Varied citrus treatment of ruminant gagging in a teenager with Batten's disease.

Abstract

Chronic ruminant gagging was substantially reduced in a severely retarded 13-year-old girl with Batten's disease through the use of contingent citrus juice in an ABAB design. Previous literature suggests that citrus juice may not be effective for treatment of rumination in older and/or handicapped children due to habituation. In this study, habituation may have been prevented by alternating lime juice and lemon juice when ruminative gagging reached a predetermined rate. The lemon/lime variation offers an effective, practical, and acceptable alternative to other response suppression procedures for rumination.

• Authors: S G Glasscock, P C Friman, S O'Brien, E R Christophersen
• Journal: Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry (J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry) Vol. 17 Issue 2 Pg. 129-33 (Jun 1986) ISSN: 0005-7916 [Print] Netherlands
• PMID: 3088047 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.)

Topics

• Adolescent
• Behavior Therapy (methods)
• Beverages
• Brain Diseases, Metabolic (psychology)
• Citrus
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Gagging
• Generalization, Psychological
• Humans
• Reflex
• Sphingolipidoses (psychology)
• Vomiting (psychology, therapy)