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Biomedical subjects

A Lev-Ran

Publications and source records attributed to A Lev-Ran.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Clinical observation on brittle diabetes.

The brittleness of 100 severe diabetics was calculated as the mean of differences of blood glucose between two consecutive days at four time points (fasting, one and two hours after breakfast, and two hours after lunch). Mean daily difference (MDD) had a unimodal distribution; 15 patients with a MDD greater than 100 mg/100 ml were classified as most brittle. There was no correlation between MDD and insulin requirement. The brittle diabetics received 26 to 48 units of insulin/day. The insulin-resistant patients had low MDD values. No difference was found between seven patients with brittle diabetes and seven stable matched controls in insulin-binding capacity or total insulin. In two groups of six patients each with brittle diabetes, it was found that the stable dosage caused less brittleness than a sliding-scale regimen and that routine injection of 4 units of regular insulin before meals slightly decreased the mean diurnal glycemia level but increased the number of hypoglycemias. In two brittle diabetics, the blood glucose level was stabilized on intravenously administered insulin infusion, and in these patients, meals caused only a moderate hyperglycemia.

Adult↗

Androgens, estrogens, and the ultimate height in XO gonadal dysgenesis.

We observed 40 patients with 45,X gonadal dysgenesis from the age of 13 to 15 years until the age of 18 to 21 years. The ultimate height of the 12 nontreated patients was 143.2 cm. Of 15 patients treated with nandrolone phenpropionate or methandrostenolone, the ultimate height was 143.3 cm, and of 13 patients treated with ethinyl estradiol, the height reached was 144.1 cm. The mean height of ten patients first seen at the age of 25 to 31 years was 140.1 cm. The mean height at any age was almost identical in all the groups. The growth velocity was somewhat accelerated by anabolic steroids and to a lesser extent, by estrogens only during the first year of therapy, and this did not influence the ultimate height. We saw no deleterious effects of the estrogens. In all the groups, there were patients who grew for some time at rates of up to 4 to 6 cm/yr. Therefore, long-term follow-up studies are needed for the evaluation of the effects of any treatment.

Adolescent↗

Treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with hydroxyprogesterone-caproate: placebo-controlled study.

A placebo-controlled study with progesterone compound, 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone 17-n-caproate (Primostat), in 39 patients with benign enlargement of the prostate is reported. Statistical analysis of the results showed no evidence of significant improvement in patients receiving hydroxyprogesterone-caproate. No evidence of an effect as compared with the placebo was found when the residual urine, prostatic size, and histologic and ultrastructural changes of the removed prostatic gland in 6 of the patients, and in the luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and estrogen urine levels in 21 patients were examined. Subjective effects, when carefully analyzed, provided some beneficial evidence, however not substantiated, when the patients' mode of voiding was carefully watched. The reported beneficial subjective improvement might be attributed to the enhancement of the beta-adrenergic response by the progesterone compound of the adrenergic receptors in the posterior urethra and bladder, presumably causing relaxation of its smooth muscle. The problems associated with the choice and measurement of parameters to be used in this type of investigation are discussed, and the absolute necessity of proper controls, statistical analysis, and close follow-up of the patients is pointed out.

Aged↗

Brittle diabetes in pregnancy.

In eight brittle diabetics the insulin requirement increased during successful pregnancies from 35 to 64 U./day (in 29 stable severe diabetics from 53 to 78 U./day). The within-day glycemic excursions were calculated as the mean of the three differences between four time points: fasting, one hour after breakfast, two hours after breakfast, and two hours after lunch. This parameter was constant throughout the pregnancy in nondiabetics (34-46 mg./100 ml.) and stable severe diabetics (55-72 mg./100 ml.). In brittle diabetics it dropped from 147 mg./100 ml. before the pregnancy and 153 mg./ 100 ml. at eight weeks to 85 mg./100 ml. at 36 weeks. The between-day variability was calculated as the mean glycemic difference between two successive days at the four points of time noted above. It was very low in nondiabetics (49-53 mg./100 ml.). In brittle diabetics it decreased from 127 mg./100 ml. before pregnancy and 120 mg./100 ml. at eight weeks to 46-55 mg./100 ml. at 24-36 weeks. This shows that brittleness substantially decreased in the second half of pregnancy.

Adult↗

Isosexual development of women with late-treated congential adrenal hyperplasia.

Twelve women with congenital adrenal hyperplasia are reported. Initial diagnoses were made at ages ranging from 12 to 32, with epiphyseal fusion complete in all patients. During 6 to 10 years of corticosteroid therapy there occurred substantial reduction of hypertrichosis, disappearance of temporal recession, and decrease in eroticism. In 11 patients menstrual bleeding occurred within 4 months. Urinary excretion of total gonadotropins remained unchanged; total estrogens decreased slightly. By the end of followup, 7 patients with a mean age of 17 years had regular menses, 6 were ovulating, and 1 had a pregnancy. The other 5 patients, who continued to have irregular, anovulatory menstrual cycles, had a mean age of 28 years. The findings suggest that when excessive androgenization continues for a considerable period of time after puberty (as judged by bone age) noncyclic functioning of the gonadotropic mechanism is rendered irreversible.

17-Ketosteroids↗

"True agonadism" and its relation to other forms of sex reversal in males.

In a phenotypic (XY karyotype) eunuchoid female aged 24, external genitalia were represented by completely fused underdeveloped scrotolabial folds and a 1-cm-long phallus with phallic urethra. At laparotomy, only rudimentary fallopian tubes and rudimentary wolffian ducts and wolffian body, but no testes, epididymis, uterus or vagina, were found. The patient fulfills the criteria for "true agonadism." This syndrome is considered a distinct form of a wider category of male pseudohermaphroditism, which results from sudden complete testicular arrest taking place not earlier than the second half of the third month of embryonic development.

Adult↗