This article describes a case of koro-like symptoms from Oman associated with alcohol withdrawal and illustrates how the socio-cultural practices of Ramadan-fasting affected the patterning and timing of presentation of severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms. The patient was severely distressed by the delusion that his penis had been amputated. The acute anxiety involving this delusion appears to be conceptually and phenomenologically similar to koro.
Abbas, S.M., & Basalamah, A.H. (1986). Effects of Ramadhan fast on male fertility. Archives of Andrology, 16, 161-166.
2.
Acleniran, R.A., & Jones, J.R. (1994). Koro: Culture-bound disorder or universal symptom ? British Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 559-561.
3.
Adityanjee, Zain, A. M., & Subramaniam, M. (1991). Sporadic Koro and marital dysharmony. Psychopathology, 24, 49-52.
4.
Aksungar, F.B., Eren, A., Ure, S., Teskin. O., & Ates, G. (2005). Effects of intermittent fasting on serum lipid levels, coagulation status and plasma homo-cysteine levels. Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism, 49, 77-82.
5.
Al-Adawi, S., & Powell, J. (1997). The influence of smoking on reward responsiveness and cognitive functions: A natural experiment. Addiction, 92, 1773-1782.
6.
AlBar, M.A. (1997). The problem of Alcohol and its solution in Islam . Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Publishing & Distributing House.
7.
Alford, D. (2004). Alcohol, drug dependence late in life. Age-associated changes can mask the problem, but the odds of recovery are good. Health News, 10, 6-7.
8.
Araujo, A.B., Durante, R., Feldman, H.A., Goldstein, I., & McKinlay, J.B. (1998). The relationship between depressive symptoms and male erectile dysfunction: Cross-sectional results from the Massachusetts male aging study. Psychosomatic Medicine , 60, 458-465.
9.
Awada, A., & Al Jumah, M. (1999). The first-of-Ramadan headache. Headache, 39, 490-493.
10.
Bernstein, R.L., & Gaw, A.C. (1990). Koro: Proposed classification for DSM-IV. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1670-1674.
11.
Bleustein, C.B., Arezzo, J.C., Eckholdt, H., & Melman, A. (2002). The neuropathy of erectile dysfunction. International Journal of Impotence Research, 14, 433-439.
12.
Bloor, R.N. (2004). Whizz-dick: Side effect, urban myth or amfetaminerelated koro-like syndrome? International Journal of Clinical Practice , 58, 717-719.
13.
Brook, D.W., Brook, J.S., Zhang, C., Cohen, P., & Whiteman, M. (2002). Drug use and the risk of major depressive disorder, alcohol dependence, and substance use disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, 1039-1044.
14.
Cawadias, A.P. (1946). Male eunuchism considered in the light of the historical method. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine-London , 39, 501-506.
15.
Chand, S.P. (1998). Koro associated with phobia for AIDS. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 28, 353-356.
16.
Chowdhury, A.N. (1996). The definition and classification of Koro. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 20, 41-65.
17.
Cochrane, R., & Bal, S. (1990). The drinking habits of Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and white men in the West Midlands: A community survey. British Journal of Addiction, 85, 759-769.
18.
Cohen, S., Tennenbaum, S.Y., Teitelbaum, A., & Durst, R. (1995). The koro (genital retraction) syndrome and its association with infertility: A case report. Journal of Urology , 153, 427-428.
19.
Dotinga, A., van den Eijnden, R.J., Bosveld, W., & Garretsen, H.F. (2004). Methodological problems related to alcohol research among Turks and Moroccans living in the Netherlands: findings from semi-structured interviews. Ethnicity and Health , 9, 139-151.
20.
Dzokoto, V.A., & Adams, G. (2005). Understanding genital-shrinking epidemics in West Africa: koro, juju, or mass psychogenic illness?Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 29, 53-78.
21.
Eapen, V., Jakka, M.E., & Abou-Saleh, M.T. (2003). Children with psychiatric disorders: The Al-Ain Community Psychiatric Survey. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 48, 402-407.
22.
Earleywine M. (2001). Cannabis-induced Koro in Americans. Addiction, 96, 1663-1666.
23.
