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Biomedical subjects

A Alperovitch

Publications and source records attributed to A Alperovitch.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Rising amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mortality in France 1968-1990: increased life expectancy and inter-disease competition as an explanation.

Gompertzian analysis is a statistical technique which has been successfully applied to the analysis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) mortality in England and Wales, Japan and the United States. This paper analyses the consistent trend of rising ALS mortality in France over the years 1968-1990, a period during which crude mortality rose from 400 deaths in 1968 to 950 deaths in 1990. The findings indicate that age-specific mortality rates have risen at ages older than 54 years for men and 53 years for women and decreased slightly at younger ages. The evolving ALS mortality pattern is attributable to changing inter-disease competition resulting from the increased life expectancy of the French population, rather than to changing environmental aetiopathogenic factors or to substantial artefact effects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Prevalence of Parkinson's disease in the elderly: a population study in Gironde, France.

We investigated the prevalence of Parkinson's disease in a representative sample of the elderly population living in the Gironde département, France. Among 3149 people over age 65, the prevalence ratio for Parkinson's disease was 1.4%, without significant difference between men and women. We found that age-specific prevalence ratios increased with age from 0.5% in the age group 65 to 69 to 6.1% in individuals over age 90. This age pattern is consistent with that found in other population-based studies. Interestingly, the slope of age-specific prevalence ratios for Parkinson's disease was similar to that previously reported for Lewy bodies. Our study showed that a high proportion (42%) of Parkinson's disease cases in elderly subjects living in institutions were undiagnosed.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Gender distributions in parents and children concordant for multiple sclerosis.

The family histories of 7,802 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients were reviewed with respect to the familial pattern of the disease and the gender of the affected individuals. These patients joined an epidemiological study following a call for patients on French television and answered a questionnaire with the help of their physician. 170 had an affected parent, providing 72 mother-daughter pairs, 48 mother-son pairs, 37 father-daughter pairs, and 13 father-son pairs. From these data, the maximum likelihood estimate of the female to male ratio is 2.06, which is not different from what could be expected given the ratio of 2:1 usually found among patients. The apparent deficit of father-son concordant pairs probably simply reflects the well-known preponderance of the disease among females.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[A study network of human spongiform encephalopathies: 1st results].

Several French teams including clinicians and researchers have created a group within the European network for the study of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other human spongiform encephalopathies. The main objectives are to monitor the incidence of the disease and to search for possible risk factors with a case-control study. The diagnosis is based on neuropathological studies or the identification of an abnormal protein prion in cerebral fragments. The sequence of the gene encoding for the prion protein has was studied from blood or cerebral samples. The early results indicate that the incidence, mortality and clinical presentation remain relatively constant compared with earlier studies. Studying the expression of the 129 codon of the prion protein gene has led to the verification that homozygous methionine/methionine forms predominate in sporadic forms.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1993

Sleep, snoring and smoking in high school students.

The relationship between snoring, sleep and smoking was investigated in young students from a survey by self-administered questionnaire on sleep habits, conducted in high schools in the educational district of Lyons (France). Our sample consisted of 11,417 boys and 13,265 girls between 15 and 20 years of age. We found that 28.4% of girls and 38.8% of boys reported that they snored. In both sexes, snoring was associated with short (<7 h) and long (>10 h) sleep length, nocturnal awakenings and daytime sleepiness. Smoking was a risk factor for snoring. Multiple logistic regression showed that the odds-ratio for habitual snoring increased when tobacco consumption increased from a 1.30 (moderate smokers) to 2.26 (heavy smokers) in girls and from 1.38 to 2.09 in boys. This dose-effect relationship between smoking and snoring suggests that a substantial proportion of snoring cases is attributable to tobacco consumption in young students.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Selenium and oxygen-metabolizing enzymes in elderly community residents: a pilot epidemiological study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of selenium and oxygen-deactivating enzymes with age in the elderly. SAMPLE: The study sample consisted of volunteers recruited from the PAQUID study. This study is conducted in a representative sample of non-institutionalized individuals aged > or = 65 years living in Southwestern France; its main objective is to study longitudinally the incidence and risk factors of dementia. METHODS: Plasma and erythrocyte selenium and activities of oxygen metabolizing enzymes in erythrocytes (GSH-Px, CuZn-SOD, and GSSG-RD) were measured in 239 volunteers (108 males and 131 females; mean age 73.7 years). RESULTS: Plasma selenium (PSe) decreased significantly with age; a similar but non-significant trend was found for erythrocyte selenium (ESe). None of the enzyme activities showed a clear relationship with age. Women had significantly higher GSH-Px activities than men. For PSe levels lower than 77 ng/mL, there was a strong correlation between PSe and GSH-Px; above this value, the correlation decreased, suggesting that the selenium requirement for GSH-Px production had been satisfied. In this sample, CuZn-SOD was correlated negatively with GSH-Px (r = -0.18; P < or = 0.01) and positively with GSSG-RD (r = +0.20; P < or = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In individuals aged > or = 65 years, we found that blood selenium levels were negatively correlated with age. Our analysis of the relationship between selenium and GSH-Px activity suggests that low selenium values are associated with decreased GSH-Px activity.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Pregnancy and multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal study of 125 remittent patients.

