Learning Ability During a Course of 20 Electroshock Treatments

1959 ◽  
Vol 105 (441) ◽  
pp. 1017-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Thorpe
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Memory Loss ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Electrical Treatment ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Insulin Coma ◽  
Psychological Functions

Recent work at this hospital (Thorpe and Baker, 1958) has suggested that schizophrenic patients tested one week after completing a course of twenty E.C.T.s do not show significantly more impairment in some psychological functions than similar patients treated with insulin coma or chlorpromazine therapies. This finding may come as a surprise to many, particularly in view of the fact that disorientation, memory loss, and confusion are frequently seen during the course of electrical treatment.

Irreversible Hypoglycaemic Coma in Islet-Cell Adenoma and in Schizophrenia

1955 ◽  
Vol 101 (424) ◽  
pp. 673-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. N. Parfitt
Keyword(s):  
Personal Experience ◽  
Islet Cell ◽  
Severe Hypoglycaemia ◽  
Insulin Dosage ◽  
Cell Adenoma ◽  
After Effects ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Insulin Coma ◽  
Trained Staff ◽  
Hypoglycaemic Coma

As an approach to the problem of schizophrenia it is proposed to compare the effects and after-effects of severe hypoglycaemia due mainly to islet-cell adenoma of the pancreas in otherwise healthy people with the effects and after-effects of severe hypoglycaemia therapeutically induced in schizophrenics.The difficulties are plain. Personal experience of patients with functioning islet-cell adenoma is limited almost always to a few cases, whereas average experience of insulin coma treatment covers some hundreds of cases; moreover, there is little overlap of experience except in the post-mortem room or in the laboratory for morbid histology. During insulin treatment there is constant supervision by a trained staff, medical and nursing, so that serious developments can be met by immediate intravenous sugar and investigations are continual; with adenomata there is no observation until, perhaps, a general practitioner is called in about alarming symptoms of one kind or another and sometimes months or even years elapse before a patient gets into hospital, where the intensity of observation and even more so of investigation may exceed that available in mental hospitals. Insulin coma treatment has a more or less standard aim, to produce coma of increasing duration up to a maximum of something like an hour which is then repeated thirty times or more; dosage is built up with the greatest care. Adenomata produce conditions varying from the hardly serious to the fatal under the influence of an insulin dosage which is quite unknown.This comparison is based chiefly on an analysis of 290 serial courses of insulin coma treatment given to schizophrenic patients at Holloway Sanatorium during the four years 1950 to 1953 inclusive, and on the 258 cases of islet-cell adenoma reported by Crain and Thorn (1949) and the 398 cases, all that could be traced up to that date and including the Crain and Thorn cases, analysed by Howard, Moss and Rhoads (1950). Many separate papers have been consulted for more detailed approaches and for extra information, although of course those published before 1950 were included in the reviews already mentioned. Despite the difficulties of this comparison, it can be shown that the similarities between the two groups follow expectation and are very strong indeed, so that the differences which emerge have at least possible significance.

EMG-Based Mobile Assessment System for Neck and Shoulder Fatigue

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-50
Author(s):  
Pei Lun Lai ◽  
Hsiu-Sen Chiang ◽  
Qi-An Huang
Keyword(s):  
Blood Circulation ◽  
Cervical Vertebrae ◽  
Memory Loss ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Neck Muscle ◽  
Neck And Shoulder Pain ◽  
Reducing Stress ◽  
Mobile Assessment

The neck and shoulders are the key channels for blood supply to the head. Bad blood circulation cannot only cause dizziness and headache but can also affect the vitality of brain cells and cognitive function. The neck muscles also provide all support for the head, and incorrect posture can put stress on the lower cervical vertebrae, accelerating joint wear and poor blood circulation, leading to hypoxia of neck muscle and tissue, and resulting in muscle fatigue and stiffness. Keeping the neck and shoulders rigid over an extended period, can produce neck and shoulder pain, dizziness and headache, and possibly even memory loss and short-term cognitive impairment, which can thus negatively impact learning ability and work efficiency. In this article, electromyography (EMG) characteristics were extracted through EMG analysis. Test subjects wore sensors while engaged in work or studying. The sensors retrieved EMG data which was then uploaded to a cloud-based platform for computation. A smartphone-based app then allowed users to monitor their own neck and shoulder fatigue in real time. Moreover, based on users' personal basic information, the system recommends personalized exercises to promote neck and shoulder relief, thus promoting comfort and reducing stress.

