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Query: UMLS:C0020538 (hypertension)
 170,190 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Of 100 male patients with alcohol dependence, clinical and biochemical data were analysed in relation to family history of alcoholism and alexithymic personality traits. Family history was found in 38 patients and alexithymic personality traits in 79. No relationship was established between these two factors. In patients with a family history alcoholism began at a younger age with more severe clinical symptoms than in the remaining subjects. Patients with alexithymia had lower intensity of psychopathology but higher frequency of concomitant hypertension. Patients with family history had higher leukocyte counts and lower alcohol-induced elevations of liver enzymes and plasma lipids. In patients with alexithymia, higher values of hemoglobin and hematocrit were found. The results suggest that two predisposing factors to alcohol dependence such as family history of alcoholism and alexithymic personality determine the different clinical and biochemical features of the disease.
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PMID:Clinical and biochemical heterogeneity of alcoholism: the role of family history and alexithymia. 202 61

Relatively few studies have addressed the issue of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) alexithymia scale's construct validity. In this study, the validity of the scale is supported by the finding of a significantly lower percentage of alexithymic individuals in a large sample of psychiatric inpatients than in samples of patients with a variety of physical disorders (i.e., migraine headaches, asthma bronchitis/emphysema, and hypertension). Validity of the scale is further supported through a comparison of the alexithymic and nonalexithymic psychiatric inpatients on a series of Rorschach and MMPI variables. As predicted, alexithymics were less verbally productive, displayed less ability to fantasize, and demonstrated greater defensive pseudonormality. Results suggest the measure may be of value in studies of psychiatric patients as well as those with physical disorders.
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PMID:The construct validity of the MMPI alexithymia scale with psychiatric inpatients. 321 Jan 18

The personality trait of alexithymia was assessed in 100 male inpatients with alcohol dependence using the Schaling-Sifneos Personality Scale. The score indicative of alexithymia (below 50 points) was found in 78 patients, a prevalence which exceeds that found in psychosomatic subjects. Patients with alexithymia did not differ from non-alexithymics in regard to demographic factors and severity of alcohol dependence. They were younger and had a shorter duration of illness what may indicate that alexithymia is not a result of the dependence. Alcoholic patients with concomitant hypertension had greater alexithymic scores. It is hypothesized that psychological and biological features of alexithymic subjects may render them more vulnerable to alcohol and more prone to subsequent development of the dependence.
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PMID:High prevalence of alexithymia in male patients with alcohol dependence. 326 48

Alexithymic and nonalexithymic hypertensives were assessed for severity of hypertension using a weighting system based on diastolic blood pressure, optic fundi, ECG, chest X ray, renal studies, and patient history. Outpatient hypertensives (diastolic blood pressure greater than 95 mm Hg) were selected as subjects because they are largely asymptomatic; thus, focusing on somatic ills to the exclusion of thoughts about emotions is not likely to be due to their hypertensive pathology but rather reflects psychological constitution. Controlling for age differences, it was found that alexithymics manifested more severe hypertensive sequelae than did nonalexithymics ; there was, however, no difference in severity of atherosclerosis. The results suggest that alexithymia is not only correlated with hypertension but may also play a role in its etiology.
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PMID:The effect of alexithymia on morbidity in hypertensives. 672 9

The common theoretical speculation that alexithymic personality characteristics (impoverished fantasy life and difficulty expressing feelings verbally) lead to psychosomatic disease was tested in a sample of 181 men. Unlike previous investigations, this study used a measure of alexithymic characteristics taken at least 1 year before any of the men became ill. Comparisons were made of the premorbid MMPI alexithymia scale scores of groups of men who remained well for 10 years or within 10 years developed either physical illness (cancer or benign tumors), "classical" psychosomatic disease (hypertension or gastrointestinal ulcers), or psychiatric disorder (schizophrenia). Results did not support the notion that alexithymia leads to illness onset. There were no significant differences among the groups in their premorbid alexithymia scores. Furthermore, the groups did not differ in the percentage of individuals labeled alexithymic with the use of previously established cut-off points. Although the findings cast doubt on alexithymia as a cause of illness, they do not conflict with the idea that alexithymia can result from the stress of disease or that this type of personality configuration may lead to a decreased response to treatment and a prolonged course of illness.
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PMID:Do alexithymic traits predict illness? 685 90

A consecutive unselected series of 20 outpatients suffering from essential hypertension is included in this study. These patients were compared to a control group of 20 patients other than hypertensives, matched for age, sex, marital status, years of schooling, social class and duration of illness. Stressful life events prior to illness onset, psychological distress as measured by SCL-90, and alexithymia were investigated. Patients with hypertension were exposed to undesirable life events before disease onset and exhibited alexithymic traits significantly more than the control group.
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PMID:Stress and distress in essential hypertension. 720 58

