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Biomedical subjects

D G Beevers

Publications and source records attributed to D G Beevers.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Breast cancer in blacks, Asians and whites in Birmingham.

A retrospective study was mounted into the frequency of breast cancer in blacks, whites and Asians attending Dudley Road Hospital in the years 1970-1981 inclusive. This figure was compared with the ethnic distribution of the surrounding population and of admissions for all causes. Breast cancer was uncommon in both ethnic minorities compared with whites, but was commoner in blacks than in Asians. These trends are similar to the World Health Organization figures for Britain, Jamaica and India. Differences in parity and breast feeding do not explain the variability of breast cancer in this study.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Ethnic differences in peak expiratory flow rate in Birmingham factory workers.

Among 698 Birmingham factory workers, Asian men (n = 75) tended to have lower peak expiratory flow rates (PEFR) than black (n = 156) or white (n = 138) men when age, height and smoking habits were accounted for. This trend reached statistical significance in Asian females (n = 20), despite a small sample size. There were no significant differences in PEFR between blacks and whites of either sex.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Blood pressure and pressor mechanisms during alcohol withdrawal.

Blood pressure, alcohol withdrawal symptoms and plasma levels of cortisol, aldosterone and renin activity and serum dopamine beta-hydroxylase concentrations were measured in 65 alcoholics on the first and fourth days after admission for detoxification. On the day after admission blood pressure was elevated (greater than 140/90 mmHg) in 32 patients (49%) and was 160/95 mmHg or more in 21 (32%). Plasma renin activity was elevated in 41 patients and plasma aldosterone concentration in 14, but neither correlated with blood pressure. Plasma cortisol levels were elevated in 13 patients and were positively correlated with systolic blood pressure. Blood pressure and all biochemical measures fell significantly by the fourth day while urine volume and sodium output, low on admission, increased significantly. Urinary metanephrine levels were elevated in four of 31 patients in whom they were measured on admission. Alcohol withdrawal was accompanied by raised blood pressure and high plasma concentrations of cortisol, renin and aldosterone but only plasma cortisol concentrations and withdrawal symptoms were significantly related to blood pressure.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1983

Nifedipine in combination therapy for resistant hypertension.

Twenty patients with hypertension uncontrolled by existing therapy with two or three antihypertensive agents (a beta-blocker plus a thiazide diuretic in 10 and with the addition of hydralazine or prazosin in the other 10) were studied to assess the effects of additional long-term administration of nifedipine. Eighteen patients received 10 mg nifedipine 3-times daily and 2 received 20 mg twice daily. Patients were followed-up at monthly intervals. The results showed that mean blood pressure levels were reduced at 1 month and adequate control was achieved and maintained in 12 (60%) of the patients. Five of those who continued with the combined treatment remained non-responders and 3 patients had to stop nifedipine because of side-effects (flushing and headaches). Four other patients reported similar side-effects. No changes were evident in weight, pulse rate or the haematological and biochemical parameters studied.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Alcohol-induced hypertension.

Blood pressures of 132 alcoholic patients whose mean daily alcohol consumption exceeded 80 g where measured while drinking, during detoxification from alcohol, and after a period of abstinence. At the time of presentation blood pressure exceeded 140/90 in 51.5% of patients. There was a significant correlation between blood pressure and mean daily alcohol intake over the previous three months and also between the level of blood pressure and the severity of alcohol-withdrawal symptoms. There was no relation between blood pressure and degree of histological liver damage, but a correlation was found with serum gamma-glutamyl-transferase activity and with mean corpuscular volume. In most patients blood pressure fell to normal after detoxification, and remained so for at least a year in those who continued to abstain. However, blood pressure rose in those who started drinking again. Excessive alcohol consumption is an important and insufficiently recognised cause of hypertension and, although the exact mechanism is unknown, treatment is simple and effective if patients can be persuaded to abstain.U

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Familial abnormality of erythrocyte cation transport in essential hypertension.

Cation transport across the red-cell membrane was studied in subjects with essential hypertension and their relatives using rubidium-86 as an analogue of potassium. The activity of the ouabain-sensitive sodium-potassium pump was significantly greater in patients with untreated essential hypertension than in controls (p less than 0.001). No clear separation was seen between normotensive and hypertensive subjects. Activity of the sodium-potassium pump was also increased in a proportion of normotensive relatives of subjects with essential hypertension. Rubidium uptake was significantly lower in normotensive black subjects than in normotensive whites, the difference being in a ouabain-resistant pathway of cation transport. These results provide further evidence that a defect in membrane cation transport contributes to the pathogenesis of essential hypertension.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Does long-term low-dose corticosteroid therapy cause hypertension?

1. One hundred and ninety-five patients undergoing low-dose prednisone or prednisolone therapy were investigated. Blood pressure, weight, serum urea, sodium and potassium were recorded before therapy and again after at least 1 year of therapy. 2. The rise in both mean systolic and mean diastolic blood pressure was paralleled by an increase in the prevalence of arbitrarily defined hypertension. 3. There was no relationship between change of blood pressure and either dose of corticosteroid or duration of therapy. Blood pressure before therapy was the main determinant of the change in blood pressure. 4. Mean serum sodium levels rose slightly but serum potassium levels did not change during the follow-up period. There was no significant weight gain. 5. These results indicate that treatment of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis with prednisolone or prednisolone in low dose does not cause hypertension or biochemical features suggestive of mineralocorticoid excess.

Dose-Response Relationship, Drug↗