The relationship between pregnancy and multiple sclerosis (MS) was assessed in a clinic-based, prospectively followed, population of 125 patients with a remittent onset of MS who had been followed for a mean (SD) of 10.3 (0.1) years. Thirty three women had a total of 49 pregnancies of which 32 had been full term and 17 terminated. There was a three-fold increase in the relapse rate per year during the first three months following delivery, compared with the baseline period of the same patients [1.62(0.38) vs 0.51(0.08) p = 0.05]. During pregnancy itself, the relapse-rate was not different from baseline. The overall relapse rate of the pregnancy group was lower than that of a control group without pregnancies after MS onset, but similar to that of patients who had children after MS onset, but no pregnancy during follow up. Pregnancy did not lead to increased disability. These results confirm that post partum increase in relapse rate is the main event related to pregnancy in MS and underline the difficulties of undertaking prospective studies in this field.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Depressive symptomatology and cognitive functioning: an epidemiological survey in an elderly community sample in France.

As part of a 5-year, prospective, epidemiological survey of normal and pathological ageing, this cross-sectional analysis examines the relationship between depressive symptomatology (CES-D) and cognitive functioning (MMS) in a community sample of 2792 non-institutionalized persons (age greater than or equal to 65) living in Southwest France. Of the sample, 13.4%, report depressive symptoms above the cut-off. A significant association was found between CES-D and MMS scores, but after adjusting for age, living arrangements, and especially functional limitations, the relationship remained strong only for women.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1992

Dermatoglyphic patterns in dementia of the Alzheimer type: a case-control study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare digital and palmar dermatoglyphics in subjects with dementia of Alzheimer type and in mentally healthy elderly controls. DESIGN: This design was a case-control study. SETTING: The study was carried out in geriatric units and retirement communities in the Paris area. PARTICIPANTS: Cases were women with clinically diagnosed Alzheimer type dementia according to DSM III-R criteria (n = 82), mainly with late onset of the disease. Controls were women aged 85 years or older without cognitive deterioration (n = 76). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Finger and palm prints obtained from both hands by the classical ink method were examined. Fingerprints were classified into four types of figures. On palms, palmar flexion creases, palmar axial triradii, true patterns of the hypothenar area, and main line terminations were described. Examinations were performed by two examiners blind to the subjects's diagnostic category. For the different patterns studied, no major differences between dementia patients and elderly controls were found. Nor was there evidence of high frequencies of features commonly observed in Down's syndrome (trisomy 21), which have previously, though sporadically, been reported. CONCLUSIONS: On one of the largest samples of Alzheimer dementia patients studied, and with evaluation blind to diagnosis, no evidence has been found that particular dermatoglyphic patterns occur like those observed in Down's syndrome, a disease which is related to dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

[Influence of educational status on a screening test for dementia, the Mini-Mental State Examination].

This study aimed to examine the relationships between the educational level and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) total scores and its different items. In a survey dealing with cerebral aging, the MMSE administered 2,792 subjects aged 65 years and over, who continued to live at home. The total score decreased with age and increased markedly when the educational level rose. The proportion of failures was higher than or equal to 10% for 12 of the 30 MMSE items, including the 5 items designed to measure attention ability (serial subtractions) and the 3 ones exploring delayed memory. Regarding these 12 items, the percentage of failures increased homogeneously with age, but the relationship with educational level was heterogeneous: it was very strong for the calculation items, weaker for the delayed memory items. These results pointed to the complex relationships between MMSE scores and educational level, and suggested a possible bias related to the screening tool in dementia surveys.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

[Parkinson's disease and environmental factors].

The etiology of the nigrostriatal pathway degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD) is unknown but there is a growing pool of evidence that environmental factors may be involved in the genesis of this disorder. The discovery of the N-Methyl 4-Phenyl 1,2,3,6-Tetrahydro-Pyridine (MPTP)-induced injury in late 1970s provided the first experimental model of PD and stimulated dramatically the epidemiological research. An excitotoxic amino acid contained in Cycadales, which is thought to be responsible for the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-parkinsonism-dementia complex of Guam, provides another example of toxin-induced parkinsonism. This amino acid is present in most seeds common in the Western diet. In developed countries, prevalence of PD is 2 to 5 times as high than in developing countries. PD patients in developed countries are more likely than controls to have lived in rural environment. Case control studies have suggested that this positive association is possibly related to pesticides and herbicides exposures or well water drinking. Dietary surveys are now going on and several hypothesis are tested including high MPTP-structural analogs or seeds consumption in PD patients and low antioxidants consumption. The negative association between smoking habits and PD has been recognized for more than 20 years. There is evidence that this association is not an artefact due to the disease affecting smoking habits. Its origin is unknown but it could provide important aetiological clues for PD. The most recent hypothesis concerning the relationships between these environmental factors and PD are reviewed and pertinent suitable surveys for the future are discussed.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1990

Risk of Down syndrome in relatives of trisomy 21 children. A case-control study.

We conducted a case-control study in families of Down syndrome children with classical trisomy 21 (n = 188) and in a control group of families of children referred to the same hospital for benign diseases (n = 185). The low sibling number does not allow any conclusion about the risk for sibs but our results do not support an increased incidence of Down syndrome among second and third degree relatives of trisomy 21 children. The choice of the control group and the restriction to close relatives protect us against biases which may have interfered in previous studies reporting recurrence in families.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