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Biomedical subjects

K V Nair

Publications and source records attributed to K V Nair.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Evaluation of health and pharmacy benefit information in health plan information packages.

Consumers have ready access to their health plan information packages, and the utility of this source in providing information about health and pharmacy benefits to consumers should be evaluated. A preliminary evaluation using a sample of student consumers enrolled in a variety of health plans was conducted. Findings revealed that consumer information is lacking in areas related to the definition of pharmacy benefit terminology, cost sharing for medications and services, provider selection, and referral processes. Managed care decision makers will benefit from understanding the informational needs of their members and from designing health care benefit information to accommodate these needs.

Community Participation↗
PubMed1995

Environmental physiology of the mole crab Emerita asiatica, at a power plant discharge area on the east coast of India.

Cage experiments at the discharge area of Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) facilitated studies of thermal tolerance in Emerita asiatica. At the laboratory, oxygen consumption at various temperatures and varying salinities was also investigated. In the field 100% mortality of crabs was recorded at the Condenser Cooling Water Pumps (CCWP) discharge site compared to no mortality at the Processed Sea Water Pumps (PSWP) site. This observation implicated temperature as a stress factor at the CCWP outfall, because other factors, including residual chlorine and water velocity, were the same at the PSWP and CCWP sites. Laboratory experiments on tolerance revealed that 38.5 degrees C was lethal to mole crabs. The time taken for 100% mortality decreased as the temperature increased from 35 to 40 degrees C. Oxygen metabolism showed a progressive increase with temperature from 29 to 36 degrees C, and declined at 37 degrees C. The influence of salinity on oxygen consumption was marginal at salinities of 20 to 35 per thousand but, when reduced to 15 per thousand, the oxygen consumption declined. The present study thus indicates that temperature could be the lethal factor, determining the distribution of mole crabs near the power station, where water temperature can exceed 40 degrees C.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Unusual presentations of duodenal tuberculosis.

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis is still rampant in underdeveloped countries and can mimic other gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. Herein we report four cases of isolated proximal duodenal tuberculosis, without involvement of other parts of the GI tract. The clinical presentation in three of them resembled that of peptic ulcer disease, and one had features of gastric outlet obstruction. On investigation, one of these patients had a pyeloduodenal fistula. The limitations of clinical evaluation, radiology, and endoscopy are stressed, and the value of surgical biopsy is highlighted.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Randomised double blind placebo controlled clinical trial of sucralfate and ranitidine in chronic duodenal ulcer.

A double blind, randomised, placebo controlled clinical trial was carried out in endoscopically proved chronic duodenal ulcer patients to compare the efficacy of sucralfate and ranitidine. Sucralfate 1 g four times daily and ranitidine 150 mg twice daily were found to be equally effective in inducing ulcer healing (73.1% and 82.1% respectively) during the 6-week treatment period. The rate of recurrence of the ulcer within six months after the initial treatment (84.2% and 82.6%) was also comparable in the sucralfate and ranitidine groups. Sucralfate and ranitidine are equally effective in ulcer healing and prevention of ulcer relapse.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Tricalcium phosphate ceramic as immediate root implants for the maintenance of alveolar bone in partially edentulous mandibular jaws. A clinical study.

This study was undertaken to probe the efficacy of tricalcium phosphate ceramic (TCP) as an immediate root implant in the maintenance of alveolar bone. Three patients had five TCP root implants placed in fresh extraction sockets with soft tissue closure. The control and implant areas were evaluated at the 20th and 78th week on the basis of radiographic and clinical measurements. Tricalcium phosphate ceramic root implants in extraction sockets produced a significant increase in height and width of alveolar bone compared with control sites. It is believed that this method is a more effective and efficient procedure to preserve alveolar bone for the retention of dentures than other methods.

Bone Regeneration↗
PubMed1981

Comparative study of the methylglucamine salts of iodamide and iothalamate in clinical urography.

In a comparative urographic study of the methylglucamine salts of iodamide (Uromiro 300) and iothalamate (Conray 280) the following conclusions have been made: (i) In subjects with radiologically normal kidneys and a creatinine clearance greater than 70 ml/min total urogram scores and nephrogram scores were higher with iodamide (not statistically significant). The improvement in performance was more marked in the nephrographic phase. (ii) In patients with radiologically normal kidneys and a spectrum of normal and abnormal renal function, total urogram scores and nephrogram scores showed no significant dependance on creatinine clearance. (iii) No correlations of note were observed between urographic performance and physical or biochemical parameters for either contrast medium. (iv) Side effects encountered in the study were mild and there were no significant differences between the contrast media in either the incidence or severity of the side effects. (v) Post-injection blood pressure profiles showed no significant differences between the media. (vi) Induced electrocardiographic abnormalities were uncommon and mild occurring in seven patients following iothalamate and three patients following iodamide.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Corticosteroid treatment increases parasite numbers in murine giardiasis.

Corticosteroid therapy is known to be hazardous in patients with occult infection but the mechanism by which the host parasite relationship is altered by steroids is not known. We have used an intestinal protozoal parasite, Giardia muris, to examine the effects of corticosteroids on the number of parasites in the intestine in the course of a primary infection. A single injection of cortisone acetate, subcutaneously, one day before oral inoculation of CBA mice with 1000 cysts of Giardia muris, resulted in significantly higher trophozoite counts in animals studied at one, two, three, four, and eight weeks post-infection, when they were compared with saline injected controls. Recrudescence of occult infection was also achieved by cortisone acetate treatment of mice which had been infected with Giardia muris eight months previously. Clinical studies are required to establish if recrudescence of occult protozoal infection is an important cause of morbidity when immunosuppressive therapy is given to patients in areas where giardiasis is endemic.

Animals↗