Academic Appointments
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Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.10.169
View details for Web of Science ID 000393184800160
The synthetic substrate cholyl-PABA, developed by conjugating cholic acid with paraaminobenzoic acid, is hydrolyzed by the bacterial enzyme cholyl hydrolase to release free PABA. This study aimed to evaluate whether quantitating urinary excretion of PABA after oral administration of cholyl-PABA can detect small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. In the first phase, investigations were performed on 10 healthy volunteers to study the dynamics of urinary excretion of PABA and any adverse reactions after oral administration of 1.2 g of cholyl-PABA. Another 10 healthy volunteers and 25 adult patients with various gastrointestinal disorders participated in the second phase, where the urinary cholyl-PABA test was compared to the [14C]xylose breath test (XBT). The upper limit of normal levels of urinary PABA excretion at the end of 4 h was 1.1% of the administered dose of cholyl-PABA. The urinary PABA excretion after 4 hr [median (range), in percentage] in the XBT-positive group was 1.6 (0.6-35.0), which was significantly higher than those in the XBT-negative group [0.7 (0.4-1.8)] and the healthy controls [0.7 (0.2-1.1)]. The agreement between the XBT and the urinary cholyl-PABA test was 85.7% (P < 0.01). No adverse effect was noted. In conclusion, the urinary cholyl-PABA test offers a simple, safe, noninvasive, and rapid method for diagnosing small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and warrants further clinical evaluation.
View details for Web of Science ID 000086153600005
View details for PubMedID 10749320
This study examined the role of hypnotic responsiveness in the practice of a dhami-jhankri, a traditional Nepali healer. The hypnotic capacity of 248 male patients was measured in an allopathic (Western) clinic, an Ayurvedic (ancient Hindu healing art) clinic, and a dhami-jhankri's practice. Hypnotizability was assessed using the Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP). The Induction scores of the HIP were significantly higher among the dhami-jhankri's patients than among either the Ayurvedic or allopathic patients. Furthermore, patients who returned to the dhami-jhankri were more highly hypnotizable than first-time dhami-jhankri patients. In addition, treatment satisfaction as reported by dhami-jhankri patients was positively correlated with HIP scores. The authors conclude that hypnotic phenomena as measured in the West might be an important component of the dhami-jhankri's treatment in the East.
View details for Web of Science ID 000084384600002
View details for PubMedID 10641429
The objective of this study was to correlate computer-generated imagery tasks and a self-report measure of imagery ability with hypnotizability, hypothesizing that computer-generated imagery tasks would be better predictors of hypnotizability than will the self-report measure. Hypnotizability of 43 subjects was assessed using the Hypnotic Induction Profile and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C. Imagery ability was assessed by the Visual Vividness Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) and by computer-generated imagery tasks measuring the ability to generate, maintain, and transform images. Although there was no correlation between the VVIQ and hypnotizability, the less hypnotizable subjects made twice as many mistakes in the spatial imagery tasks than did the more hypnotizables, but this difference was not statistically significant. The relationships among hypnotic performance, hypnotizability, and imagery functions are complex.
View details for Web of Science ID 000076031900004
View details for PubMedID 9780527
The authors previously reported a statistically significant effect of psychosocial intervention on survival time of women with metastatic breast carcinoma. In this study, the authors investigated whether this effect could be explained by differences in the medical treatment patients received subsequent to their group participation or differences in causes of death.Of the original 86 study participants, medical treatment charts for 61 and death certificates for 83 were available for further analysis. The authors reviewed the course of the medical treatment they received subsequent to their entry into the randomized psychotherapy trial.Although there were no statistically significant differences with regard to chemotherapy and hormone therapy between the control and treatment groups, women in the control group tended to have received more adrenalectomies, although this procedure did not account for the difference in survival time between the control group and the treatment group. Furthermore, women in the control group developed more bone and lung metastases than the women in the treatment group.Differences in disease course between the control and treatment groups appeared to be independent of any differences in medical treatment received.
View details for Web of Science ID A1997XJ01600009
View details for PubMedID 9217034
Dietary carbohydrates and dexfenfluramine (dF) have been shown to influence serotoninergic neurotransmission. To assess their effect on spontaneous physical activity, mood, sleep quality, and resting metabolic rate (RMR), 32 obese females were studied while consuming diets providing 3970 kJ (950 kcal)/d. They were randomly allocated to either a diet relatively high in carbohydrates (carbohydrate:fat:protein, 49%:22%:29% of energy intake; group 1) or to a diet relatively high in fat (carbohydrate:fat:protein, 12%:59%:29%); subjects receiving the latter diet were treated additionally with either 30 mg dF (group 2) or placebo (group 3) daily in a double-blind fashion. Spontaneous physical activity decreased in the group treated with dF compared with the other two groups (P = 0.0002). Daily self-rated questionnaires indicated that mood and tiredness were negatively affected in two groups after the first week. Subjects treated with dF lost more weight than did those in the other two groups (P = 0.013). This occurred despite a decrease in physical activity and unchanged energy intake and resting energy expenditure.
View details for Web of Science ID A1994PJ93000004
View details for PubMedID 8092082
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