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Biomedical subjects

H Jick

Publications and source records attributed to H Jick.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

Clinical effects of meperidine in hospitalized medical patients.

Of 26,294 hospitalized medical patients monitored in a drug surveillance program, 366 (1.4%) received meperidine orally and 3268 (12.4%) received meperidine parenterally during one or more admissions. Neoplastic disease was the most common category of primary diagnosis (43%) among oral recipients; among parenteral recipients cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases (23% each) were most common. Oral meperidine was prescribed almost exclusively (93%) for pain relief, whereas the parenteral drug also had substantial use (41%) as a diagnostic and preoperative adjunct. Oral meperidine was judged by attending physicians to have provided unsatisfactory pain relief in 22% of recipients, while parenteral meperidine was rated unsatisfactory in 11%. The drug was less effective in patients with a primary diagnosis of neoplastic disease than in patients with other primary diagnoses. Minor gastrointestinal disturbances were the most commonly reported adverse reactions among oral meperidine recipients (2.7%); among parenteral recipients central nervous system effects were most common (1.2%). Seven recipients had life-threatening adverse reactions. However, only two of these were judged definitely related to meperidine, and in both instances other drugs were also definitely implicated. Adverse reactions were dose related.

Administration, Oral↗

Adverse reactions to methyldopa with particular reference to hypotension.

Of 26,294 consecutive patients monitored in a comprehensive drug surveillance program, 1067 (4 per cent) received methyldopa for treatment of hypertension. Adverse reactions attributed to methyldopa were reported in 149 patients (14 per cent), the most frequent being hypotension. Life-threatening adverse effects were reported in nine patients (6 per cent of reactors)--the major problems being hypotension associated in several patients with signs of cardiac or cerebral ischemia. Hypotension attributed to methyldopa was more frequent in younger patients, in those with uremia, in lighter subjects, and in those receiving a high daily dose. Marked interaction between these factors was demonstrated and eightfold differences in the frequency of hypotension were observed in different sub-groups of methyldopa recipients. Adverse effects other than hypotension were reported infrequently and did not correlate well with the previously mentioned factors. The findings suggest that methyldopa therapy should be commenced cautiously in younger patients, in the non-obese, and in those with impairment of renal function as manifest by elevated blood urea nitrogen levels.

Adult↗

Relationship of basal plasma noradrenaline to blood pressure, age, sex, plasma renin activity and plasma volume in essential hypertension.

1. The relationship of basal plasma noradrenaline to blood pressure, age, sex, urinary sodium excretion, and plasma volume has been examined in 117 untreated ambulatory patients with essential hypertension. 2. No significant correlations between basal plasma noradrenaline and either age or sex were apparent in the total group of essential hypertensive patients. In addition, no significant correlations were observed between plasma noradrenaline and 24 h urinary sodium excretion. 3. Basal plasma noradrenaline concentration was significantly higher in high renin essential hypertensive subjects compared with those with normal or low plasma renin activity. 4. Plasma noradrenaline was reduced significantly in relatively young patients with low renin essential hypertension, but appeared to be normal in other low renin subjects. 5. Basal plasma noradrenaline correlated significantly with blood pressure in patients with normal or low renin essential hypertension but the relationships were only significant in male patients. 6. No significant relationship between basal plasma noradrenaline and either blood pressure or plasma volume could be demonstrated in this population of essential hypertensive patients.

Age Factors↗

Oral contraceptives and nonfatal stroke in healthy young women.

The Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program obtained medical histories on 29 premenopausal women with a discharge diagnosis of stroke. Of these women, 14 were otherwise healthy with no known predisposing illnesses. Eleven of the 14 patients were taking oral contraceptives just before admission compared with seven of 56 otherwise healthy control women (13%). The relative risk estimate for stroke among oral contraceptive users compared with nonusers is 26 (lower 90% one-sided confidence bound = 7.0). Cigarette smoking was only weakly associated with stroke in this group of women.

Adult↗

Thrombophlebitis of the lower extremities and ABO blood type.

