Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0085632 (apathy)
 4,089 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In Los Angeles County, almost one-third of abortion deaths are due to gas embolus. Whenever a gas or a gas-producing liquid is injected into a pregnant uterus, a fatal gas embolus is possible because the utero-placental bed is an open avenue to the maternal circulation. The usual sequence of events is collapse, rapidly followed by death. By the time the rescue squad is summoned, the patient is either dead or beyond possibility of resuscitation. In the six years 1962-1967 there were 27 gas embolus deaths associated with abortion in the Los Angeles area. All the women were the victims of ignorance or indifference. Wider public knowledge of this lethal danger is the only means by which mortality can be reduced.
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PMID:Abortion, gas embolus, and sudden death. 579

The case report discussed here presents the evolution of a conversion disorder (urinary retention) in response to a decision to terminate a pregnancy. According to the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM 3), the following are the current criteria for a diagnosis of conversion (psychogenic pain): the predominant disturbance is a loss of or alteration in physical functioning suggesting a physical disorder; psychological factors are judged to be etiologically involved as evidenced by 1 of the following--a temporal relationship exists between an environmental stimulus that apparently related to a psychological conflict or need and the initiation or exacerbation of the symptom, the symptom enables the individual to get support from the environment that otherwise might not be forthcoming, and the symptom enables the individual to avoid some noxious activity; it has been determined that the symptom is not under voluntary control; and the symptom cannot be explained by a known physical disorder or pathophysiologic mechanism. A 25-year old single white woman (para 0, gravida 1) was hospitalized for termination of pregnancy at 22 weeks of gestation. The patient told her physician that she did not know she was pregnant. The operative procedure was uncomplicated, and the patient was discharged. 5 days later she presented to the emergency room with the complaint that she was unable to void. Following catheterization, which recovered 800 mL of urine, the patient returned home. Within 24 hours she again complained of an inability to void. Admission to the gynecological service resulted in a 16-day stay involving a continued inability to void requiring repeated catheterizations. Psychiatric consultation revealed marked immaturity, an inappropriately labile affect, and indifference to her symptoms. A history of occasional substance abuse was elicited. Upon transfer to the psychiatric inpatient service, the patient began to void spontaneously. The reported incidence of psychiatric sequelae after therapeutic or legal abortion is low, but the degree of preabortion emotional difficulty appears in direct proportion to the incidence of postabortion behavioral complications. The selection of a target organ for conversion is often based upon its ability to achieve symbolic representation. In the case presented the anatomic proximity of the bladder and uterus is cogent with the Freudian concent of somatic compliance whereby a previous somatic injury or disease may dictate the conversion focus by reactivation of the original event.
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PMID:Conversion disorder following termination of pregnancy. 684 39

Jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum L.) is used in aromatherapy as a holistic treatment for apathy, hysteria, uterine disorders and childbirth, muscle relaxation and coughs. Its stimulant nature, on inhalation, has been shown both in animals and man. Jasmine has a spasmolytic activity on guinea-pig ileum and rat uterus in vitro. The mechanism of action of the spasmolytic activity, studied in vitro using a guinea-pig ileum smooth muscle preparation, was postsynaptic and not atropine-like. The spasmolytic effect of jasmine absolute was most likely to be mediated through cAMP, and not through cGMP. The mode of action in vitro resembled that of geranium, lavender and peppermint oils. The contradictory effect in vitro and in vivo is probably due to the solely physiological effects of jasmine absolute in vitro (producing a relaxation) compared with that in vivo, where it has a strong psychological input, producing a stimulant effect in man and enhanced movement in animals.
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PMID:Jasmine absolute (Jasminum grandiflora L.) and its mode of action on guinea-pig ileum in vitro. 1220 63

