Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G E Thomson

Publications and source records attributed to G E Thomson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Health of grandmothers raising children of the crack cocaine epidemic.

OBJECTIVES: Approximately 3.2 million children live with their grandparents or other relatives-a 40% increase in 10 years. This article presents selected findings from an exploratory study of the experience of 71 African-American women raising their grandchildren because of the crack epidemic. METHODS: The study was designed to describe the caregivers' self-reported physical and emotional health status and health-care-related behaviors through a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collected during two in-home interviews. RESULTS: Most respondents rated their health as good or fair, with little change over the previous year, or since caregiving began. Employed women were more likely not only to rate their health as excellent or good, but also to report that their health had deteriorated over the previous year. Other subgroups showing evidence of deteriorating health were those caring for several grandchildren and great-grandmothers. Caregivers without a confidante reported a positive health change. Although 80% of the sample reported receiving regular health care, one third had not been to the doctor in 3 years. Half reported breaking a medical appointment in the last year, most often because of caregiving demands. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have relevance for physicians and other health-care providers because they suggest that many grandparent caregivers may be or soon become the "hidden patients" of the crack cocaine epidemic.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Erythrocyte sodium and potassium in patients on peritoneal dialysis.

Intracellular sodium and potassium concentrations were determined on erythrocytes obtained, before and after treatment, from patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing 48-hour intermittent peritoneal dialysis. Erythrocyte sodium increased from 7.5 +/- 0.3 to 8.6 +/- 0.4 mmol/L cells with a mean of 1.1 +/- 0.1 mmol/L cells (P less than .001), but erythrocyte potassium and cellular water content were virtually unchanged. Plasma potassium decreased during dialysis from 4.2 +/- 0.2 to 3.3 +/- 0.1 mEq/L (P less than .001). The increase in red-cell sodium correlated with this decrease in plasma potassium (r = .51, P less than .01). In contrast, erythrocyte sodium and potassium in undialyzed control patients with chronic renal failure did not change over a similar period, and plasma potassium was unchanged (4.3 +/- 0.1 mEq/L before and 4.3 +/- 0.2 mEq/L after 48 hours). Incubation of postdialysis erythrocytes from the dialysis patients in their own plasma at varying potassium concentrations showed that the rise in cell sodium was blunted as the plasma potassium was increased from 3.2 +/- 0.1 to 4.5 +/- 0.2 mEq/L. These results suggest that unlike hemodialysis, which is not associated with short-term changes in red-cell electrolytes, intermittent peritoneal dialysis results in a reversible increase in erythrocyte sodium. This change appears to be causally related to the decrease in extracellular potassium concentration.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Myoglobinuria in chronic renal failure.

Serum and urine myoglobin levels were determined on 14 patients with stable chronic renal failure. Serum myoglobin ranged from 38 to 350 ng/mL. Eleven patients had myoglobinuria between 15 and 250 ng/mL; none developed myoglobinuric renal failure. Fractional excretion of myoglobin in the myoglobinuric patients increased as creatinine clearance decreased, although there was no correlation between filtered load and excretion rate of myoglobin. This confirms that renal failure leads to hypermyoglobinemia and usually to myoglobinuria. Surviving nephrons tend to reabsorb less of the filtered load of myoglobin as renal function diminishes.

Glomerular Filtration Rate↗
PubMed1982

Hypertensive encephalopathy and the neurologic manifestations of malignant hypertension.

In a prospective study, 34 patients with 41 admissions for malignant hypertension were examined by a neurologist before and after antihypertensive treatment. Neurologic examination was normal in 17 cases, and neurologic diagnoses in 19 others included acute cerebral infarction (10), uremic encephalopathy (4), dementia of uncertain etiology (3), multiple infarct dementia (1), and chronic paranoid schizophrenia (1). Five patients had a generalized neurologic syndrome consistent with hypertensive encephalopathy, characterized by altered mental function with or without generalized convulsions. In these patients, neurologic examination was normal 1 to 7 days after lowering of blood pressure, while renal function remained unchanged. Neurologic disease is therefore common in malignant hypertension, and hypertensive encephalopathy may be more frequent than previously described.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

The effect of renal failure and hemodialysis on serum and urine myoglobin.

In 33 patients with chronic renal disease, the concentration of myoglobin in serum and urine was found to be significantly elevated over that of normal controls. Hemodialysis had no statistically significant effect in lowering the serum myoglobin of patients with end stage renal disease. Similarly, no difference was found in serum myoglobin in blood entering and leaving the dialysis coil. Since myoglobin was not detectable in the dialyzate, these data illustrate that myoglobin is not appreciably dialyzable. The association between chronic renal failure and high concentration of serum and urine myoglobin was confirmed. These abnormally high levels of myoglobin in serum and urine do not necessarily lead to myoglobinuric renal failure.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

High blood pressure diagnosis and treatment: consensus recommendations vs actual practice.

Diagnostic and treatment practices of institutional facilities treating high blood pressure in New York City were surveyed by mail in 1978. Respondents were adhering to the treatment recommendations of the Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. Ninety-two per cent of respondents reported 90-104 mm Hg as the diastolic blood pressure level at which drug therapy was initiated, indicating a more aggressive approach than was warranted by the information available at the time of the survey.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Cold exposure and mammary glucose metabolism in the lactating goat.

1. [U-14C]glucose was infused intravenously into conscious lactating goats exposed to thermoneutral or cold environments for a total of 24 h. The irreversible loss of glucose from the whole body and uptake of glucose by the mammary gland was measured and glucose utilization in the udder was studied by measuring the incorporation of radioactivity into carbon dioxide in mammary venous blood, into milk lactose and milk triglyceride-glycerol. 2. Exposure to cold increased the circulating level of glucose and slightly though not significantly, increased the non-mammary irreversible loss of glucose. 3. The extraction of glucose from the circulation by the udder fell, the secretion of lactose by the udder also fell and this correlated closely with the reduced secretion of milk in the cold. 4. Simultaneous measurements of the concentrations of insulin, growth hormone and corticosteroids in the arterial plasma were made. 5. The plasma concentration of corticosteroids increased significantly in the cold. 6. It is concluded that reduced glucose uptake and lactose synthesis by the udder are important factors which reduce milk secretion during cold exposure.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Flunisolide nasal spray for perennial rhinitis in children.

Twenty-seven children with perennial rhinitis entered a double-blind cross-over study comparing nasal sprays of flunisolide---a new topical corticosteroid---and placebo. Symptoms were assessed over two consecutive monthly periods with each treatment. Weekly diary cards, monthly clinical assessments, and end-of-trial preferences all favoured the active drug. At the end of the trial 20 patients preferred the treatment month with flunisolide, four preferred the placebo month, and two rated the periods equally. Side effects were mild, the commonest being transient nasal stinging. Seventeen children who derived benefit from flunisolide continued with the treatment for a six-month open-study period. Many reduced the dosage from three times to twice or once daily without losing benefit. The effect of flunisolide on the pituitary-adrenal axis was assessed in seven children by measuring the 0900 blood cortisol concentrations at two-month intervals over the six months. No effect was observed. The results show that flunisolide is effective and safe for the treatment and prophylaxis of perennial rhinitis in children.

Adolescent↗