RAY E. CLOUSE, M.D.
Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry

Research Interests

1) Interactions of psychiatric illness with medical diseases.

2) Relationships of psychiatric disorders, specifically somatization disorder, anxiety and affective disorders, to the presentation, manifestations and management of functional gastrointestinal disorders.

Specific Research Interests

I am particularly interested in determining cognitive versus somatic contributions of psychiatric disorder to the production of GI symptoms. Current work focuses on defining the spectrum of somatization in functional GI disorders, treating depression in medical samples, use of antidepressants for medical indications (determining mechanisms of action), and associating esophageal physiological abnormalities with psychiatric disorder.

Special Populations, Data Sets and Facilities

Ready access to outpatient medical populations with GI disease. Access to a recently developed manometric measurement tool for fine study of esophageal motor physiology.

Key References

Clouse RE, Lustman PJ: Psychiatric illness and contraction abnormalities of the esophagus. N Engl J Med 1983; 309:1337-1342.

Clouse RE, Lustman PJ, Eckert TC, Ferney DM, Griffith LS: Low-dose trazodone for symptomatic patients with esophageal contraction abnormalities. Gastroenterology 1987; 92:1027-36.

Clouse RE, Lustman PJ, Geisman RA, Alpers DH: Antidepressant therapy in 138 patients with irritable bowel syndrome: A five-year clinical experience. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 1994; 8:409-416.

Clouse RE: Antidepressants for functional gastrointestinal syndromes. Dig Dis Sci 1994; 39:2352-2363.

Clouse RE, Carney RM. The psychologic profile of non-cardiac chest pain patients. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 1995; 7:1160-1165.

Prakash C, Clouse RE: Cyclic vomiting syndrome in adults: Clinical features and response to tricyclic antidepressants. Am J Gastroentero, 1999; 94:2855-2860.

Prakash C, Clouse RE: Long-term outcome from tricyclic antidepressant treatment of functional chest pain. Dig Dis Sci 1999; 44:2373-2379.

Clouse RE, Staiano A, Alrakawi A, Haroian L: Application of topographic methods to clinical esophageal manometry. Am J Gastroenterol 2000; 95:2720-2730. (Accompanying editorial)

Lustman PJ, Freedland KE, Griffith LS, Clouse RE: Fluoxetine for depression in diabetes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Diabetes Care 2000; 23:618-23.