Of 86 medical patients with a hospital discharge diagnosis of thrombophlebitis of the lower extremity, 70 (81%) were of blood type A,B, or AB (non-O). Of the 344 reference patients matched for age, sex, and country, 187 (54%) were of non-O blood type. The estimate of risk ratio of non-O blood type patients to O blood type patients was 3.7 with 90% confidence limits 2.3 and 6.0. The association between non-O blood type and thrombophlebitis of the lower extremity was strongest among the younger patients and women.

ABO Blood-Group System↗

Relationship of basal plasma norepinephrine to blood pressure, plasma renin activity, mineralocorticoids, and plasma volume in essential hypertension.

The basal levels of plasma norepinephrine have been measured in 113 carefully characterized patients with essential hypertension, and the results have been correlated with the PRA sub-grouping and the levels of blood pressure, plasma aldosterone, plasma 18-hydroxy-deoxycorticosterone, and plasma volume. In addition, the influence of furosemide on plasma norepinephrine concentration has been assessed. Essential hypertensives, when considered as a whole, did not exhibit any significant abnormality in basal plasma norepinephrine concentration, but interesting alterations were observed in certain specific sub-groups. High renin patients had significantly elevated levels of basal plasma norepinephrine. In addition, a sub-group of the low renin population who were relatively young had reduced plasma norepinephrine conentration. In these individuals with both reduced PRA and plasma norepinephrine, the levels of both increased concomitantly to the normal range with marked salt depletion. Furosemide administration induced increases in plasma norepinephrine in all PRA sub-groups. Plasma norepinephrine correlated significantly with blood pressure in normal and low renin hypertensives, but the relationships were confined only to male subjects. Significant correlations were also observed between plasma norepinephrine and plasma aldosterine in males with normal PRA but not in the other sub-categories. No significant relationships between plasma volume and either plasma norepinephrine or blood pressure could be detected. Plasma 18-hydroxy-deoxycorticosterone was greater in males as compared with females and appeared elevated above control levels in normal and high renin essential hypertensives. Significant positive correlations between plasma aldosterone and plasma 18-hydroxy-deoxycorticosterone were observed in both males and females with normal renin hypertension. These studies have demonstrated abnormalities in basal plasma norepinephrine concentration in certain patients with essential hypertension. They also suggest that the levels of blood pressure and plasma aldosterone may be related to peripheral sympathetic activity in essential hypertension.

18-Hydroxydesoxycorticosterone↗

Oral contraceptive use and venous thromboembolism: absence of an effect of smoking.

We conducted a case-control study to test the hypothesis that women smokers who use oral contraceptives have an increased risk of developing venous thrombosis. Patients and controls were drawn from two sets of hospital patients already included in the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Programme. Sixty patients with uncomplicated thromboembolism were matched with 180 controls with other diagnoses; all were premenopausal women taking oral contraceptives. Patients with conditions that might predispose to thromboembolism or be related to smoking were excluded. We found no association between smoking habits and thromboembolism. Similarly, we found no association between thromboembolism, smoking, and duration of oral contraceptive use. Thus we conclude that differences in fibrinolytic activity between smokers and non-smokers are not major factors in the aetiology of uncomplicated thromboembolism in women using oral contraceptives.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

Relation between smoking and age of natural menopause. Report from the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston University Medical Center.

The relation of cigarette smoking to natural menopause has been evaluated in two independent sets of data. In both, at each age from 44 to 53 years, more current smokers were post-menopausal compared to "never" smokers. In the first set of data the age-standardised proportions of women who were postmenopausal were 35, 36, 43, and 49%, respectively, for never smokers, ex-smokers, and current smokers of 1/2 and greater than or equal to 1 pack per day. The corresponding proportions for the second set were 53, 59, 60 and 65%.

Adult↗

Oral contraceptives and hepatitis. A report from the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston University Medical Center.

