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Biomedical subjects

A B Forsythe

Publications and source records attributed to A B Forsythe.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Serum glycoprotein hormone alpha subunit levels in patients with cancer.

The serum glycoprotein hormone alpha subunit concentration was measured in 957 nonpregnant patients with benign disorders and 683 patients with unselected malignancies. Postmenopausal women had significantly higher alpha levels than premenopausal women or men. When the patients were subdivided according to age, sex or disease sites, significant population differences were found for women less than 50 years of age and patients with cancers of presumed neural crest origin. However, individual serum alpha levels in patients with benign disorders or malignancies demonstrated considerable overlap. No population differences in serum alpha concentrations were demonstrated between patients grouped according to stage of disease, suggesting that serum alpha were not directly related to tumor burden. Similarly, there was no statistical association between clinical improvement or deterioration and change in the serum alpha subunit concentration. These results indicate that measurement of the glycoprotein hormone alpha subunit concentration in the serum is not useful for screening patients for cancer or for monitoring the clinical course of patients with the vast majority of cancers.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1979

A Markovian model for evaluating dental care programs.

A Markov model is suggested as a means of evaluating dental care programs. Four mutually exclusive states of dental care are defined as Markovian states. These are episodic, initial, maintenance and nonuse. Records for all patients entering a university teaching clinic (n = 578) over a 12-month period were examined and classified in one of the states of care at entry into the clinic and at 1-year intervals from the date of entry for 3 years. An analysis of the findings indicated that the Markov model did fit reasonably well and provided a good approximation of the empirical data.

Dental Care↗
PubMed1978

Therapist characteristics and the outcome of treatment in schizophrenia.

The broad task of identifying and characterizing specific components of personality and behaviours of therapists that may be differentially helpful in the treatment of schizophrenia still remains to be addressed. This report presents data systematically collected in the course of a controlled study of the outcome of five different treatment methods in schizophrenia. Therapists seem to play a significant role in determining the outcome of the treatment of schizophrenia by drugs and by psychotherapy plus drugs. The salient therapist behaviors that seem to make a difference in outcome are yet to be identified and studied. The A-B dimension as customarily defined seems of little value for this task. The findings show a distinct need to identify cognitive and affective personality characteristics of the therapist relevant to eliciting patient cooperation, and the degree of knowledge and sophistication in the use of particular methods of treatment necessary for good results.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Dietary and anticholinergic effects on intravenous glucose tolerance and insulin secretion.

UNLABELLED: Six normal-weight subjects were fed five separate diets [isocaloric--20, 40 and 80 per cent carbohydrate (CHO) and hypercaloric 20 and 40 per cent CHO] for 5 days each. Intravenous glucose-tolerance tests were performed on on Day 6. Insulin responses were positively related to caloric and CHO content of the diets, both of which affected insulin secretion independently of each other. Glucose disappearance rates were highly correlated (r = 0.80) with the acute insulin response to glucose. Fasting plasma-glucose levels (FPG) were also affected by both calories and CHO content, but in a more complex manner. Raising CHO content in isocaloric diets or increasing calories in diets of normal CHO content increased FPG. However, if either calories or CHO content were high, increasing the other had no further effect on FPG. Thus, there was an interaction between calories and CHO on FPG. In 18 instances, the diet was continued on Day 6 and another intravenous glucose tolerance test was performed the following morning, 90--120 minutes after 30mg of propantheline bromide by mouth. Glucose disappearance rates were increased in 16 of the 18 paired tests (P less than 0.005) after the anticholinergic agent. There was no effect on FPG or the insulin response to glucose. CONCLUSIONS: both calories and CHO content are positively related to insulin secretion after 5 days of dietary manipulation. Glucose disappearance rates are also influenced, probably via the effect on insulin secretion. Both increased calories and CHO content will raise FPG; but each will have this effect only in the presence of a normal intake of the other. Thus, unless possible interactions between calories and CHO are taken into consideration in the design and interpretation of future dietary studies, erroneous conclusions may be reached. Finally, cholinergic blockade will enhance the disposal of intravenous glucose in the absence of any effect on peripheral insulin levels.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1977

Steroid contraceptive use and cervical dysplasia: increased risk of progression.

