Influence of blood donation on levels of water-soluble vitamins.

Iron depletion is a well-known side effect of blood donation. Research evidence also suggests an increasing prevalence of vitamin deficiency in apparently healthy subjects, but there is little information regarding the relationship between blood donation and vitamin status. A total of 217 volunteers (80 first-time and 137 repeat blood donors) were consecutively enrolled in the study. All subjects completed self-administered medical history and food intake forms, which included questions regarding alcohol consumption and smoking as well as on vitamin supplement, iron and contraceptive use (females). Vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12 and biotin levels were measured using standard techniques. The mean vitamin levels of first-time and repeat blood donors did not significantly differ. Vitamin deficiencies occurred in both first-time and repeat blood donors but not on vitamin supplements. Vitamin status was affected by alcohol, nicotine and contraceptives. Blood donation does not decrease the level of water-soluble vitamins. Vitamin deficiencies occur in apparently healthy first-time as well as in repeat blood donors and can be prevented by vitamin supplementation.

Effects of an onion-olive oil maceration product containing essential ingredients of the Mediterranean diet on blood pressure and blood fluidity.

Twenty-four patients with arterial hypertension (WHO class I) received either 4 capsules of an onion-olive oil maceration product, containing essential ingredients of the Mediterranean diet, or placebo daily over a period of one week. In order to investigate the acute effect on arterial blood pressure, measurements were performed before and 5 h after the administration of the first dose of 4 capsules verum or placebo, respectively. For the evaluation of the long term effect further blood pressure measurements were performed after one week's treatment with a daily dose of 4 capsules. After a wash-out phase of 2 weeks followed by a crossover, the second study phase, which was identical in design, was carried out. In addition patients were instructed to measure their blood pressure 4 times daily at home for the whole study period. Haemorheological parameters (platelet aggregation, erythrocyte aggregation, plasma viscosity and haematocrit) were also determined at the measuring points mentioned above. The onion-olive oil maceration product led to a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure. There was also a trend towards a decrease in diastolic blood pressure. The improved blood fluidity observed resulted from a decrease in haematocrit. All effects could be shown immediately and after one week's administration.

Influence of the onion as an essential ingredient of the Mediterranean diet on arterial blood pressure and blood fluidity.

Mediterranean diet has got a favourable effect on life expectancy. One of the crucial components of the diet are onions. In an open and a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over phase-I study a spontaneous pharmacological effect 5 h after administration of an onion-olive-oil maceration capsule formulation on arterial blood pressure could be demonstrated in apparently healthy subjects. In addition to a decrease in arterial blood pressure, a significant reduction in plasma viscosity and haematocrit were observed. These results are indicating a vasodilative effect of the onion-olive-oil-maceration product. The stickiness of the platelets was reduced. The effects were stronger in subjects with reduced blood fluidity compared to those subjects with normal rheological parameters.

The antiatherosclerotic effect of Allium sativum.

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, the plaque volumes in both carotid and femoral arteries of 152 probationers were determined by B-mode ultrasound. Continuous intake of high-dose garlic powder dragees reduced significantly the increase in arteriosclerotic plaque volume by 5-18% or even effected a slight regression within the observational period of 48 months. Also the age-dependent representation of the plaque volume shows an increase between 50 and 80 years that is diminished under garlic treatment by 6-13% related to 4 years. It seems even more important that with garlic application the plaque volume in the whole collective remained practically constant within the age-span of 50-80 years. These results substantiated that not only a preventive but possibly also a curative role in arteriosclerosis therapy (plaque regression) may be ascribed to garlic remedies.

The Carleton Skills Training Package for modifying hypnotic susceptibility--a replication and extension: a brief communication.

This study employed the Carleton Skills Training Package (CSTP) to attempt to enhance both objective and subjective components of hypnotic susceptibility. In addition, changes in susceptibility were compared for subjects administered a standard hypnotic induction procedure and for subjects given brief "place yourself in hypnosis" instructions. Results indicated that subjects who were administered the CSTP exhibited significant gains in both objective and subjective susceptibility scores that were maintained at two separate posttests with different scales. No differences were observed between the groups administered the standard induction and those administered the self-induction instructions.

The relationship between absorption, openness to experience, anhedonia, and susceptibility.

