Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0917801 (insomnia)
 10,606 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A housewife cleaned toilet porcelain connected directly to a sewage storage tank with a mixture of cleaning agents; sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solutions. She complained of insomnia on the night after cleaning and suffered from severe metabolic acidosis with extremely low blood pH, PCO2 and bicarbonate values. She recovered from the acidosis after bicarbonate transfusion, plasmapheresis and plasma exchange. Permanent blindness ensued, however, from the third day after the event. These clinical symptoms suggested that the toxic substances responsible were chloramine and methyl chloride. Their generation was confirmed by in-vitro experiments, mixing NaOCl, HCl and pooled urine from normal people. In the simulation, the methyl chloride level far exceeded (100,000 ppm) the maximal allowable concentration recommended (ca 400 ppm) by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Chloramine's toxic actions were confirmed using purified enzyme assay, and the inhibition of carbonic anhydrase and aldehyde dehydrogenase and the enhancement of superoxide dismutase activity were confirmed in neutral pH. The patient's clinical symptoms suggested that insomnia and permanent blindness seemed to be partly ascribable to chronic repetitive exposure to methyl chloride; catching a cold, drug intake and alcohol intake, in addition, precipitated the patient's visual loss. The possibility of this kind of intoxication with such a mixture of agents may lie latent in any situation where sewage or garbage are exposed to the open air.
 ...
PMID:Dangerous mixture of household detergents in an old-style toilet: a case report with simulation experiments of the working environment and warning of potential hazard relevant to the general environment. 135 56

Even in the presence of normal blood pressure (B.P.) in both arms in some individuals, abnormal B.P. and circulatory disturbances can be found in the brain and lower extremities. The author discovered the following five types of abnormal B.P. in the brain in the presence or absence of normal B.P. in the arms: unilateral cephalic hypertension; bilateral cephalic hypertension; unilateral cephalic hypotension; bilateral cephalic hypotension; mixed cephalic hypertension and hypotension. When the B.P. of the head exceeds about 160 mm Hg, patients experience sensation of increased pressure buildup in the head to moderate headache. When it exceeds over 220 mm Hg, most of them experience severe headache in that side of the head. When the B.P. is very low (less than 30 mm Hg in both sides), majority of the subjects experience sleep disturbance pattern, mainly insomnia and some develop excessive sleepiness; difficulty in concentration and easy forgetfulness of recent events; various degrees of irritability. They are often associated with injury of neck-shoulder area with the presence of spastic muscles in the area. Relaxation of the spastic muscles by acupuncture, TES or soft laser beam from He-Ne (7 approximately 15m Watts) often change the abnormal cephalic B.P. toward normal. Among individuals with cephalic hypotension some of them develop eye problems. Blind patients with macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa often have severe cephalic hypotension and reduced blood flow. Improvement of B.P. and blood flow induced by safe and effective electrical stimulation resulted in significant improvement in vision. In some patients, abnormal B.P. and blood flow of the brain are dependent on the position of the head and neck which can be classified as "Cephalo-cervical Position Dependent Dysfunction Syndrome" which interferes with the function of some of the internal organs. In many psychiatric patients with schizophrenia or severe depression, cephalic B.P. and blood flow are often reduced significantly with additional abnormal function of pancreas, thyroid gland or liver. These abnormalities can explain some of the abnormal behavior, particularly when hypoglycemia, decrease in serotonin level and decreased circulation in the brain coexist.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Non-invasive circulatory evaluation and electro-acupuncture & TES treatment of diseases difficult to treat in Western medicine. 614

Following abrupt phase shifts (real or simulated time zone changes, night shift work) there is desynchronisation between the internal circadian rhythms (including melatonin) and the external environment with consequent disturbances in sleep, mood and performance. In humans the pineal hormone melatonin has phase-shifting and resynchronising properties with regard to a number of circadian rhythms. Suitably timed melatonin administration hastened adaptation to phase shift and significantly improved self-rated jet lag in large numbers of time zone travellers. Preliminary results in night shift workers showed improved daytime sleep and night-time alertness. In simulated experiments, appropriately timed melatonin improved subjective sleep, alertness and performance and facilitated the readaptation of the melatonin rhythm following a rapid 9 h advance phase shift. Melatonin has also been assessed in circadian rhythm disorders with disturbed sleep (blindness and delayed sleep phase insomnia). Compared with placebo, melatonin significantly improved sleep and synchronised the sleep wake cycle in some blind subjects. Melatonin treatment significantly advanced the sleep onset time in delayed sleep phase insomnia. Taken together these findings suggest that melatonin is of benefit in facilitating adaptation to forced phase shifts and in conditions of circadian rhythm disturbance.
 ...
PMID:Use of melatonin in circadian rhythm disorders and following phase shifts. 878 96

