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Biomedical subjects

A Bierman

Publications and source records attributed to A Bierman.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Tracking the State Children's Health Insurance Program with hospital data: national baselines, state variations, and some cautions.

State and federal agencies are concerned with the impact of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) on the health care of enrolled children. As part of a broad program evaluation, and at relatively low cost, analysts can track data on hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions. This article uses hospital data for 19 states to calculate baseline ACS rates and to discuss trends and cross-state variations just prior to the start of the CHIPs. A few cautions and limitations are discussed. An unexpected result in the exploration was a substantial increase in the rate of ACS admissions for self-pay and Medicaid-enrolled children during the period of 1990-1995. During that same period, the admission rate for other insured children fell by more than a third. The comparisons across states are meant to be illustrative; they do reveal a relationship between the rate of asthma admissions and the proportion of self-pay plus Medicaid-enrolled cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Lead poisoning in adults from renovation of an older home.

Presented is the case of a group exposure to lead occurring during the removal of lead-based paint from an older home. One patient had symptoms from the time of exposure to the time of presentation, when he was acutely ill and encephalopathic. The patient was treated successfully with an initial course of British Anti-Lewisite agent and calcium disodium versenate (CaEDTA) chelation, and two subsequent chelations with CaE-DTA alone. The other two patients had elevated lead levels but were asymptomatic. They were followed closely, and their lead levels steadily declined over several months. The evaluation and treatment of lead poisoning and excessive lead levels in adults is discussed, as is the need for physicians and the lay public to become aware of the hazards of renovating older homes.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1988

Vision therapy.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Humans↗
PubMed1982

Effect of fatty acids on plasma membrane lipid dynamics and cation permeability in neuroblastoma cells.

In this study the effects of experimental modifications of plasma membrane lipid lateral mobility on the electrical membrane properties and cation transport of mouse neuroblastoma cells, clone Neuro-2A, have been studied. Short-term supplementation of a chemically defined growth medium with oleic acid or linoleic acid resulted in an increase in the lateral mobility of lipids as inferred from fluorescence recovery after photobleaching of the lipid probe 3,3'-dioctadecylindocarbocyanide iodide. These changes were accompanied by a marked depolarization of the membrane potential from -51 mV to -36 mV, 1.5 h after addition, followed by a slow repolarization. Tracer flux studies, using 86Rb+ as a radioactive tracer for K+, demonstrated that the depolarization was not caused by changes in (Na+ + K+)-ATPase-mediated K+ influx or in the transmembrane K+ gradient. The permeability ratio (PNa/PK), determined from electrophysiological measurements, however, increased from 0.10 to 0.27 upon supplementation with oleic acid or linoleic acid. This transient rise of PNa/PK was shown by 24Na+ and 86Rb+ flux measurements to be due to both an increase of the Na+ permeability and a decrease of the K+ permeability. None of these effects occurred upon supplementation of the growth medium with stearic acid.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Calcium supplementation in premenstrual syndrome: a randomized crossover trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of calcium supplementation in women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind crossover trial. SETTING: Outpatient medical clinic of a large city hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-eight women were initially screened. Trial selection was based on a history of recurrent PMS symptoms and on the results of a prospective assessment of daily symptom scores. Only women with symptom scores during the late luteal phase that were at least 50% greater than those during the intermenstrual phase were selected. Thirty-three women completed the trial. INTERVENTION: A preliminary evaluation included physical examination, routine laboratory tests, dietary assessment, and psychiatric evaluation. Each participant received six months of treatment involving three months of daily calcium supplementation (1,000 mg of calcium carbonate) and three months of placebo. MEASUREMENTS: Efficacy was assessed prospectively by changes in daily symptom scores over a six-month period and retrospectively by an overall global assessment. Multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance on symptom ratings derived from daily PMS symptom scores demonstrated a reduction in symptoms on calcium treatment during both the luteal (p = 0.011) and the menstrual phases (p = 0.032) of the reproductive cycle. Calcium supplementation had no effect during the intermenstrual phase. Retrospective assessment of overall symptoms confirmed this reduction: 73% of the women reported fewer symptoms during the treatment phase on calcium, 15% preferred placebo, and 12% had no clear preference. Three premenstrual factors (negative affect [p = 0.045]; water retention [p = 0.003]; pain [p = 0.036]) and one menstrual factor (pain [p = 0.02]) were significantly alleviated by calcium. CONCLUSION: Calcium supplementation is a simple and effective treatment for premenstrual syndrome, but further studies will be needed to determine its precise role in PMS.

Adult↗