Studies on the Physiology of Awareness: An Oximetric Investigation of the Anoxaemia Accompanying Insulin Coma Therapy

1952 ◽  
Vol 98 (412) ◽  
pp. 411-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Lovett Doust ◽  
Robert A. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Venous Blood ◽  
Insulin Injection ◽  
Personal Contact ◽  
Blood Oxygen Saturation ◽  
The Real ◽  
Arterial Blood ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Insulin Coma ◽  
Insulin Coma Therapy

This investigation deals with the measurement, by a peripheral method of discontinuous spectroscopic oximetry, of the arterial blood oxygen saturation levels in a group of schizophrenic patients undergoing insulin coma therapy.The association between tissue anoxia and insulin hypoglycaemia was first established by Campbell and Dudley in 1924. Dameshek and Meyerson (1935), using the arterio-venous oxygen difference method with the internal jugular vein as the source of venous blood, showed that the injection of insulin in coma doses was accompanied by an anoxaemia in the schizophrenic patients they studied. This work was confirmed by Himwich, Bowmanet al.(1939), and in another paper Himwich (1951, p. 277) and his co-workers found that the correlation of progressively developing clinical symptoms with the decrease of cerebral oxygen uptake was a closer one than the correlation with the more acute fall in the blood-sugar curve. An important symptomatic aspect of insulin hypoglycaemia includes the progressive changes in the levels of consciousness accompanying the approach towards coma. Wilder (1943) has outlined some of these changes, and Frostig (1940) and Himwich (1951, pp. 258-265) have delineated these awareness thresholds and discussed their relationship to the Hughlings Jackson theory of the phyletic organization of the central nervous system. Thus, during thefirst hourfollowing insulin injection, somnolence and lassitude appear to be associated with suppression of cortical and cerebellar activity; in thesecond hourfurther clouding of consciousness, sometimes with excitement, perceptual disturbances, periods of confusion, exacerbations of previously existing hallucinations and latent psychotic syndromes are seen; in thethird hourmotor restlessness and loss of consciousness suggest the release of basal ganglia and hypothalamus; in thefourth hourdeepening stupor and depression of exteroceptive sensitivity indicate a probable release of the midbrain and suppression of pyramidal function; in thefifth hourthe deep pre-mortal coma presages medullary release. Similarly, it is with awareness changes that many workers prefer to diagnose the “real coma” level in a patient under treatment. Thus Sakel (1937) held that coma was to be diagnosed when no further personal contact with the patient was possible, and Kalinowsky and Hoch (1946) agree that the real coma level is reached when it is completely impossible to awaken the patient.

Spontaneous Hypoglycaemia and Diabetes Mellitus Associated with the Insulin Coma Therapy of Schizophrenia

1950 ◽  
Vol 96 (402) ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Desmond McGrath
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
The Other ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Insulin Coma ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Insulin Coma Therapy

This paper is concerned with two schizophrenic patients showing unusual complications of Sakel's insulin coma therapy. The first had a series of attacks of spontaneous hypoglycaemia apparently uninfluenced by the temporary withholding of insulin; the other developed diabetes mellitus a short time after finishing his treatment.

Movement disorders and psychological tests of frontal lobe function in schizophrenic patients

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. W. Brown ◽  
T. White ◽  
D. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Tardive Dyskinesia ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Movement Disorders ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Psychological Tests ◽  
Chronic Schizophrenic ◽  
Frontal Lobe Function ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Frontal Lobe Functions ◽  
Psychological Functions

SYNOPSISNeuropsychological tests of frontal lobe functions were undertaken in 46 chronic schizophrenic patients who were also rated for movement disorders. Tardive dyskinesia was found to have significant associations with most of these psychological tests. The possible mechanisms are discussed within the context of known neostriatal psychological functions.