Brain circuits for infrequently employed memories are reinforced largely during sleep by self-induced, electrical slow-waves, a process referred to as "dynamic stabilization" (DS). The essence of waking brain function in the absence of volitional activity is sensory input processing, an enormous amount of which is visual. These two functions: circuit reinforcement by DS and sensory information processing come into conflict when both occur at a high level, a conflict that may have been the selective pressure for sleep's origin. As brain waves are absent at the low temperatures of deep torpor, essential circuitry of hibernating small mammals would lose its competence if the animals did not warm up periodically to temperatures allowing sleep and circuit reinforcement. Blind, cave-dwelling vertebrates require no sleep because their sensory processing does not interfere with DS. Nor does such interference arise in continuously-swimming fishes, whose need to process visual information is reduced greatly by life in visually relatively featureless, pelagic habitats, and by schooling. Dreams are believed to have their origin in DS of memory circuits. They are thought to have illusory content when the circuits are partially degraded (incompetent), with synaptic efficacies weakened through infrequent use. Partially degraded circuits arise normally in the course of synaptic efficacy decay, or pathologically through abnormal regimens of DS. Organic delirium may result from breakdown of normal regimens of DS of circuitry during sleep, leaving many circuits incompetent. Activation of incompetent circuits during wakefulness apparently produces delirium and hallucinations. Some epileptic seizures may be induced by abnormal regimens of DS of motor circuitry. Regimens of remedial DS during seizures induced by electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) apparently produce temporary remission of delirium by restoring functional or 'dedicated' synaptic efficacies in incompetent circuitry. Sparing of sensory circuitry in fatal familial insomnia seemingly owes to supernormal circuit use in the virtual absence of sleep. ECT shocks and cardioverter defibrillation may have analogous remedial influences.
 ...
PMID:Adaptations and pathologies linked to dynamic stabilization of neural circuitry. 1039 56

Pediatric neurologic diseases are often associated with different kinds of sleep disruption (mainly insomnia, less frequently hypersomnia or parasomnias). Due to the key-role of sleep for development, the effort to ameliorate sleep patterns in these children could have important prognostic benefits. Study of sleep architecture and organization in neurologic disorders could lead to a better comprehension of the pathogenesis and a better treatment of the disorders. This article focuses on the following specific neurologic diseases: nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy and abnormal motor behaviors of epileptic origin, evaluating differential diagnosis with parasomnias; achondroplasia, confirming the crucial role of craniofacial deformity in determining sleep-disordered breathing; neuromuscular diseases, mainly Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and myotonic dystrophy; cerebral palsy, evaluating either the features of sleep architecture and the importance of the respiratory problems associated; headaches, confirming the strict relationships with sleep in terms of neurochemical and neurobehavioral substrates; and finally a review on the effectiveness of melatonin for sleep problems in children with neurologic syndromes and mental retardation, blindness, and epilepsy.
 ...
PMID:Sleep disorders in children with neurologic diseases. 1176 88

The aim of the present study was to systematically elicit the safety behaviors employed by people with insomnia. Safety behaviors have been identified as contributing to the maintenance of anxiety disorders. They include overt or covert strategies designed to prevent a feared outcome. However, they contribute to the maintenance of the disorder because they prevent unambiguous disconfirmation of unrealistic beliefs and they increase the likelihood that the fear would actually occur. A questionnaire based on the Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale was developed to elicit safety behaviors and was administered to 33 people meeting criteria for primary insomnia and 33 nonpatient controls. The data indicated that people with insomnia use a wide range of safety behaviors to prevent feared outcomes. Blind raters determined that the safety behaviors reported included those that: interfere with the regularity of the sleep cycle, interfere with sleep directly, cause paradoxical fuelling of presleep cognitive activity, exacerbate day-time sleepiness, contribute to the day being unpleasant or boring, and those that increase preoccupation with sleep. The clinical implications of these findings and areas for further research are discussed.
 ...
PMID:Identifying safety behaviors in insomnia. 1183 25

