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Biomedical subjects

G Tchobroutsky

Publications and source records attributed to G Tchobroutsky.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Severe early-onset polyneuropathy in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. A clinical and pathological study.

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: The pathophysiologic features of diabetic neuropathy, a common and disabling long-term complication of diabetes mellitus, are poorly understood. We studied five patients, 22 to 34 years old, in whom an uncommonly severe symmetric polyneuropathy developed soon after the onset of insulin-dependent diabetes. Their autonomic function and nerve conduction were studied, and sural-nerve biopsy specimens were examined by light and electron microscopy. Other causes of neuropathy were carefully excluded. RESULTS: Four patients had autonomic dysfunction with postural hypotension, fainting, diarrhea, and Argyll Robertson pupils and peripheral neuropathy with loss of sensation of pain and changes in temperature that followed a pattern suggestive of a length-dependent degeneration of nerve fibers. In contrast, the fifth patient had muscle weakness and atrophy of limb extremities, with "glove and stocking" sensory loss, but little autonomic dysfunction. In the biopsy specimens of sural nerves, the mean (+/- SD) density of myelinated fibers was reduced to 20 +/- 14 percent of that measured in five control patients, and the density of unmyelinated fibers was reduced to 6 +/- 4 percent of that in the controls. Regenerating fibers accounted for 38 +/- 11 percent of the myelinated axons. Abnormalities of the myelin sheath affected 33 +/- 21 percent of the isolated fibers, and axonal degeneration 11 +/- 8 percent. Dying-back fibers, a characteristic of the centripetal degeneration of peripheral axons, were also identified. The dying-back process progressed at the rate of a few hundred micrometers per day. CONCLUSIONS: Early-onset symptomatic polyneuropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus is characterized by the loss of both myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers. Spontaneous axonal regeneration is remarkably frequent, even when neuropathy is severe.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1991

Initiation of insulin treatment after 70 years of age: patient status 2 years later.

The present study assessed 106 diabetic patients 2 years after beginning insulin treatment at or after 70 years of age. Ten patients (9%) had had the therapy discontinued after 2-4 months, 26 (25%) had died of causes unrelated to insulin therapy, 12 (11%) were lost to follow-up, and 58 (55%) were still alive and insulin treated. Fifty-one were at home and seven institutionalized for reasons unrelated to insulin therapy. Of these 58 patients, 50 were available for further study. Except for frequency of travel, which had decreased, lifestyle either improved or did not change. Patients' perceptions of the goals of treatment were more appropriate to a younger population of patients, who are less vulnerable to hypoglycaemic reactions. Mean fasting blood glucose was considered by the medical staff to be too low in 42% of cases. Adding insulin to the treatment of the elderly did not negatively affect their lifestyle, and indeed, insulin therapy appeared to create or strengthen the patients' existing social support network. Educational interventions must attempt to extend the effect of the specialized unit outside the hospital, to families, visiting nurses as well as general practitioners.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

[Effects of deprivation and replacement by percutaneous 17 beta estradiol and oral progesterone on blood pressure and metabolic parameters in menopause patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes].

The main purpose of this randomized controlled study was to assess the effects of postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy on blood pressure (BP) and plasma renin substrate (PRS) in non insulin-dependent diabetic patients (DNID). We randomized 32 postmenopausal DNID (mean age: 55.3 +/- 4.2 years) into two groups: 16 women were untreated, and 16 received percutaneous estradiol (E2) 17 beta and natural progesterone for 6 months. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were monitored by an automatic device at inclusion and on the 1st, 3rd and 6th months of therapy. Treatment efficacy was proven by significant E2 plasma increase to 92.2 +/- 13.4 pg/ml in the treated group, which is a sufficient level for preventing postmenopausal osteoporosis. No significant inter or or intra-individual variation in SBP or DBP was observed in either group. The same stability was noted for plasma renin substrate. No significant difference was noted between the two groups in terms of body weight, fructosamine and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c after 1, 3 and 6 months. There was also no change in plasma levels of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and apolipoproteins A1 and B. All the patients who received replacement therapy wished to continue treatment. We conclude that the association of percutaneous E2 17 beta and natural progesterone had no deleterious effects, in diabetic patients, on BP, carbohydrate and lipoprotein metabolism. Thus this postmenopausal replacement therapy appears preferable in this vascular high risk population, particularly since estrogens via the parenteral route may have an antiatherogenic effect by direct action on the vessel walls.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1990

Handedness, immune disorders and information bias.

