NCJ Number
63702
Date Published
Unknown
Length
7 pages
Annotation
A STUDY FOCUSING ON THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IS DISCUSSED; SPECIFICALLY INVESTIGATED ARE GLUCOSE DYSFUNCTION AND CEREBRAL DYSRHYTHMIA.
Abstract
THE PERSPECTIVE FROM WHICH ONE VIEWS AGGRESSION ALSO DETERMINES THE METHOD OF CONTROL. PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM PHYSIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS WILL NOT BE REHABILITATED WITHIN A PRISON SYSTEM. IN THIS STUDY, 45 SUBJECTS WITH COMPLAINTS OF AGGRESSION WERE INVESTIGATED. A 5-HOUR GLUCOSE-TOLERANCE TEST WAS ADMINISTERED BY THE ORTHOTOLUIDINE METHOD AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM READINGS WERE TAKEN TO DETERMINE BRAIN DYSRHYTHMIA. AN AGGRESSION RATING SCALE WAS DEVISED TO NOTE CHANGES IN AGGRESSION AS A RESULT OF TREATMENT. SEVERAL MONTHS LATER, PSYCHOLOGICAL INFORMATION REGARDING SUBJECTS' AGGRESSION WAS OBTAINED FOR 14 SUBJECTS BY A QUESTIONNAIRE. PRIOR TO TREATMENT, ALL SUBJECTS HAD DISPLAYED GLUCOSE DYSFUNCTION AND CEREBRAL DYSRHYTHMIA. THEY WERE CONSIDERED AGGRESSIVE IF THEY WERE ASSAULTIVE, HAD OUTBURSTS OF RAGE, OR HAD UNCONTROLLABLE TEMPERS. EACH SUBJECT WAS RATED ON THE DEVISED AGGRESSION SCALE WHEN FIRST SEEN AND AT TERMINATION OF TREATMENT WHICH LASTED FROM 1 TO 4 MONTHS. THE DIFFERENCE IN THE AGGRESSION SCORE WAS THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE. IN ORDER TO TEST THE EXISTENCE OF THE BEHAVIOR-GLUCO-DYSRHYTHMIC TRIAD, IT WAS NECESSARY TO TREAT BOTH THE HYPOGLYCEMIA AND DYSRHYTHMIA TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF AGGRESSION REDUCTION. THREE GROUPS WERE USED; ONE GROUP WAS TREATED ONLY WITH A DRUG AFFECTING DYSRHYTHMIA, ONE GROUP WAS TREATED ONLY WITH A LOW CARBOHYDRATE, HIGH FAT DIET AND ONE GROUP RECEIVED BOTH DIET AND DRUG TREATMENT. STUDY RESULTS CONFIRMED THE EXISTENCE OF THE HYPOTHESIZED TRIAD. AN INTEGRAL TREATMENT OF DRUGS AND DIET MUST BE GIVEN TO OBTAIN SATISFACTORY REMISSION OF SYMPTOMS. TABULAR INFORMATION AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (LWM)