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Biomedical subjects

L Ovesen

Publications and source records attributed to L Ovesen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Dietary intake in patients with small cell lung cancer: the effect of aggressive chemotherapy.

Energy and protein intake in 32 consecutive patients with small cell lung cancer was examined at initiation of cyclical chemotherapy and after 1 and 3 months. With each cycle intakes decreased in the first 2 days following chemotherapy, but were back to pretreatment levels on the third day. Eleven of the patients lost weight in the study period. Their energy and protein intakes were lower following chemotherapy compared to pretreatment intakes and to post-therapy intakes in weight-stable patients. Pretreatment intakes did not decrease over time, either in weight-losing or in weight-stable patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Tumour regression following chemotherapy does not increase food intake.

Forty-six patients with cancer of the breast, ovary or lung (small cell) were followed for 5 months after initiation of cyclical chemotherapy to examine if any changes in voluntary food intake or nutritional status were related to treatment response. The study showed a slight decrease in protein (P less than 0.05) and energy intake (not significant) at 3 months compared to pretreatment intakes in 31 patients with objective tumour regression. In 15 non-responding patients no changes were demonstrated. There were no changes in anthropometric status related to treatment response. Despite the lower protein intake in treatment responders p-albumin increased significantly compared to pretreatment value. Thus, initially successful chemotherapeutic treatment is not automatically followed by improved nutrition, and many of these patients are potential candidates for early dietary intervention.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1991

Electrical taste detection thresholds and chemical smell detection thresholds in patients with cancer.

Taste sensation in patients with cancer has previously been studied with the cumbersome method of chemical gustometry, which have produced inconsistent results. In this study taste thresholds were determined with the simple and reliable technique of electrogustometry in 51 patients with cancers of the lung (small cell), ovary or breast, and in 29 matched control patients with nonneoplastic disease. Chemical smell thresholds for phenyl-methyl-ethyl-carbinol were studied in the same group of patients. Electrical taste threshold was higher in patients with cancer compared with control patients (30 [12 to 80] microA versus 9.5 [6.1 to 24] microA; median [interquartile range], P less than 0.001). No differences were seen in smell thresholds. Patients who responded to chemotherapy obtained a decreased electrogustometric threshold at time of reevaluation (24 [8 to 64] microA versus 30 [15 to 90] microA; median [interquartile range], P less than 0.05). These results suggest an effect of the malignant disease itself on taste thresholds.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Taste thresholds in patients with small-cell lung cancer.

Recognition thresholds for the four basic tastes (salt, sour, sweet and bitter) were tested by the forced-choice technique in 27 patients with small-cell lung cancer, and 22 weight-matched control patients with non-malignant diseases. No significant differences in threshold concentrations could be demonstrated. When patients who were losing weight were compared with weight-stable patients, significantly lower taste thresholds for bitter substances were found in weight losing groups in both cancer and control patients. Small-cell lung cancer patients who responded to therapy had obtained an increased threshold for bitter taste at the time of reevaluation than at the time of diagnosis, an effect that may be explained by the chemotherapeutic regimen. The results suggest that in patients with small-cell lung cancer it is not the cancer disease per se but the weight loss that often accompanies it that causes an increased taste sensitivity for bitter substances.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

The effect of dietary vitamin K on warfarin-induced anticoagulation.

We examined the effect of vitamin-K-rich vegetables, vitamin-K-poor vegetables and phytomenadione on the stability of warfarin-induced anticoagulation. Patients on stable anticoagulant treatment were randomized to either 1 (n = 5), 2 (n = 7) or 7 (n = 13) d with high intake of vitamin-K-rich vegetables (median daily vitamin K intake 1100 micrograms) or high intake of vitamin-K-poor vegetables (daily vitamin K intake 135 micrograms) for 6 d (n = 7), or habitual diet supplemented with 1000 micrograms of phytomenadione daily (n = 5). Nine patients (69%; 95% CI, 39-91%) who consumed vitamin-K-rich vegetables for 7 d reached activities above the therapeutic level. Two (40%; 95% CI, 5-85%) and three patients (43%; 95% CI, 10-86%) who consumed vitamin-K-rich vegetables for 1 and 2 d, respectively, exceeded the upper therapeutic limit. No changes were observed in the vitamin-K-poor group. All patients who received phytomenadione exceeded the upper therapeutic limit. Dietary vitamin K should be regarded as an important environmental factor contributing to unwanted disturbances in warfarin-induced anticoagulation.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Palatability and intake of two commercial liquid diets in patients with poor appetite.