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) often is unrecognized (i.e., a patient fails to notice or report the event to the physician, or the physician fails to diagnose it). Psychosocial differences between patients with recognized and unrecognized AMI have not been examined. We compared 40 patients who sought treatment for a documented AMI with 30 patients who were found on routine electrocardiogram to have had an AMI for which they did not seek medical care. Patients with unrecognized AMI showed greater "alexithymia," or deficient psychologic awareness (p = 0.04; Alexithymia Provoked Response Interview), and a greater belief that chance factors determine their health (p = 0.004; Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale). Patients with unrecognized AMI were less likely to have angina, yet did not differ from those with recognized AMI with regard to demographics, smoking, systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, AMI location, depression, or hypochondriasis. We hypothesize that deficient psychologic awareness may impede AMI symptom perception or recognition, and that the belief in chance or fate as determining health may inhibit treatment-seeking.
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PMID:Psychosocial factors related to unrecognized acute myocardial infarction. 777 41

We prospectively examined the association between alexithymia and risk of death over an average follow-up time of nearly 5.5 years in 42- to 60-year-old men (N = 2297) participating in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD). Alexithymia, impairment in identification, processing, and verbal expression of inner feelings, was assessed by the validated Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) In age-adjusted survival analyses, men in the highest alexithymia quintile had a twofold greater risk of all-cause death (p < 0.001) and a threefold greater risk of death from accidents, injury, or violence (p < 0.02) relative to the men in the three lowest alexithymia quintiles. There was little evidence for confounding by behavioral factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity). physiological risk factors (LDL, HDL, body mass index, hypertension), socioeconomic status, marital status, perceived health, prior diseases and diagnoses, depressive symptoms or social connections. Consistent and even stronger associations between alexithymia and all-cause death were found in a healthy subgroup (N = 1650). Why difficulties in dealing with emotions associate with increased mortality remains unclear. Our findings suggest that the association is independent from the effect of well-known behavioral, biological, and psychosocial risk factors.
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PMID:Alexithymia and risk of death in middle-aged men. 903 17

The aim of this study was to assess whether the psychobehavioral pattern alexithymia is related to coronary artery spasm. Alexithymia, deficient psychological awareness, was examined using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Alexithymia Scale in 100 patients with angina pectoris in whom coronary spasm, defined as > or = 99% coronary narrowing, was documented upon ergonovine provocation, and in 109 patients with chest pain syndrome who were shown to have almost normal coronaries without inducible coronary spasm on coronary angiogram (control group). Alexithymia was approximately twice as prevalent in the coronary spasm group (31%) as in the control group (14%) (p<0.01). Among various conventional risk factors including hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperuricemia, or family history of ischemic heart disease, only male sex and smoking were more prevalent in the coronary spasm group than in the control group (p<0.001). The odds ratios of coronary spasm adjusted for all the other risk parameters including sex and age were 4.14 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.81-9.47] for alexithymia and 2.38 (95, CI 1.18-4.82) for smoking. A psychobehavioral pattern, alexithymia, relates to coronary spasm. This relationship is independent of the conventional coronary risk factors.
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PMID:A psychobehavioral factor, alexithymia, is related to coronary spasm. 965 15

Two hundred thirty-seven newly diagnosed yet untreated hypertensive men and women, 35 to 54 years of age, were compared with an age- and gender-stratified random population sample of 146 normotensive men and women to find out whether psychological distress symptoms, anger expression, and alexithymia are associated with elevated blood pressure and whether the possible associations are independent of sodium and alcohol intake, body mass index, and physical fitness. The independent attributes of mean arterial pressure were studied by multivariate regression analyses after combining the subjects in the hypertensive and control groups. Three questionnaires were used: the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-37), a 31-item version of the Spielberger State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26). Total scores of the TAS-26 were higher (P<0.001) in hypertensive men and women than in their normotensive control subjects (75.6+/-7.8 vs 64.1+/-9.8 in men and 72.9+/-7.1 vs 57.5+/-11.5 in women). There were no differences between the study and control groups in psychological distress symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and hostility, or in anger expression. In multivariate regression analyses, higher age, male gender, higher sodium intake, lower physical fitness, and alexithymia were independently and highly significantly (P<0.01 for male gender, P<0.0001 for other variables) associated with increased blood pressure, explaining altogether 39.5% of the cross-sectional variation in mean arterial pressure. We conclude that alexithymia, that is, poor ability to experience and express emotions, is associated with elevated blood pressure independent of sodium and alcohol intake, body mass index, and physical fitness.
Hypertension 1999 Apr
PMID:Alexithymia: a facet of essential hypertension. 1020 48


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