In order to investigate the relations between handedness and migraine or immune disorders, we performed a case control study comparing the handedness of patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), type I diabetes, Graves' disease, or migraine to that of a random sample of controls from the general population. A handedness index was measured from a 10-item questionnaire. No significant difference was observed. But when the controls who denied having ever suffered from migraine or any allergic disease were set apart from those who gave at least one positive answer to the same questions, the former were found more right-handed, i.e. with a lower handedness index than the latter (P less than 0.05) and than the SLE patients (P less than 0.05). More generally, the mean observed handedness index of controls giving a positive answer to any question about their health was found repeatedly higher than that of controls giving a negative answer: this was observed for 27 of the 32 questions. These results are highly suggestive of an information bias, the subjects saying they use the right hand for each of the 10 activities considered in the questionnaire being more likely to deny having suffered from a given disease or used, more or less recently, some drug or medical service. Our conviction is that previous observations dealing with the same topic are also more easily explained by the presence of an information bias than by Geschwind's theory. The implications for the design of further epidemiologic studies are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

The search for an optimized treatment of hypoglycemia. Carbohydrates in tablets, solutin, or gel for the correction of insulin reactions.

Recommendations for the treatment of insulin reactions are based more on habit than data. We investigated the efficacy in correcting blood glucose levels and alleviating clinical symptoms of hypoglycemia of seven orally administered carbohydrates--glucose in solution, tablets, and gel; sucrose in solution and tablets; a hydrolized polysaccharide solution; and orange juice--each of which provided 15 g of carbohydrate. Forty-one type I diabetic patients recently treated with insulin agreed to submit to artificially induced hypoglycemia by an intravenous injection of insulin. Corrective therapy was given when patients experienced symptoms and asked for treatment. Mean blood glucose levels 10 minutes after ingestion were found to be similar whether correction was dispensed with the tablets and the solutions of glucose, those of sucrose, or the polysaccharide preparation. However, almost no increment was obtained at this time point with the gel or the fruit juice. Fifteen and 20 minutes after carbohydrate intake, blood glucose levels were higher with the tablet forms than with the solutions, although differences only became signifiant for sucrose. Glycemic responses were again consistently lower with the sucrose gel and the orange juice. Clinical symptoms were alleviated in 14.0 +/- 0.8 minutes (mean +/- SEM) with sucrose and glucose in solution or tablets. We conclude that in moderately severe hypoglycemia, ingestion of 15 g of carbohydrate in the form of glucose or sucrose tablets or as a solution provides an effective therapy; both sugars seem equivalent. Even if sucrose lumps are better recommended in terms of cost and availability, they may not be recommendable in terms of palatability. Glucose gel or orange juice cannot be recommended, at least in light of our experimental procedure and at the dosage used therein.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Effect of intranasal glucagon on blood glucose levels in healthy subjects and hypoglycaemic patients with insulin-dependent diabetes.

Glucagon in solution with a surfactant (deoxycholic acid 1% w/v) was administered by intranasal spray to 6 healthy fasting subjects and 6 insulin-dependent diabetics with insulin-induced hypoglycaemia. In the normal subjects, intranasal glucagon increased plasma glucose levels, with a dose-response effect. In the diabetic patients, plasma glucose levels showed a mean increase of 100% above nadir values in approximately 26 min in response to 7.5 mg intranasal glucagon; hypoglycaemic symptoms were relieved within about 7 min. These results suggest that intranasal glucagon is effective and may represent an alternative to parenteral glucagon or glucose or to oral sugar as the first-line treatment of hypoglycaemic episodes in insulin-dependent diabetics.

Administration, Intranasal↗
PubMed1988

Coronary heart disease mortality risk: plasma insulin level is a more sensitive marker than hypertension or abnormal glucose tolerance in overweight males. The Paris Prospective Study.

