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Erectile impotence is a common complaint in alcoholics, but its mechanism is unknown. We have studied nocturnal penile erection in 13 alcoholics who complained of impotence. Seven had normal erections and their impotence was therefore psychogenic. Six were found to have diminished or absent nocturnal erections. Plasma concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were elevated in this latter group, with the exception of one patient who had only raised FSH. They also had more evidence of neurological damage than the other seven alcoholics, and two had evidence of damage to the parasympathetic nervous system. Investigation of erection during steep in alcoholic patients with impotence may be useful in differentiating clinically between patients with psychogenic causes and patients with organic causes of impotence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hormonal responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia were studied in 15 abstinent alcoholics with varying degrees of central and peripheral nerve damage and in six normal controls. Blood samples were taken at intervals after the injection of soluble insulin (0.1 U/ kg of body weight). Growth hormone responses were significantly depressed (p < 0.05) in nine alcoholics with severe central nerve damage (Korsakoff's psychosis) as compared to other alcoholic subjects. The alcoholic subjects with Korsakoff's psychosis also showed significant depression (p < 0.01) of glucose recovery from hypoglycemia as compared with controls. However, responses of vasopressin, Cortisol, and catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) were generally normal in the Korsakoff patients. Our results do not support previous suggestions that impairment of memory in alcoholism may be related to altered vasopressin secretion, even though the reduced growth hormone secretion in brain-damaged alcoholics does indicate some hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant body of research demonstrates that alcoholics and drug addicts presenting for treatment have poor attention and concentration, memory, abstraction, and problem-solving skills even after a significant detoxification period. Such deficits result in poor understanding of medical and psychological treatment recommendations, which is likely to decrease treatment compliance. Although psychological test results are frequently available, many health care professionals are unfamiliar with the implications of deficits signaled by test scores. Even when such testing is available, reports often fail to recommend interventions for improving treatment understanding and compliance. The present study reviewed the cognitive testing of 206 male veterans admitted to the Substance Abuse Treatment Center. Descriptive data, along with implications for real-world tasks, are presented. Specific recommendations for providing treatment to patients with vocabulary, abstraction, and memory difficulties are made. With this information, health care professionals who receive testing reports will be better able to relate testing information to patient behavior and to provide efficacious treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blood samples were obtained from 44 alcoholics during withdrawal and analysed for plasma vasopressin, osmolality and ethanol. Control samples were obtained from 23 normal subjects and 28 abstinent alcoholics. Urine samples were also collected and analysed for vasopressin, sodium, creatinine and osmolality. Alcoholics showing symptoms of withdrawal had elevated plasma and urine vasopressin concentrations compared to control subjects and withdrawing alcoholics without symptoms. No significant difference in plasma osmolality was evident. Raised plasma vasopressin concentrations during alcohol withdrawal may be due to dehydration, nausea or liver disease, or may be a direct consequence of alterations in central nervous system function associated with the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Whether increased plasma vasopressin concentratons contribute to water retention and overhydration during alcohol withdrawal remains to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence supporting involvement of the parasympathetic nervous system in the control of glucagon secretion. We have investigated the possible role of vagal neuropathy in alcoholics as a cause of alcoholic hypoglycemia. Slow infusions of insulin (2.4 U/hr) were carried out in ten male alcoholics, four with and six without evidence of vagal neuropathy, and in six male controls. the fall in blood glucose levels and the rise in serum glucagon levels in the alcoholics with or without vagal neuropathy were not significantly different from controls. We conclude that vagal neuropathy in alcoholics has no effect on the glucagon response to hypoglycemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cardiovascular and plasma catecholamine responses to oral glucose (50 g) ingestion were investigated in five elderly subjects with orthostatic hypotension and five elderly control subjects. All the orthostatic hypotension subjects showed blood pressure falls after glucose ingestion, as compared to only one of the control subjects. Significantly greater falls in the orthostatic hypotension as compared to control patients were observed for systolic blood pressure (<0.01) at 60 and 90 min following glucose and mean blood pressure (<0.05) at 60 min following glucose. The orthostatic hypotension subjects did not have evidence of reduced heart-rate or plasma catecholamine responses to the glucose ingestion. It is concluded that, in elderly patients with orthostatic hypotension, disorder of blood pressure control may also cause hypotension asssociated with eating. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports that the vocational guidance is moving into a new era and people are witnessing a new mode of thought among certain elements of the profession in their philosophy of pupil personnel services. There is already considerable evidence of an evolving concept of personnel services that affirms a developmental view of children in their growth to maturity. Those who hold this point of view believe that the student should be helped to clarify and expand his own personal field of awareness as it touches upon himself, his goals and values, and to develop capacities for self-direction. Most developmentalists would hold that the school exceeds its moral authority if it uses appraisal data to turn the youngster into the kind of person the school believes he ought to be, based solely upon the school's own values. The goal of such prescriptive guidance comes from the staff member's idea of what a nice boy or girl should be. The really grave danger is that the records will be used in a subtle, benevolent manipulation of the student. Such manipulation does nothing to help the individual clarify his self or his experiences, but may only further a trend toward self-alienation.

