of peripheral neuropathy from among a wealth of other entities that did not withstand the test of science.

PMID: 20719878 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Staying well and engaged when demands are high: The role of psychological detachment.

J Appl Psychol. 2010 Aug 16;

Authors: Sonnentag S, Binnewies C, Mojza EJ

The authors of this study examined the relation between job demands and psychological detachment from work during off-job time (i.e., mentally switching off) with psychological well-being and work engagement. They hypothesized that high job demands and low levels of psychological detachment predict poor well-being and low work engagement. They proposed that psychological detachment buffers the negative impact of high job demands on well-being and work engagement. A longitudinal study (12-month time lag) with 309 human service employees showed that high job demands predicted emotional exhaustion, psychosomatic complaints, and low work engagement over time. Psychological detachment from work during off-job time predicted emotional exhaustion and buffered the relation between job demands and an increase in psychosomatic complaints and between job demands and a decrease in work engagement. The findings of this study suggest that psychological detachment from work during off-job time is an important factor that helps to protect employee well-being and work engagement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

PMID: 20718528 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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[Psychosomatic approach to patients with headache: alternative or integrated diagnoses?]

Riv Psichiatr. 2010 May-Jun;45(3):179-87

Authors: De Giorgio G, Ruberto S, Firenze C, Quartesan R

Each person has an inseparable body-mind unity, with psychic factors that can also manifest themselves through changes in the functions of the body, and with changing somatic states that contribute to mental experience. This explains why somatic symptoms fall within psychiatry. When a patient complains about physical symptoms, it is essentially an integrated, multidisciplinary diagnosis which is used to identify the various factors (biological and psychological) which worsen the disorder, and a psychiatric dimensional approach is used to integrate the descriptive symptomatic diagnosis with the psychostructural diagnosis. The same symptoms, in fact, may underlie different psychological dynamics that direct the treatment and determine the prognosis, as explained in three clinical cases that we described. The literature on headaches reports a high rate of co-morbidity between migraines and psychiatric disorders, but doesn’t take into account the fact that often the symptom of headache is part of the disorder, even when it presents on its own. In conclusion, a holistic approach is needed for the patient to be diagnosed as having a “psychiatric” form of headache. A medical examination of the illness leading to a diagnoses is essential, according to the criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disease (ICHD-II). In clinical practice, we have integrated the descriptive diagnosis (ICHD-II mini-Plus) with the psychological (Diagnostic Criteria of Psychosomatic Research - DCPR) and psycho-structural (Kenberg’s interview, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - MMPI) diagnoses. The clarification of the dynamics underlying the definition of symptoms and the role played by psychological factors has influenced the identification of therapeutic objectives and in the identification of the most appropriate strategies.

PMID: 20718265 [PubMed - in process]

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Patients’ psychological well-being and resilient coping protect from secondary somatoform vertigo and dizziness (SVD) 1 year after vestibular disease.

J Neurol. 2010 Aug 18;

Authors: Tschan R, Best C, Beutel ME, Knebel A, Wiltink J, Dieterich M, Eckhardt-Henn A

Secondary somatoform dizziness and vertigo (SVD) is an underdiagnosed and handicapping psychosomatic disorder, leading to extensive utilization of health care and maladaptive coping. Few long-term follow-up studies have focused on the assessment of risk factors and little is known about protective factors. The aim of this 1-year follow-up study was to identify neurootological patients at risk for the development of secondary SVD with respect to individual psychopathological disposition, subjective well-being and resilient coping. In a prospective interdisciplinary study, we assessed mental disorders in n = 59 patients with peripheral and central vestibular disorders (n = 15 benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, n = 15 vestibular neuritis, n = 8 Menière’s disease, n = 24 vestibular migraine) at baseline (T0) and 1 year after admission (T1). Psychosomatic examinations included the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV, the Vertigo Symptom Scale (VSS), and a psychometric test battery measuring resilience (RS), sense of coherence (SOC), and satisfaction with life (SWLS). Subjective well-being significantly predicted the development of secondary SVD: Patients with higher scores of RS, SOC, and SWLS at T0 were less likely to acquire secondary SVD at T1. Lifetime mental disorders correlated with a reduced subjective well-being at T0. Patients with mental comorbidity at T0 were generally more at risk for developing secondary SVD at T1. Patients’ dispositional psychopathology and subjective well-being play a major predictive role for the long-term prognosis of dizziness and vertigo. To prevent secondary SVD, patients should be screened for risk and preventive factors, and offered psychotherapeutic treatment in case of insufficient coping capacity.

PMID: 20717689 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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