Ending the silent pandemic of unsafe abortion is an urgent public-health and human-rights imperative. As with other more visible global-health issues, this scourge threatens women throughout the developing world. Every year, about 19-20 million abortions are done by individuals without the requisite skills, or in environments below minimum medical standards, or both. Nearly all unsafe abortions (97%) are in developing countries. An estimated 68 000 women die as a result, and millions more have complications, many permanent. Important causes of death include haemorrhage, infection, and poisoning. Legalisation of abortion on request is a necessary but insufficient step toward improving women's health; in some countries, such as India, where abortion has been legal for decades, access to competent care remains restricted because of other barriers. Access to safe abortion improves women's health, and vice versa, as documented in Romania during the regime of President Nicolae Ceausescu. The availability of modern contraception can reduce but never eliminate the need for abortion. Direct costs of treating abortion complications burden impoverished health care systems, and indirect costs also drain struggling economies. The development of manual vacuum aspiration to empty the uterus, and the use of misoprostol, an oxytocic agent, have improved the care of women. Access to safe, legal abortion is a fundamental right of women, irrespective of where they live. The underlying causes of morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortion today are not blood loss and infection but, rather, apathy and disdain toward women.
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PMID:Unsafe abortion: the preventable pandemic. 1712 24

A 3-year-old female rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculi) presented with apathy and indisposition for 2-3 days. Palpation revealed a mass in the caudal abdomen, namely, in the wall of the uterus. Ovariohysterectomy was performed, and the tissues were submitted for histopathologic examination. The mass consisted of 3 different (trophoblastic, syncytiotrophoblastic, and cytotrophoblastic) neoplastic cell types originating from the uterus. Immunohistochemistry was positive for cytokeratin in all 3 neoplastic cell types, and the syncytiotrophoblasts were positive also for human chorionic gonadotropin. Together these features allow the diagnosis choriocarcinoma. This report documents the first case of a spontaneous choriocarcinoma in a rabbit.
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PMID:Choriocarcinoma with metastasis in a rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculi). 1819 82

Treatment of gynecological cancer has significant impact on a woman's quality of life because it commonly includes removal of the uterus and ovaries, both being the core of a woman's femininity, whilst irradiation and chemotherapy, be they as primary therapy or when indicated as postoperative adjuvant therapy, will lead to ablation of ovarian function if the ovaries had not been removed. This will lead to an acute onset of menopausal symptoms, which may be more debilitating than those occurring as a result of natural aging, and of which hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, mood swings, vaginal dryness, decreased libido, malaise and a general feeling of apathy are the most common. About 25% of gynecological cancers will occur in pre- and perimenopausal women, a large percentage of whom will become menopausal as a result of their treatment. There are also the gynecological cancer survivors who are not rendered menopausal as a result of the treatment strategy but who will become menopausal because of natural aging. Concern among the medical attendants of these women is whether use of estrogen therapy or estrogen and progestogens for their menopausal symptoms will reactivate tumor deposits and therefore increase the rate of recurrence and, as a result, decrease overall survival among these women. Yet the data that are available do not support this concern. There are eight retrospective studies and only one randomized study that have analyzed outcome in endometrial cancer survivors who used hormone therapy after their surgery, whilst, among ovarian cancer survivors, there are four retrospective studies and one randomized study. The studies do suffer from small numbers and, although the studies pertaining to endometrial cancer analyze mostly women with early-stage disease, a number of the studies in both the endometrial and ovarian cancer survivors do have a sizeable follow-up. These studies seem to support that estrogen therapy after the treatment for gynecological cancer does not impact negatively on outcome in endometrial and ovarian cancer survivors and that estrogen therapy can be considered as a plausible therapeutic option in survivors who are debilitated by their menopausal symptoms. It is prudent not to offer estrogen therapy to survivors of endometrial stromal sarcoma and women with granulosa cell tumors of the ovaries. Vulval, vaginal and cervical cancers are not considered hormone-dependent and therefore estrogen therapy can be given.
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PMID:Estrogen therapy in gynecological cancer survivors. 2395 24