Three patients who had suffered episodes of spontaneous hypothermia are described. Circulatory control was normal for their age but there was evidence of a persistent defect of thermoregulatory mechanisms. In all patients vascular thermoregulatory reflexes dependent upon peripheral receptors were active and in two patients reflex shivering could be obtained. There appeared, however, to be a failure of central thermoregulation as the vascular reflexes were active at abnormally low central temperatures and a fall in central temperature did not initiate shivering. It is concluded that in patients who have suffered spontaneous hypothermia there may be a persistent defect of central mechanisms subserving vasomotion and shivering, although thermoregulatory reflexes dependent upon peripheral receptors can be active. The reflex pathways for thermoregulation in man therefore have a separate integrity, physiologically independent of the central thermoregulatory mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses on the health and physical educational program for the teachers colleges in Thailand conducted by foreign consultants from U.S., England, Denmark, Canada, and New Zealand. The objectives of the program are to develop a clear understanding of the purposes of a teacher training college, to present the relationships which should exist among the curriculum methods of teaching, and the principles of child growth and development, to promote a deeper cooperation among staff personnel in developing and carrying out a more adequate program of teacher training, to know and to recognize the importance of various resource materials related to education, to understand the importance of selection and evaluation in a program of teacher training, and lastly, to develop qualities of leadership among Thai personnel in the field of education.

Peripheral and central chemosensitivity were assessed in eight abstinent male alcoholic patients and in seven healthy normal male subjects. Hypoxic rebreathing (15% O2, 7% CO2) was used to stimulate the peripheral and central chemoreceptors together. Hyperoxic rebreathing (93% O2, 7% CO2) was used to examine the central chemoreceptor response independently of the peripheral chemoreceptors. Minute ventilation was examined in relation to end-tidal PACO2 under the two conditions. Neither peripheral nor central chemoreceptor responses were signficantly altered in the alcoholic as compared to the control subjects. Abnormal chemoreceptor function is therefore unlikely to be an important factor in the development of abnormal respiratory events during sleep in abstinent alcoholic subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the financial reports of the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA). The fiscal year 1986-67 was a financial success in that APGA succeeded in operating in the black and realized a 4.4 per cent surplus of $28,465.23 on gross income of $646,197.17. It was gratifying to note that APGA exceeded its expense budget by only eight-tenths of one per cent, or $5,035.94 on total expenditures of $617,731.94. The improved fiscal situation is due in part to the better budget control made possible by the new accounting system that was installed last year. Also, at the start of this new fiscal year and for most of the prior year, the concept of responsibility accounting was introduced by placing directly on the administrator of each section of the budget the responsibility of living within the budgetary limits set by the Executive Council. One additional development that deserves attention is the effort that has been and is being made to solve the yearly cash shortage problem. For the first time in seven years, APGA will not have to borrow from banks or its reserve funds to meet fixed expenses during the summer months.