History of oral-contraceptive use was compared between 68 women with a hospital-discharge diagnosis of acute hepatitis and 1142 women who had been admitted for other reasons to the same hospitals during the same period. The risk of admission to hospital for hepatitis for users of oral contraceptives was estimated to be 3-3 times that for non-users (95% confidence interval, 1-8--6-3). This overall association was almost entirely attributable to a strong association among women under 25 years of age. Among users of oral contraceptives, duration of use tended to be shorter for hepatitis patients than for controls.

Acute Disease↗

The discovery of drug-induced illness.

The increased use of drugs (and the concurrent increased risks of drug-induced illness) require definition of relevant research areas and strategy. For established marketed drugs, research needs depend on the magnitudes of risk of an illness from a drug and the base-line risk. With the drug risk high and the base-line risk low, the problem surfaces in premarketing studies or through the epidemic that develops after marketing. If the drug adds slightly to a high base-line risk, the effect is undetectable. When both risks are low, adverse effects can be discovered by chance, but systematic case-referent studies can speed discovery. If both risks are high, clinical trials and nonexperimental studies may be used. With both risks intermediate, systematic evaluations, especially case-referent studies are needed. Newly marketed drugs should be routinely evaluated through compulsory registration and follow-up study of the earliest users.

Disease Outbreaks↗

Drug-related deaths among medical inpatients.

Among 26,462 carefully monitored medical inpatients, 24, or 0.9 per 1,000, were considered to have died as a result of a drug or group of drugs. Most of the patients were seriously ill prior to the event that caused death. Six of the deaths-five from fluid overload and one from excessive potassium therapy-may have been preventable.

Adolescent↗

Antibiotic-associated colitis.

Among 26,294 hospitalized patients monitored by the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program (BCDSP), 8,948 (34%) received at least one antibiotic, and none were diagnosed as having drug-induced colitis to in-hospital antibiotic exposure. Seven patients who had taken antibiotics as outpatients, however, were admitted with antibiotic-associated colitis. Six of these patients had taken lincomycin prior to the onset of symptoms; one had taken ampicillin. Six of the patients were hospitalized at a New Zealand hospital and one at a hospital in Canada. The five patients with lincomycin-associated colitis at the New Zealand hospital were admitted over an 11-month period. Severe colitis due to antibiotics has been a rare event in the BCDSP experience, especially in the United States.

Adult↗

Adverse drug effects in relation to renal function.

The relationship between acute drug toxicity, diagnosed in the clinical setting, and renal function is estimated for 67 commonly used drugs. Fewer than expected numbers of drugs showed higher rates of toxicity in the presence of an elevated blood urea nitrogen level on admission. For those whose toxicity did correlate positively with an elevated blood urea nitrogen level, detailed study of the relationship, taking into account other important variables, is indicated.

Blood Urea Nitrogen↗

Regular drug use and cancer.

An extensive survey study of 25,000 patients admitted to 24 Boston-area hospitals during the first 10 months of 1972 provided data which were used to estimate the proportion of cancer that is likely to be due to recent regular intake of drugs normally used to treat illness. Cancer was diagnosed for the first time in some 800 patients. The regular drug use before admissions among these patients was compared to that of 3,443 non-cancer patients admitted for conditions thought to be unrelated to any regular drug use. Controlling for age and sex, the risk ratio point estimate for any regular drug use among cancer patients was 0.88 when compared to that of reference patients. The 90% upper confidence bound was 1.02. These data indicate with 90% confidence that less than 1% of the cancers identified in this study were likely to have been caused by any recent regular use of drugs.

Adult↗

Adverse reactions to procainamide.

1 Data from a comprehensive drug surveillance programme are analysed to provide details of procainamide use and toxicity in medical wards of teaching hospitals in five countries. 2 Out of a total of 488 recipients 9.2% had one or more adverse effect attributed to the drug; common effects being arrhythmias, gastro-intestinal upsets and drug fever. Although occasionally of major severity, no patient died as a consequence of procainamide toxicity. 3 Toxicity was directly related to total daily dose and duration of hospitalization but was not related to age, weight of the patient or presenting urea or albumin concentrations.

Aged↗