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High B/P + age

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Author	Topic: High B/P + age
Poly761 Member	posted 04-13-2007 11:14 AM Thoughts about testing a 68-year-old male with high blood pressure controlled with Anitol & hydrochloricide (sp)? Also using Flomax. No other medical issues. Thanks..... Correction: Atenolol Hydrochlorothiazide [This message has been edited by Poly761 (edited 04-13-2007).] IP: Logged
rnelson Member	posted 04-13-2007 12:03 PM That would probably be Atenolol - a beta blocker and Hydrochlorothiazide - good ole' fashioned water pills Flomax is for - urination / prostate (like the SNL sketch for Urigro) Beta blockers, regulate beta adrinergic activation of cardiac function - might influence heart contractility. Hydro - most likely no effect Flomax - depends? Your guy has health issues for sure, but they may or may not affect the data. Common sense tells us that persons who function optimally while taking necessary meds will most likely produce test data of optimal interpretable quality while taking their prescription meds. I would always advise caution - as a firm conservative ground rule - with anyone taking multiple medications, and would not pretend to know enough to anticipate all of the possible medication interactions. In principle, I think its unwise to write simplistic things in polygraph reports, like "so and so is a fit subject for the polygraph technique." Its better to factually report his health and medication concerns, and any observed effects on the data quality (dampening, exaggeration/messiness/instability, whatever). If he's a mostly functional 68 year old (working, driving, causing trouble like others), I'd probably test him. If his health issues interfere with normal functioning, working, recreation, relationship, overall lifestyle satisfaction, sexual relations, then I'd begin to be a lot more cautious about whether polygraph testing is necessary or advisable. just my .02 r ------------------ "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the war room." --(Stanley Kubrick/Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove, 1964) [This message has been edited by rnelson (edited 04-13-2007).] IP: Logged
Barry C Member	posted 04-13-2007 01:07 PM I can only echo what Ray said with the exception of adding that beta blockers usually "flatten" the cardio. You'll still see reactions, but they won't be as pronounced as you're used to seeing. And in some cases, you don't get much more than a tonic level that appears computer generated - it's stable if a bomb goes off. IP: Logged
stat Member	posted 04-13-2007 01:42 PM It's funny, I can't remember the last time I tested a 68 yr old or older male who WASN'T on AorB Blockers. I also can't say that I've come to expect supressed/dampened cardio responses as a result of the meds. After reading Barry C's post, I reviewed 8 or 9 recent charts (from the last 2 months)with older males on BP meds (blocker types) and they look virtually indistinguishable from others---with the exception of the "baby pores" often associated with aging people and the subsequent dampened gsr/ sweating activity---although even that isn't to be expected always. On occasion though, I would have felt more comfy with a set of defib paddles in my bag.I'm usually more concerned with geriatric tremoring than cardio regulators with regards to the elderly population. Conversly, I once ran a pretest on a middle aged man that lasted so long that the examinee qualified for SS when we were done------but seriously folks. As Ray once said, it's Friday and time for punch and cookies. [This message has been edited by stat (edited 04-13-2007).] [This message has been edited by stat (edited 04-13-2007).] IP: Logged
Barry C Member	posted 04-13-2007 02:59 PM Were these guys on something that would also effect their cardio tracings in the opposite manner of the beta blockers? If not, what were the beta blockers doing? They should do something. I seem to recall Matte citing a study in which it was found they reduce EDA amplitudes, so he cautioned against the CIT with such examinees. I'm not sure why. The biggest is still the biggest, even if it's not what it would have been sans meds. Keep in mind there are a number of different kinds, and I'm sure they all do different things to different people. I'm surprised you didn't see anything in the last nine. I'll see some of you at AAPP. Where are we eating dinner? IP: Logged
rnelson Member	posted 04-13-2007 03:12 PM Hey guys, I think Barry just offered to buy us all dinner. -------- In my view, psychopharmacology is still half witchcraft. There are some predictable things, but they never know what you've got until they try it. They have to take find the right combination and titration for each individual. I'm not surprised that there would be no distinguishable effects in most charts. That goes back to the optimal functioning thing. Where I think it would get more complicated is with combination and interaction effects with multiple meds (but not always) - that's the witchcraft thing - and they don't just cancel each other out or add to each other in simplistic fashion. I'll be at AAPP for part of the week, but I have another subpoena, so I can't stay the whole time. Weather permitting I'll zoom down on the bike - at the posted legal limit of course. r ------------------ "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the war room." --(Stanley Kubrick/Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove, 1964) IP: Logged

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