Examination of the absorption (Tellegen Absorption Scale [TAS] of Tellegen & Atkinson, 1974), openness to experience (OTE Inventory of Costa & McCrae, 1978), and anhedonia (ANH Scales of L. J. Chapman, J.P. Chapman, & Raulin, 1976) scales suggested that they might be conceptually related. Given the reliable relationship between TAS and hypnotic susceptibility, the authors were interested in studying OTE and ANH as possible personality correlates of hypnotic susceptibility. 2 studies, 1 involving a community sample and the other a sample of university students, were conducted to assess the relationships between the TAS, OTE, and ANH scales and hypnotic susceptibility. As predicted, in Study 1 (community sample) the TAS and OTE inventories were positively correlated with one another and both were negatively correlated with the ANH scale. This pattern of correlations was replicated in Study 2 (university sample), but only TAS correlated significantly with hypnotic susceptibility. Factor analyses further confirmed these findings. It was concluded that the conceptual relationship among the TAS and the OTE and ANH scales resides in some dimension other than hypnotic susceptibility.

Hypnotic amnesia as a strategic enactment: breaching amnesia in highly susceptible subjects.

Hypnotically amnesic subjects frequently maintain their amnesia in the face of strong and repeated exhortations to recall honestly and to try their best to recall. Some investigators have argued that these subjects lose control over memory processes and, consequently, are unable to recall the material for which amnesia had been suggested. We propose instead that amnesic subjects maintain control over their memory processes. They often fail to breach amnesia because to do so would conflict with their self-presentation as deeply hypnotized. In two interrelated experiments we demonstrated that highly susceptible hypnotically amnesic subjects could be easily induced to recall all of the "forgotten" target items by defining successful recall as supportive of rather than as inconsistent with a self-presentation as deeply hypnotized. In the first part of Experiment 1, all subjects showed amnesia despite repeated demands to recall honestly. In the second part of this experiment, subjects were led to believe that they possessed a "hidden part" to their mind that remained aware of the target items covered by the amnesia suggestion. Each subject recalled all of the forgotten items when the experimenter contacted their hidden part. In Experiment 2 we replicated this effect and also demonstrated that the characteristics of subjects' hidden reports were a function of the instructions they received and did not reflect the operation of a dissociated cognitive subsystem that subconsciously held the forgotten items. These findings are inconsistent with traditional theorizing about hypnosis, but offer strong support for the hypothesis that hypnotic amnesia is a strategic enactment under the subject's voluntary control.

Episodic and semantic memory in posthypnotic amnesia: A reevaluation.

Recently, Kihlstrom found that a suggestion for posthypnotic amnesia produced impairments on episodic but not semantic memory tasks. During amnesia testing, highly and very highly susceptible subjects showed reduced recall for a previously learned word list but no deficits on a word association task designed to elicit the forgotten words as associates. He hypnotized that posthypnotic amnesia involved a dissociation between episodic and semantic components of memory. We tested the alternative hypothesis that Kihlstrom's findings resulted from experimental demands conveyed by the wording of the amnesia suggestion he employed. We found that subjects could be induced to show only episodic impairments (thereby replicating Kihlstrom) or both episodic and semantic impairments (contrary to Kihlstrom) by subtly varying the wording of amnesia suggestions. These findings are inconsistent with a dissociation hypothesis. Instead, they support the notion that hypnotic amnesia is a strategic enactment strongly influenced by expectations generated in the amnesia testing situation.

The effect of rating scale descriptors on hypnotic depth reports.

The effect of varying number of response descriptors on hypnotic depth ratings was assessed. Following hypnotic susceptibility testing, subjects in one group (n = 111) rated their hypnotic depth on a unidimensional four-point scale with alternatives ranging from "not hypnotized" to "highly hypnotized." A second group (n = 111) responded to a four-point scale that confounded the two descriptors, hypnotic depth and degree of absorption. The alternatives on this scale ranged from "neither hypnotized nor absorbed" to "highly hypnotized and absorbed." Finally, those in a third group (n = 111) were given a scale that included degree of hypnosis and degree of absorption as separate descriptors. Thus, these subjects could rate themselves either as hypnotized to some degree or as "absorbed to some degree but not hypnotized." Substantially fewer subjects at all susceptibility levels rated themselves as "hypnotized to some degree" when given the scale with alternative descriptors as opposed to a scale that did not permit choice of descriptors. These data challenge the validity of measures of hypnotic depth and suggest caution in their interpretation.

Was I hypnotized?: a social psychological analysis of hypnotic depth reports.

We will here review experimental work on subjects' reports of being hypnotized, using an attribution theory framework. Subjective experiences accompanying a hypnotic induction procedure and test suggestions are ambiguous, and, therefore, subjects rely on contextual information in order to label these experiences. Thus, subjects are most likely to define themselves as hypnotized when the situation is convincingly defined as hypnosis and when they observe that their responses are consistent with their conception of hypnosis. Other variables which influence subjects' reports include expert opinion and the wording of the scales used to assess subjective experiences. Rather than accurately reflecting a unique state of the person, reports of being hypnotized appear to represent the outcome of a complex interaction involving contextual information, self-observation, and pre-conceptions concerning hypnosis.