The Paris Prospective Study I (7434 men) is a long-term investigation of cardiovascular diseases. A previous analysis has shown that high plasma insulin level was a more sensitive marker than glucose intolerance in the prediction of coronary heart disease (CHD). In order to ascertain the risk model for CHD in relation to high circulating plasma insulin level, we studied CHD mortality rates in groups of participants to the study with similar profiles of risk factors. The risk factors considered to cross-classify the subjects were: serum cholesterol level, blood pressure, fasting plasma insulin level (all the significant predictors of CHD mortality in the Cox regression model), plus body mass index (BMI) and 2-h post-load blood glucose level. Serum cholesterol level was linearly related to CHD mortality risk. The strength of the association of blood pressure to the risk was reduced when BMI increased. By contrast, the association of blood pressure to the risk remained linear when plasma insulin level rather than BMI was considered. Plasma insulin level was a more sensitive marker of CHD risk than glucose intolerance in the overweight group. Moreover, in this group, the relation to CHD mortality risk was stronger for plasma insulin level than for blood pressure.

Body Weight↗
PubMed1987

Insulinemic and glycemic indexes of six starch-rich foods taken alone and in a mixed meal by type 2 diabetics.

The glycemic index concept neglects the insulin secretion factor and has not been systematically studied during mixed meals. Six starch-rich foods were tested alone and in an isoglucido-lipido-protidic meal in 18 NIDDs and compared with a glucose challenge. These test meals were randomly assigned using a three factor experiment design. All three tests contained 50 g carbohydrate; mixed meals were adjusted to bring the same amount of fat (20 g), protein (24 g), water (300 mL), and calories (475 kcal) but not the same amount of fiber. Whatever the tested meals, foods elicited a growing glycemic index hierarchy from beans to lentils, rice, spaghetti, potato, and bread (mean range: 0.21 +/- 0.12-92 +/- 0.12, p less than 0.001). Mixing the meals significantly increased the insulinemic indexes (p less than 0.05) and introduced a positive correlation between glycemic and insulinemic indexes (n = 6, r = 0.903; p less than 0.05). The glycemic index concept remains discriminating, even in the context of an iso-glucido-lipido-protidic meal. Insulinemic indexes do not improve discrimination between foods taken alone in type 2 diabetics: they only discriminate between foods during mixed meals, similarly to glycemic indexes.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Lifestyle, metabolic control and social implications of pump therapy in 54 routine type I diabetic patients.

Our aims were to evaluate the clinical and social implications of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) in ordinary type 1 diabetics, followed on a routine basis using a simple (Mill Hill) or a more complex (Microject MC20, Ames) pump. Fifty four type 1 diabetics were studied during 2 randomized periods of 4 months, one of conventional treatment (CT) (2 to 3 injections/day, self blood glucose (BG) monitoring) and the other of CSII. Each period was preceded by a 5 day training course. We studied clinical parameters, metabolic control (daily values of BG strips, urine analysis, insulin reactions, HbA1c), and acceptability of the treatment to the patient and their relatives. We also recorded all their unexpected phone-calls, consultations and admission to hospital. Thirty-four patients the initial cohort, completed the study, 7 dropped-out, 9 interrupted CSII, mainly because of skin problems and 4 refused to revert back to CT. During CSII, patients noted slight disturbance of sleep (30%), sexual activity (68%), and the wearing of clothes (26%). The main concern was with moderate skin problems (71%) whereas the main advantages were dietary liberalization, reduced numbers of insulin reactions and an improved feeling of well being. The type of pump used did not affect the results. Though acceptability was good in every patient trying the pump, it was better in those who asked to keep the pump after the trial (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1987

[A computerized file for the surveillance of diabetic patients: the MELLITEE system].

Taking over a chronic disease like diabetes in a hospital clinic raises multiple problems. Large numbers of diabetic patients and prolonged follow-up periods result in a mass of data that only computers can control. MELLITEE is a computerized system developed to facilitate the longterm management of patients and to help in maintaining a high standard of care. It includes a structured and standardized medical record. Physicians of three Parisian hospital clinics agreed on the minimum content of the record. MELLITEE is operated at the Saint-Louis Hospital on a 68,000 based mini-micro computer (Fortune/Thomson Micromega-32), running under the Unix operating system and with the Lied data base management system. Data are keyed directly into the computer by physicians, nurses and dietitians from throughout the department. On-line registration of information allows the suppression of the corresponding part of the usual paper record. The clinical data base obtained from administrative and medical information can be used to facilitate more effective patient follow-up and clinic management. The system is to be set up in the other collaborating centres in the near future, allowing pooling of data. It will also provide long-term information which can be used for evaluation of care and epidemiological research.

Diabetes Mellitus↗