Biomedical subjects

A Falek

Publications and source records attributed to A Falek.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1980

Congenital malformation in twins.

Data from the population-based Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP) show that the overall rate of malformed infants, as well as the incidence of several specific defects, is higher for twins than for singletons. This elevated risk appears limited to same sex twins and, hence, is probably related to monozygosity. In addition to an 18-fold increase in risk of fetal death compared to singletons, twins have almost a 50% greater likelihood of congenital malformation.

Black or African American↗

PubMed1979

Effects of opiates and demographic factors on DNA repair synthesis in human leukocytes.

DNA repair synthesis in leukocytes stressed by far UV irradiation was studied in 90 normal individuals, 38 street-heroin addicts, and 18 methadone maintenance patients. Age, sex, coffee use, and alcohol use had no significant effect on the maximal repair synthesis response of the control subjects, but smoking tobacco significantly decreased the mean response and variance when compared with nonsmoking controls. Heroin addiction had an even more pronounced negative effect, and this may be related to the high rate of chromosome aberrations found in this population. Half of the addicts tested were incapable of repairing UV fluences one-quarter as large as those repaired by the control subjects (5 J/m2 and 20 J/m2, respectively) in the 2-hr assay period. Long-term methadone treatment ameliorated the effects of the street heroin, just as it resulted in a decrease of the chromosome aberration frequency.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1979

Fertility in psychiatric outpatients.

The fertility rates of 223 female schizophrenic outpatients and 479 female nonschizophrenic outpatients were compared to a probability sample of 300 women residing in the same geographic area, metropolitan Atlanta, and from the same social strata as the patients. Age- and race-adjusted comparisons showed that the mean number of children per woman and levels of unwanted and unplanned fertility did not differ in the different diagnostic groups. Furthermore, the rates were not lower for the psychiatric patients than for the general population. In order to reduce an important source of psychiatric morbidity, those in the mental health professions need to pay more attention to the family planning desires of their patients.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Quantification of muscle tremor of Huntington's disease patients and their offspring in an early detection study.

Accelerometer measurements of muscle tremor yielded significant findings for both Huntington's disease (HD) patients and their genetically at risk offspring. Although affected individuals are usually characterized by gross involuntary muscle movements, alterations in minute muscle tremor were also found in our sample of ten HD patients. Irregularities in tremor patterns were intensified with increased time since onset of the disorder and in addition reflected the effects of drug therapy for those on medication. The use of accelerometer measurements of muscle tremor may therefore, prove to be useful in evaluating new medications for affected individuals. For high risk immediate family members currently there is no safe and reliable method to identify, prior to clinical onset, any among them who will develop HD. Aberrant muscle tremor patterns resembling that shown by HD patients were found in one-third of a sample of 15 genetically at risk offspring. In the event an effective method of treatment is developed, early recognition of HD gene carriers by accelerometer tremor measurement could result in control of the disorder prior to substantial neurological damage.

Adult↗

PubMed1977

The rate of synthesis of glycosaminoglycans and collagen by fibroblasts cultured from adult human liver biopsies.

Adult human liver biopsies were cultured from normal, alcoholic hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, fibrosis plus alcoholic hepatitis (active cirrhosis), inactive cirrhosis, and drug hepatitis. The synthesis of collagen was estimated in cultures from 58 livers by measuring the conversion of [(14)C]proline to the [(14)C]hydroxyproline of collagen; that of glycosaminoglycans in cultures from 57 livers by the incorporation of [(3)H]acetate and (35)SO(4) into glycosaminoglycans (GAG). The synthesis of procollagen was increased only in cultures from alcoholic hepatitis, both in the pulse medium (P < 0.05) and in the chase medium (P < 0.02). The synthesis of insoluble collagen was increased in cultures from chronic (active) hepatitis (P < 0.01), fibrosis plus alcoholic hepatitis (active cirrhosis) (P < 0.001), and inactive cirrhosis (P < 0.05). Essentially all radioactive GAG was soluble in culture media. The predominant GAG were chondroitin-4 or -6-SO(4). The synthesis of GAG was increased only in cultures from fibrosis plus alcoholic hepatitis (active cirrhosis) both in the pulse medium (P < 0.01) and chase medium (P < 0.001). The data indicate that in the absence of immuno-competent cells or their secretory products, tissue cultures from livers showing biopsy evidence of active fibrosis in vivo may demonstrate increased synthesis of collagen and GAG in vitro. Increased (soluble) procollagen synthesis in cultures from alcoholic hepatitis was not associated with histologically demonstrable overt hepatic fibrosis in vivo, nor was it associated with increased GAG synthesis in vitro. No significant difference was demonstrable in collagen or GAG synthesis in paired cultures which contained either 300 mg/dl ethanol or 3.75 mg/dl methylprednisolone compared to their respective controls.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1976

Chromosome breakage in low birth weight newborns.

The frequency of chromosome aberrations in cells cultured from umbilical cord blood was determined for 50 low birth weight (LBW) and 50 normal birth weight (NBW) euploid newborns matched for sex, race, and maternal age. The metaphase spreads had been prepared in the course of an earlier study of frequency of aneuploidy and results are from 72-h cultures, i.e., presumably, at the second division in vitro. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the frequency of cells with chromosome breakage, chromosome gaps, or hyperdiploid cells. There was, however, a significantly higher frequency of hypodiploid cells in the LBW group. The present findings differ from those of others who have reported an increase in chromosome breakage in premature newborns.

Body Weight↗

PubMed1975

Classification in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia has been defined as an indentifiable disorder based on phenomenologic classification. Support for this concept is derived from consistent observations of a low frequency of the disorder in general populations throughout the world but substantially higher frequency of occurrence in siblings of affected individuals. The rates of concurrence in diagnosis for schizophrenia, surprisingly, vary in similar degree to those found for a series of physical disorders such as cervical cancer, emphysema and bronchitis, and electrocardiographic evaluations of cardiac disorder. The most recent findings from cross-national diagnostic studies of mental disorder uphold the need for a regular, more definitive classification system that is considered from both the service and research points of view.

Asia↗

PubMed1975