In a prospective study of women with dysplasia of the cervix, there was an increase in severity of dysplasia and of conversion to cancer in situ in users of the contraceptive pill compared with users of other contraceptive methods. There was a delay in this adverse response. Nonreversal of dysplasia within the first 6 months of pill use is predictive of progression after prolonged exposure.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Sequential examination of lymphocyte proliferative capacity in patients with malignant melanoma receiving BCG immunotherapy.

A series of 42 patients with malignant melanoma treated with BCG adjuvant immunotherapy were studied for sequential changes in cellular immune reactivity to non-specific mitogens. Lymphocyte preparations were made monthly and stored in a viable condition in liquid nitrogen. After 6 months of treatment, all lymphocyte samples from an individual were recovered and tested for DNA synthesis after stimulation with PHA, PWM, Con A, PPD and MLC. The responses to the mitogens in the blastogenesis test were stable during the course of therapy. The MLC response did not increase significantly in patients treated with tumor-cell vaccines, and declined sharply in the six patients who subsequently relapsed and died. The in vitro PPD response increased 1 to 3 months after initiation of BCG in patients who were initially unresponsive to PPD in vitro. However, PPD-positive patients did not show any significant alteration of the PPD response. The PPD response did increase less sharply in patients whose disease eventually recurred than in those who remained without evidence of clinical disease. BCG therapy does not appear to correct lymphocyte proliferative defects in melanoma patients. Of the assays employed, the MLC and PPD tests appear to be the most useful as monitors of clinical status and response to therapy.

BCG Vaccine↗
PubMed1977

Effects of alexidine.2HCL mouthwash on plaque and gingivitis after six months.

Two-hundred and fourteen subjects ranging in age from 22 to 63 years used either a mouthwash that contained 0.035% w/v alexidine.2HCL (2-ethylhexyl bisbiguanidine dihydrochloride) or a placebo twice daily on a doubleblind basis for six months in conjunction with routine oral hygiene procedures. The results indicated that alexidine.2HCL was safe and was statistically more effective in producing a clinically significant reduction in gingivitis than was the placebo.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Rapid eye movement (REM) activity in normal and autistic children during REM sleep.

Thirty normal children (aged 3--68 months) and 16 autistic children (aged 36--62 months) were recorded during nonmedicated sleep and data pertaining to rapid eye movements (REM) were measured during the first three REM periods of the night. When time of night from which data were gathered was held constant, normal children showed a significant relationship between age and the organization of eye movements into discrete bursts. When autistic children were compared to age-matched normal controls, they showed an immaturity in this phenomena, their results being similar to those found in children less than 18 months of age. Such an immaturity could result from dysfunction at a number of diverse levels and sites in the central nervous system.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1976

Evaluation of Papanicolaou smear and effect of sample biopsy in follow-up of cervical dysplasia.

In a prospective study of women with dysplasia, a superficial sampling biopsy of the cervix was carried out as a periodic check of the cytological findings. The relationship of smear and biopsy results was evaluated, as well as the effect of the biopsy procedure on the subsequent course of dysplasia. We found sufficiently close agreement between smear and biopsy results to conclude that smears and biopsies measure similar aspects of dysplasia. It would appear unwise, however, to rely on Papanicolaou smears exclusively in following women with a history of dysplasia, since negative smears in such women may occasionally show dysplasia in the corresponding biopsy. Periodic corroborative biopsy procedures are therefore indicated in the follow-up care of women with a history of dysplasia. There was no evidence that a superficial sampling biopsy significantly altered the short-term course of dysplasia. There was also no evidence of a cumulative effect of repeated sampling biopsies. These results do not rule out possible effects of other forms of biopsy procedures and schedules on the subsequent course of dysplasia.

Adolescent↗