ABSTRACT
The liaison psychiatrist is involved from two angles: to disentangle psychoneurotic, iatrogenic and organic factors in symptomatology and to advice on management and prophylaxis in this potentially lethal. Emotional states are reflected and expressed through changes in cardio respiratory function. Aretaeus saw Bronchial Asthma as a psychosomatic disorder as far back as the second century. The advice of the liaison psychiatrist makes a valuable addition to the physician's treatment package. More Americans and Europeans die from acute or chronic cardio respiratory dysfunction than from any other cause. A curious anomaly for a disorder associated with emotional tension is the reported rarity of asthmatic attacks in concentration camps. Essential hypertension embraces the 80–90 per cent of cases without obvious organic aetiology, such as renal impairment, adrenal disturbance or coarctation of the aorta. Bass and Wade studied 99 patients admitted with chest pain and presumptive Ischaemic Heart Disease.