Either of two nutritionally complete liquid diets was offered prospectively for 10 consecutive days to 32 elderly patients to compare intake volume and palatability. All patients were hospitalized in a medical department and had poor appetite. The diets, which were each available in two flavours, contained either intact or partially hydrolysed proteins. They were given as sip-feeds in addition to normal food. Both products received high palatability ratings. Mean (+/- SD) volumes of intake per day were 369 (+/- 127) ml for the protein hydrolysate diet and 416 (+/- 119) ml for the intact protein diet (NS), representing approximately half of the intended intakes. There was no indication that taste fatigue developed for either of the products.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

The effect of dietary energy and protein deficiency on drug metabolism.

The influence of a diet deficient in energy or protein on hepatic oxidation (Phase I reactions) and glucuronidation (Phase II reactions) in man has been examined. Nine healthy volunteers were fed an energy deficient diet (daily energy intake 4.3 MJ; daily protein intake 0.94 g/kg) and a protein deficient diet (daily energy intake 11.4 MJ; daily protein intake 0.31 g/kg) in random order. The control energy and protein intakes were 12.0 MJ and 1.52 g/kg, respectively. Each test diet period lasted 12 days. On Day 10, antipyrine 1000 mg and metronidazole 500 mg were given and elimination in saliva was determined. The metabolism of neither drugs was changed during the two dietary interventions, nor was their clearance to metabolites. On Day 12, the metabolism of oxazepam 15 mg was studied. The energy deficient and the protein deficient diet reduced the clearance rate of oxazepam by 20.3%, and 14.1% respectively. The elimination half-life was prolonged by 17.4% after the former and by 11.4% after the latter diet. Thus, both a low energy and a low protein intake decreased the glucuronidation of oxazepam, whereas no effect was observed on the rate of oxidation, expressed as the metabolism of antipyrine and metronidazole.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Pancreatic insufficiency. Duodenal and jejunal pH, bile acid activity, and micellar lipid solubilization.

To investigate the course of postprandial lipid solubilization in nine patients with chronic, alcoholic pancreatitis, luminal contents were aspirated from the proximal part of the jejunum for 180 min after a meal containing 1.5% fat. Six of the patients had pancreatic insufficiency, whereas three patients were without insufficiency. pH was measured continuously at two sites: at the level of the papilla of Vater and the aspiration site. The fraction of bile acids in the micellar phase of the jejunal aspirates correlated positively to both pH in the aspirates (p less than 0.05) and the fraction of fat solubilized (p less than 0.02). pH was below 4.0 for a longer period of time in the patients with insufficiency, compared to the patients without. However, pH fluctuated rapidly, and there was no correlation between the continuously measured values at the aspiration site and values in the aspirates. Lipid solubilization was not correlated to the lipase activity in the aspirates. We conclude that acidic bile acid precipitation most likely plays a dominant role in the pathophysiology of pancreatic steatorrhea although the methods available are too crude to disclose the precise course of events.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Otorhinolaryngologic diseases in general practice].

During a period of one year, the contact pattern during day working hours in general practice where diseases of the ear, nose and throat were concerned was registered as part of an investigation of disease pattern in the County of Arhus. Registration included the form of encounter, reason for encounter, diagnosis and possible referrals. It was demonstrated that 8.6% of all disease and symptom-induced encounters in general practice were concerned with ear, nose and throat disease. Complaints from the throat were the commonest. Coryza and tonsillitis comprised nearly half of all the diseases. The commonest diseases of the ear were acute otitis media and wax in the ear. Among upper respiratory diseases, acute infective conditions dominated. As compared with the usual age-distribution in general practice, coryza, tonsillitis, acute and secretory otitis media and chronic allergic rhinitis were considerably overrepresented in children. Examination in consulting room was the commonest form of encounter. The majority of the patients were considered by the general practitioners to be completely treated after one consultation.

Denmark↗
PubMed1989

A simple technique for predicting maintenance dosage of warfarin--is it better than empirical dosing?

In a prospective, randomised trial the clinical utility of a predictive warfarin maintenance dosing technique was compared with the more commonly employed empirical dosing method. A preliminary study in 35 patients established the applied technique for predicting the maintenance dosage of warfarin from the prothrombin activity on Day 4 of initial standardised warfarin administration. Forty-three patients admitted with venous thrombotic disease were investigated. All received the same loading dose of warfarin (10 mg daily) until the prothrombin percentage activity (Normotest) was less than 25%. Significantly more patients were correctly stabilised when warfarin doses were based on prediction than when they were empirically adjusted (86% vs 50%). Also, the median number of days to achieve stable anticoagulation was lower (8 vs 11 days). It is concluded that this simple predictive technique to determine the maintenance dosage of warfarin is superior to empirical dosing.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Effect of omeprazole on intragastric and duodenal bulb acidity in duodenal ulcer patients.

