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Biomedical subjects

F McDowell

Publications and source records attributed to F McDowell.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Glutethimide treatment of disabling action tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury.

Glutethimide has been used to control essential tremor. Its efficacy in the treatment of disabling cerebellar and rubral tremor was assessed in an open study of six patients with multiple sclerosis and two patients with traumatic brain injury. Functional and quantitative tremor severity was assessed before treatment and 7 to 14 days after a stable dose was achieved. Six of eight patients exhibited visible functional benefit from treatment with glutethimide; abstract testing results correlated well with functional status in most cases. Four patients chose to continue to receive medication. Controlled trials of glutethimide to compare its efficacy with that of other medications used in the treatment of action tremor are indicated.

Brain Injuries↗
PubMed1987

Stroke rehabilitation.

Based on the number of patients involved, stroke dominates the field of neurologic rehabilitation. The prevalence of stroke in the United States population is 1.4 million. This represents a prevalence for stroke of 612 per 100,000 population, compared with 157 for Parkinson's disease, 50 for spinal-cord injury, 42 for multiple sclerosis, and 16 for head-injured survivors with neurologic sequelae. This article provides an overview of stroke rehabilitation and covers patient management for the acute phase, subacute phase, and chronic phase poststroke. Medical and nursing care are discussed throughout and physical, occupational, and speech therapy for patients in these three phases are explored.

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMed1985

The dexamethasone suppression test. An indicator of depression in stroke but not a predictor of rehabilitation outcome.

The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) result was found to be abnormal in 49% of patients who were an average of seven weeks post stroke. The DST response correlated with depressive symptoms as measured by both the Zung and modified Hamilton Depression scales. The specificity of the DST for clinically diagnosed depression reached 87% for the 8 AM cortisol determination, with a corresponding sensitivity of 47%. It was not related to the patient's final level of self-care function as measured by the Barthel score, need for nursing home placement following discharge, or duration of rehabilitation needed to achieve maximum benefit. Abnormal responses were more prevalent in cerebral hemisphere than in brain-stem or cerebellar strokes. The more extensive the stroke the more likely the possibility of an abnormal DST response. The DST response is stable, with test-retest replicability being 84% at two weeks and 74% at seven weeks.

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMed1978

Plastic surgery in the twentieth century.

Plastic surgical operations are among the oldest and have been developed increasingly from ancient times down to the present. However, the age of medical specialization did not begin until the latter part of the nineteenth century, and the specialty of plastic surgery is largely a child of the twentieth century. Most of the operations we do today have been created by plastic surgeons with the past 50 years, but were made possible only by the rapid developments in other surgical specialties and in all of medicine and science. The relationship with other specialties has been an interdependent one, and this is likely to be the pattern of the future. Plastic surgery, bridging the anatomical specialties as it does, must continue to draw bits of information here and there from them and to synthesize these into major contributions of great benefit to all. The specialty will grow in direct proportion to the success of the innovators within it in fulfilling their crucial role.

Europe↗