Ede, A. (1976). Koro in an Anglo-Saxon Canadian. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 21, 389-392.
24.
Freudenmann, R.W., & Schonfeldt-Lecuona, C. (2005). The syndrome of genital retraction from a transcultural psychiatric point of view. Chinese suo yang, Indonesian koro and non-Asian forms (koro-like symptoms). Nervenarzt, 76, 569-580.
25.
Ghubash, R., & El-Rufaie, O. (1997). Psychiatric morbidity among sentenced male prisoners in Dubai: Transcultural perspectives. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 8, 440-446.
26.
Hartocollis, P. (2005). Origins and evolution of the Oedipus complex as conceptualized by Freud. Psychoanalytic Review, 92, 315-334.
27.
Hes, J.P., & Nnssi, G. (1977). Koro in a Yemenite and a Georgian Jewish immigrant . Confinia Psychiatrica, 20, 180-184.
28.
Hitti, P.K. (1996). The Arabs: A short history. Chicago: Gateway Editions.
29.
Holden, T.J. (1987). Koro syndrome associated with alcohol-induced systemic disease in a Zulu. British Journal of Psychiatry , 151, 695-697.
30.
Kalaitzi, C.K., & Kalantzis, A. (2006). Cannabis-induced koro-like syndrome. A case report and mini review. Urologia Internationalis, 76, 278-280.
31.
Karam, E.G., Maalouf, W.E., & Ghandour, L.A. (2004). Alcohol use among university students in Lebanon: Prevalence, trends and covariates. The IDRAC University Substance Use Monitoring Study (1991 and 1999). Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 76, 273-286.
32.
Kark, J.D., Shemi, G., Friedlander, Y., Martin, O., Manor, O., & Blondheim, S.H. (1996). Does religious observance promote health? Mortality in secular vs. religious kibbutzim in Israel. American Journal of Public Health, 86, 341-346.
33.
Mather, C. (2005). Accusations of genital theft: A case from northern Ghana. Culture Medicine and Psychiatry, 29, 33-52.
34.
Mitsikostas, D.D., Thomas, A., Gatzonis, S., Ilias, A., & Papageorgiou, C. (1994). An epidemiological study of headache among the Monks of Athos (Greece). Headache, 34, 539-541.
35.
Modal, L.,. Munitz, H., & Aizenberg, D. (1986). Koro in an Israeli male. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 503-505.
36.
Mosek, A., & Korczyn, A.D. (1995). Yom Kippur headache. Neurology , 45, 1953-1955.
37.
Rosca-Rebaudengo, P., Durst, R., & Minuchin-Itzigsohn, S. (1996). Transculturation, psychosis and koro symptoms. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 33, 54-62.
38.
Sari, R., Balci, M.K., Akbas, S.H., & Avci, B. (2004). The effects of diet, sulfonylurea, and repaglinide therapy on clinical and metabolic parameters in type 2 diabetic patients during Ramadan. Endocrine Research, 30, 169-177.
39.
Wetterling, T., Veltrup, C., Driessen, M., & John, U. (1999). Drinking pattern and alcohol-related medical disorders . Alcohol and Alcoholism, 34, 330-336.
40.
White, M., Bush, J., Kai, J., Bhopal, R., & Rankin, J. (2006). Quitting smoking and experience of smoking cessation interventions among UK Bangladeshi and Pakistani adults: The views of community members and health professionals. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 60, 405-411.
41.
Witztum, E., Bersudsky, Y., Mayodovnik, H., & Kotler, M. (1998). Koro-like syndrome in a Bedouin man. Psychopathology, 31, 174-177.
42.
Young, A. (1976). Internalizing and externalizing medical belief systems: An Ethiopian example. Social Science and Medicine , 10, 147-156.
43.
Younis, Y.O., & Saad, A.G. (1995). A profile of alcohol and drug misusers in an Arab community. Addiction, 90, 1683-1684.
44.
Zaidan, Z.A.J., Dorvlo, A.S.S., Viernes, N., Al-Suleimani, A., & Al-Adawi S. (2007). Hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption among non-psychotic psychiatric clinic attendees in Oman. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, 5, 3-15.