The Electroshock Quotationary

2006 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Roy Frank
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disability ◽  
Brain Damage ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Memory Loss ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
Short Overview ◽  
Insulin Coma ◽  
The Subject

Since its introduction in 1938, electroshock has been the subject of intense controversy; there appears to be little if any middle ground between the positions taken by its proponents and opponents. The author/editor, himself an insulin coma-electroshock survivor, has for more than 30 years actively opposed any use of electroshock on the grounds that the procedure is inherently destructive and dehumanizing. The Introduction briefly describes the nature of the controversy, provides background information, lists the diagnoses for which ECT is (or has been) used and its effects, describes the method of administration, offers some answers to the question of why it seems to “work” in certain instances, lists some of the well-known individuals who have undergone the procedure, and closes with a short overview of the current situation. The text presents a historical perspective on ECT in the form of 78 chronologically arranged excerpts from professional and lay writings. Included are descriptions by survivors of their experience with ECT and how it affected their lives, as well as reports and claims regarding clinical and nonclinical uses of ECT, its effectiveness and ineffectiveness, and its safety and danger (especially brain damage, memory loss, learning disability, and death).

Propranolol in Schizophrenia: A Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Trial of Propranolol as an Adjunct to Neuroleptic Medication

1983 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Pugh ◽  
J. Steinert ◽  
R. G. Priest
Keyword(s):  
Beneficial Effect ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Pharmacokinetic Interaction ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Double Blind Placebo ◽  
Neuroleptic Medication ◽  
Chronic Schizophrenic ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients

SummaryA double blind, placebo controlled trial was carried out to examine the contribution of propranolol as an adjunct to neuroleptic medication in the treatment of chronic schizophrenic patients whose florid symptoms had not remitted with neuroleptic medication alone. Propranolol was shown to have a more beneficial effect than placebo, but the results were much less dramatic than those which have been described in previous studies. Recent work has shown that there may be a pharmacokinetic interaction between propranolol and neuroleptics, and this should be considered as one possible explanation of our findings.

Abnormal Movements in Never-Medicated Indian Patients with Schizophrenia

1996 ◽  
Vol 168 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. McCreadie ◽  
R. Thara ◽  
S. Kamath ◽  
R. Padmavathy ◽  
S. Latha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Severity Of Illness ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Community Settings ◽  
Aged Patients ◽  
Abnormal Movements ◽  
Syndrome Scale ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Negative Syndrome ◽  
Barnes Akathisia Scale

BackgroundHistorical records suggest dyskinesia was observed in severely ill institutionalised patients with schizophrenia in the pre-neuroleptic era More recent work has not found dyskinesia in never-medicated younger and middle aged patients. The present study complements this recent work and avoids the confounders of severity of illness and institutionalism by examining elderly patients in a wide variety of community settings.MethodMovement disorders were examined in 308 elderly individuals in Madras, India, using the Abnormal Involuntary Movements Scale, the Simpson and Angus Parkinsonism Scale and the Barnes Akathisia Scale. Patients' mental state was assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale.ResultsDyskinesia was found in 15% of normal subjects (n=101, mean age 63 years), 15% of first degree blood relatives of younger schizophrenic patients (n=103, mean age 63 years), 38% of never medicated patients (n=21, mean age 65 years) and 41 % of medicated patients (n=83, mean age 57 years). The respective prevalences for Parkinsonism were 6%, 11 %, 24% and 36%; and for akathisia 9%, 5%, 21 % and 23%. Dyskinesia was associated with negative schizophrenic symptoms.ConclusionsDyskinesia in elderly schizophrenic patients is an integral part of the illness and not associated with antipsychotic medication.

THE EFFECT OF INSULIN AND CARDIAZOLE-SHOCK ON PROTEIN-BOUND IODINE IN BLOOD, STUDIED IN SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS

1960 ◽  
Vol XXXIV (I) ◽  
pp. 157-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Štolc ◽  
J. Pogády
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Dose ◽  
Glucose Administration ◽  
Initial Values ◽  
Insulin Shock ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Insulin Coma

ABSTRACT Significant alterations in the PBI levels occur during insulin shock. In acute schizophrenic states the PBI value falls during the first half hour following administration of coma inducing insulin dose (P < 0.001) while it rises (P < 0.05) in chronic states. In both groups PBI values are significantly higher as against initial values (P < 0.001). PBI values persist at raised levels, as compared to the initial levels, even after interruption of insulin coma through glucose administration. During cardiazole-shock PBI values increase within five minutes following the shock dose. Possible mechanisms explaining these observations are discussed.

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