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Biomedical subjects

C Martin

Publications and source records attributed to C Martin.

At least 1,369 records · Page 76Linked to original sources

[Cognitive aging in chronic psychotic patients].

OBJECTIVE: The cognitive aging of psychotic patients is still poorly apprehended and sometimes wrongly compared with demential or pseudo-demential deterioration. We studied the impact of chronic psychosis on cognitive performance in the elderly. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We estimated cognitive performance in two groups of 15 patients each among persons on old-age pensions or living in geriatric nursing homes. One group included patients who had already showed dissociative or non-dissociative chronic psychosis and the other group persons with no previous psychotic signs. Cognitive estimations were made on the basis of Folstein's Mini Mental State (MMS) score and Signoret's Battery of Cognitive Efficacy (BEC 96). Results obtained in the two groups were compared with the Mann and Whitney non-parametric test. RESULTS: The psychiatric patients showed a significant deficiency compared with the others for memory and executive functions and also a much broader range of scores on the BEC96 that demonstrated deficiency among the psychiatric patients. DISCUSSION: Though these findings must be interpreted with caution, they do demonstrate a trend similar to that observed in young schizophrenics and also to that of the cognitive performances observed in older schizophrenics and demented subjects. Patients with dissociated or non-dissociated psychotic disorders show an apparent relative cognitive deficiency irrespective of age. The psychotic elderly appear to exhibit a cognitive clash much more than a simple pseudo-demential deficiency.

Aged↗

[Case study--relationship between prevalence of shyness, social phobia and avoidant personality in male sexual disorders].

UNLABELLED: Social phobia, avoidant personality disorder and shyness are very akin disorders, despite the fact that the first two are mental disorders, whereas the third is found mainly in lay or psychological literature. The relationship between these disorders and male sexual disorders can only be hypothesized from clinical studies and psychopathological theories. Social phobia, avoidant personality disorder, and shyness, share a probable indirect responsibility in sexual disorders because they impair the ability of subjects to meet partners. There are only a few direct studies of the negative impact of shyness on sexual behavior. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare males with sexual disorders to non-sexual disorder males on diagnosis of social phobia, avoidant personality disorder and shyness. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study comparing a group of male patients seeking care for sexual disorders (n = 87) and a control group of male subjects without sexual disorder (n = 87), regarding the diagnosis of social phobia, avoidant personality disorder and shyness. Diagnoses were appreciated with a structured diagnostic interview (CIDI for the diagnosis of social phobia) or a list of criteria (DSM IV criteria for avoidant personality disorder) and through standardized scales (Fear Questionnaire, CBSHY, Cottraux male sexual problems questionnaire). Severity of shyness was evaluated through visual analog scales. RESULTS: We found strong significant statistical differences between cases and controls regarding the percentage in each group of social phobia, avoidant personality disorder and shyness. For shyness, the mean score at CBSHY was 16.2 (+/- 12.63) for the cases and 6.07 (+/- 6.67) for the controls (p < 0.0001), whereas the percentage of cases with a score of > 19.5 was 41.4% vs 6.9% for the controls (p < 0.001); 27.6% of the cases had a CIDI diagnosis of social phobia vs 8% of the controls (p < 0.001); 31% of the cases implemented DSM IV criteria for the diagnosis of avoidant personality disorder vs 6.9% of the cases (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results are in favor of one or several factors in common between social phobia, avoidant personality disorder and shyness, which would be strongly related to male sexual disorders.

Adult↗

Nurse practitioners: an evaluation of the extended role of nurses at the Kirketon Road Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The aim of the present study was to formally evaluate the effectiveness, professional appropriateness and acceptability of the extended role of the nurse practitioner at the Kirketon Road Centre (KRC) in Sydney, Australia. Data collection consisted of client and staff surveys and case file review by two assessors (one medical and one nursing). This paper will report on one section of this research, namely the case file review section of the study. Total study subjects were 1046 'at risk' youth, sex workers and injecting drug users attending KRC for their primary health care needs between September 1994 and April 1995. Nurse practitioners (NP) saw 613 of the clients who presented over this period. The majority of these clients were women (77.3%). The majority of NP consults were related to STD (51%), gynaecological (17%) and hepatitis (16%) issues. The results demonstrated that nurse practitioners were professionally appropriate in all aspects of expected 'best practice' in over 95% of consultations.

Adolescent↗

[The carotid piezogram in obstetrics].

The carotid piezogram is a very simple test. The graph illustrates the elasticity of the arteries and the peripheral resistance. It is the best way of evaluating the vascular state of the pregnant woman when vascul-renal syndromes occur in pregnancy. The authors have studied three elements in the graph and their modifications resulting from the different types of vasculo-renal syndromes. The piezogram is a valuable test for fetal prognosis: the degree of hypotrophy and the risk of fetal death. Furthermore the piezogram sometimes may be the only alarm signal before the other clinical or paraclinical features for prognosis occur. In any case the piezogram give the best information. Furthermore, it can uncover the rise in peripheral resistance which is the cause of certain fetal hypotrophies when nothing else would point to the vascular system being affected. Often an abnormal piezogram is found for the first time in pregnancy and the graph becomes normal in the months after delivery. Pregnancy may be considered as a "test for vascular function" when vascular functional troubles will show up for a short time, not to declare themselves again for perhaps another ten to twenty years. The piezogram therefore is very valuable as a long-term prognostic tool for the mother.

Arteries↗

[Central hypothyroidism associated with bexarotene therapy].

We report the case of a patient with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma treated by bexaroten Targretin, a synthetic retinoid analog with specific affinity for retinoid X receptor. The treatment induced mixed hyperlipidemia and severe central hypothyroidism characterized by reduced TSH and thyroxine serum levels. Only the pituitary thyreotrope function was affected. Targretin therapy can be maintained. Adverse drug events may be managed by fenofibrate Lipanthyl for dyslipidemia and high dose L-thyroxin Lévothyrox requiring serum free thyroxin level measurement for central hypothyroidism.

Anticarcinogenic Agents↗

Red blood cell polyamine evolution during normal growth in mouse.

Red blood cell (RBC) polyamine levels were studied at different ages in growing mice. Contrary to RBC from adult mice, high levels of the three polyamines Putrescine, Spermidine (Spd), Spermine (Spm) were detected in erythrocytes from newborn mice. These levels progressively decreased during growth. As previously reported in experimental and clinical studies related to tumor progression or normal tissue regeneration, a statistical correlation between Spd and Spm was noticed in this study concerning normal growth. As regards this correlation, two separate periods appeared during development. The slope values of the straight regression line were calculated for these periods and showed highly significant differences.

Aging↗

Accumulation of polyamine analogs in red blood cells: a potential index of tumor proliferation rate.

It has previously been demonstrated that during Lewis lung carcinoma (3LL) growth, red blood cell (RBC) spermidine (Spd) levels change concominantly with the tumor volume and [14C] Spd accumulates in proportion with the tumor volume, if [14C] putrescine (Put) is administered. In the present study we substituted a non-radioactive analogue for labelled Put with the aim to perform human studies, should the method prove suitable to quantify malignant cell proliferation intensity. 2-Methylputrescine (2MPut) is an excellent substrate of spermidine synthase and is transformed in vivo into methylspermidine (MSpd) and 6-methylspermine (6MSpm). After a single i.p. dose of 2MPut, MSpd accumulated in RBC of mice with 3LL xenografts. The concentration of MSpd correlated directly with tumor progression. No significant amounts of MSpd were found in RBC of normal mice. It appears that 2MPut has the potential to become a new tool in tumor diagnostics.

Animals↗