The goal of this paper was to summarize three studies focused on sleep/wake disorders in blind subjects. The first study was an epidemiology survey performed in 1073 blind subjects in comparison with non-blind controls. The blind had more episodes of insomnia and free running rhythms. They also took more sleeping pills and complained of more daytime somnolence. The seriousness of the sleep disorders was related to the seriousness of the blindness. In the second study, 78 blind children were compared with seeing children. They had more insomnia and more parasomnias but there was not any more free running. Finally, polysomnography was performed in 26 free running blind subjects in comparison with 26 controls. Total sleep time and sleep efficiency were lower in the blind. Sleep latency was increased and REM sleep was disturbed (longer latency and percentage decreases). There was no difference concerning slow wave sleep. Factorial analysis showed that factors such as being born blind, having ocular prosthesis, being single or having children had no influence on sleep. Working did however have an influence.
 ...
PMID:[Disorders of wakefulness and sleep in blind patients]. 1192 26

The advent of bupropion hydrochloride sustained release (Zyban) has heralded a major change in the options available for smoking cessation pharmacotherapy. Bupropion is a selective re-uptake inhibitor of dopamine and noradrenalin which prevents or reduces cravings and other features of nicotine withdrawal. Bupropion is a useful oral and non-nicotine form of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. For this review a total of 221 papers were reviewed plus poster presentations. This review examines in detail original clinical trials on efficacy, categorised according to whether they were acute treatment trials in healthy smokers; studies in specific populations such as people with depression, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or cardiovascular disease; or relapse prevention studies. Overall, these studies in varying populations comprising over four thousand subjects, showed bupropion consistently produces a positive effect on smoking cessation outcomes. The evidence highlights the major public health role that bupropion has in smoking cessation. The methodological issues of published clinical trials reporting one year outcomes were examined in detail including: completeness of follow-up; loss to follow-up; intention to treat analysis; blindness of assessment; and validation of smoking status. The review discusses contraindications, adverse effects, dose and overdose, addictive potential, and the role of bupropion in reducing cessation-related weight gain. Bupropion combined with or compared to other pharmacotherapies (nicotine patch; nortriptyline) is considered. Impressive evidence exists for the use of bupropion in smoking cessation among difficult patients who are hard-core smokers such as those with cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and depression. Bupropion reduces withdrawal symptoms as well as weight gain and is effective for smoking cessation for people with and without a history of depression or alcoholism. Serious side effects of bupropion use are rare. The major safety issue with bupropion is risk of seizures (estimated at approximately 0.1%) and it should not be prescribed to patients with a current seizure disorder or any history of seizures. In clinical trials of bupropion for smoking cessation no seizures were reported. Allergic reactions occur at a rate of approximately 3% and minor adverse effects are common including dry mouth and insomnia.
 ...
PMID:Review of bupropion for smoking cessation. 1285 Sep 7

Evidence was sought of an attentional bias toward a highly representative object of the bedroom environment in good, moderate, and poor (primary insomnia) sleepers. Using a flicker paradigm for inducing change blindness, the authors briefly presented a single scene comprising a group of bedroom environment and neutral objects to participants and then briefly replaced this scene with an identical scene containing a change made to either a bedroom environment or a neutral object. In a 3 x 2 entirely between-participants design, change-detection latencies revealed a sleep-related attentional bias in poor sleepers but not in good sleepers. A possible bias in moderate sleepers was also revealed. It is suggested that attentional bias has a role in the perpetuation and possibly precipitation of primary insomnia.
 ...
PMID:Sleep-related attentional bias in good, moderate, and poor (primary insomnia) sleepers. 1586 55

Cognitive models of insomnia suggest that selective attention may be involved in maintaining the disorder. However, direct assessment of selective attention is limited. Using the inducing change blindness (ICB) paradigm we aimed to determine whether there is attentional preference for sleep-related stimuli in psychophysiological insomnia (PI) relative to delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) and good sleepers (GS). In the ICB task, a visual scene, comprising both sleep-related and neutral stimuli, 'flickers' back and forth with one element (sleep or neutral) of the scene changing between presentations. Therefore, a 2 x 3 totally between-participants design was employed. The dependent variable was the number of flickers it took for the participant to identify the change. Ninety individuals (30 per group) were classified using ICSD-R criteria, self-report diaries and wrist actigraphy. As predicted, PI detected a sleep-related change significantly quicker than DSPS and GS, and significantly quicker than a sleep-neutral change. Unexpectedly, DSPS detected a sleep-related change significantly quicker than GS. No other differences were observed between the two controls. These results support the notion that there is an attention bias to sleep stimuli in PI, suggesting that selective attention tasks such as the ICB may be a useful objective index of cognitive arousal in insomnia. The results also suggest that there may be an element of sleep preoccupation associated with DSPS. Results are discussed with reference to other experiments on attentional processing in insomnia.
 ...
PMID:Who is pre-occupied with sleep? A comparison of attention bias in people with psychophysiological insomnia, delayed sleep phase syndrome and good sleepers using the induced change blindness paradigm. 1670 77


1 2 Next >>