Intraluminal pH was measured simultaneously in the stomach and duodenal bulb with six small, glass electrodes tied together at 1.5-cm intervals. Ten patients with duodenal ulcer disease were studied under fasting conditions and for 3 h after a standard liquid meal on three occasions: day 1, before treatment; day 8, when the proton pump blocker omeprazole had been taken in a daily dose of 30 mg for 7 days consecutively, including the day of the pH study; day 9, 24 h after the last dose of omeprazole. Mean hydrogen ion activity and the percentage of time with pH below 3 was calculated from the digital pH data sampled at a frequency of 1 per second from each electrode. On day 8, five of the patients were permanently anacidic (pH greater than 4) in the stomach and duodenum, while the food-stimulation broke off anacidity for shorter periods in the other five patients. The pH pattern in the duodenal bulb was markedly altered in all patients with disappearance of the typical pH fluctuations, and a decrease in the time that the pH was below 3 from a median value of 30% before treatment to 0% in seven patients and close to 0% in three patients. On day 9, a large patient-to-patient variation was observed in gastric pH: three patients were still anacidic, four were markedly suppressed, but three patients reached near pre-treatment acidity. Duodenal bulb acidity was still decreased significantly on day 9 in all patients, with post-prandial pH below 3 for less than 5% of the time, compared with 30% before treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

The effect of a diet rich in brussels sprouts on warfarin pharmacokinetics.

Ten healthy subjects were given 20 mg of warfarin orally before, and after a daily intake of 400 g of brussels sprouts for 2 weeks. The brussels sprouts diet stimulated warfarin disposal as evidenced by a 29% increase in mean elimination rate constant, accompanied by a 27% increase in metabolic clearance rate and a 16% decrease in plasma AUC. It is concluded that a high intake of brussels sprouts, a cruciferous vegetable, accelerates warfarin disposal, and thereby might contribute to less anticoagulation.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Duodenal bulb acidity in patients with duodenal ulcer.

Intraluminal pH was measured simultaneously in the human stomach and proximal duodenum with six small glass electrodes tied together at 1.5-cm intervals. Twenty-four healthy control subjects and 44 patients with duodenal ulcer disease were studied under fasting conditions and for 3 h after a standard liquid meal. Mean and median hydrogen ion activity, percentage of time with pH below 2 and 3, and the frequency of pH fluctuations were calculated from digital pH data sampled at a frequency of once per second from each electrode. None of these measurements of acidity differed significantly between the two groups or between subgroups of normosecretor controls and hypersecretor ulcer patients. At the time of pH study 15 of the patients had endoscopically verified active ulcer disease and 13 patients were without disease activity. Gastric as well as duodenal bulb acidity was the same in these two subgroups. We conclude that even though duodenal ulcer patients deliver more acid into the duodenum, this does not cause increased luminal acid aggression.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Intraluminal pH in the stomach, duodenum, and proximal jejunum in normal subjects and patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

In situ pH was measured simultaneously with microelectrodes in the stomach, duodenal bulb, midduodenum, duodenojejunal junction, and proximal jejunum. Fourteen healthy subjects and 8 patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency were studied under fasting conditions and for 3 h after a standard liquid meal. The luminal pH gradient was steepest in the proximal 10 cm of the duodenum, where acidity was reduced from pH 2 to pH 5 in the fasting state and from pH 1.7 to pH 4.3 in the second and third postprandial hour. Acidity was further reduced in the distal duodenum to a pH between 5 and 6 at the duodenojejunal junction. The frequent wide and rapid pH fluctuations seen in the duodenal bulb were gradually reduced along the duodenum and became rare in the jejunum. In patients with pancreatic insufficiency, duodenal or jejunal acidity did not differ significantly from the controls, with the exception of the single 10-min period occurring 70-80 min after the meal when duodenal bulb pH was 2.1 as compared with 3.1 in the normal subjects (p less than 0.05). All patients, including 2 patients with a very high duodenal acidity, demonstrated a duodenal pH gradient as steep as that found in the normal subjects, indicating sources of bicarbonate other than the pancreas.

Adult↗