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Biomedical subjects

M Eliakim

Publications and source records attributed to M Eliakim.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

The effect of music during warm-up on consecutive anaerobic performance in elite adolescent volleyball players.

Music is believed to improve athletic performance. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of arousing music during warm-up on anaerobic performance in elite national level adolescent volleyball players. Twenty-four players (12 males and 12 females) performed the Wingate Anaerobic Test following a 10-minute warm-up with and without music (two separate occasions, random order). During warm-up with music, mean heart rate was significantly higher. Following the warm-up with music, peak anaerobic power was significantly higher in all volleyball players (10.7 +/- 0.3 vs. 11.1 +/- 0.3 Watts/kg, p < 0.05, without and with music, respectively). Gender did not influence the effect of music on peak anaerobic power. Music had no significant effect on mean anaerobic output or fatigue index in both genders. Music affects warm-up and may have a transient beneficial effect on anaerobic performance.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1992

Correlation between serum lipids and stroke in an Israeli population.

The role of blood lipids as a risk factor for cerebrovascular disease remains uncertain. In the present prospective study, 202 patients admitted with stroke to a community hospital in Jerusalem were evaluated. All patients had a full clinical and neurological evaluation, and a risk factor analysis. The study protocol included routine blood evaluation, fasting blood lipid analysis, brain imaging, 2D echocardiography and carotid Doppler ultrasonography. Stroke risk factors were correlated to stroke types as defined by the modified NINCDS Stroke Data Bank Criteria. Lacunar and atherosclerotic ischaemic infarctions were the most frequent type of stroke in both sexes. Lipid values were in general lower in males than in females. Comparison of stroke patients to age and sex matched controls disclosed lower LDL-C values in male and female patients (p less than 0.001), and lower cholesterol levels in women with strokes than in control subjects (p less than 0.001). Our study corroborates previously reported risk factors for stroke: hypertension (major risk factor in both sexes), smoking (more prevalent in males) and diabetes (more frequent in females).

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Clinical, psychological and thallium stress studies in patients with chest pain and normal coronary arteries.

The clinical and psychological profiles of 36 consecutive patients with chest pain and normal coronary arteries (study group) were compared to those of 34 patients with chest pain and significant coronary arterial disease (control group). All 70 patients were hospitalized for chest pain at least once prior to coronary angiography. The features of a typical episode of chest pain were similar in the normal coronary arteries and coronary arterial disease groups, but the female patients with normal coronary arteries had a shorter duration of a typical episode of chest pain, and the male patients with normal coronary arteries had a lower frequency of positive effort tests. Psychological testing showed the women with normal coronary arteries to have a tendency to increased somatization, anxiety, and a lower ability to identify origin of difficulties. The patients in the normal coronary and coronary arterial disease groups had psychological profiles typical of patients with chronic somatic disease. A psychiatric interview demonstrated an increased frequency of depressive trait (score 0-2) in the normal women (0.6 +/- 0.8 vs 0, P less than 0.05), and a tendency to increased somatization, anxiety, and sleeping disorders. Increased somatization was found in the normal coronary men (1.1 +/- 0.7 vs 0.5 +/- 0.7, P less than 0.05). Twenty-five patients of the normal coronary group underwent quantitative thallium stress studies, and 13 patients (52%) had evidence of stress-induced myocardial perfusion defect. There were no differences in the clinical and psychological profiles of the patients with normal and those with pathological thallium stress tests.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chest Pain↗
PubMed1991

Failure of long-term digitalization to prevent rapid ventricular response in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Digitalis is frequently prescribed to patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation to reduce the ventricular rate during subsequent paroxysms. To verify the validity of this assumption, we determined the ventricular rate during paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in 13 patients receiving long-term digoxin therapy (mean plasma digoxin level + 1.28 +/- 0.4 ng/ml) and compared it with that of a group of 14 patients who had not taken digoxin or beta-adrenergic and calcium-blocking agents before the attack. The treated and the untreated groups were similar statistically. The mean ventricular rate of the digitalized patients was 121 +/- 15 beats per minute, while that of the patients in the control group was 118 +/- 16 beats per minute. It is concluded that long-term digoxin therapy is not effective in reducing the ventricular response in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation despite adequate therapeutic levels.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Polyarteritis nodosa and familial Mediterranean fever: a report of 2 cases and review of the literature.

Two cases of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) are reported. These and another 11 cases found in the literature suggest that PAN occurs more commonly in patients with FMF than would be expected in the general population. Perirenal hematoma, which is surprisingly high in patients with FMF, is a life threatening complication of PAN. The diagnosis of PAN in patients with FMF may be delayed due to the similarity of the clinical manifestations of both diseases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Pathophysiological changes associated with increasing grade of hepatic encephalopathy.

The pathophysiological changes occurring with increasing grade of encephalopathy were examined in 93 consecutive episodes in 44 patients with liver cirrhosis (37 posthepatic). The incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding and leukocytosis increased significantly when the grade advanced from 1 to 5. The following variables showed a trend for change that did not reach statistical significance: rising serum bilirubin, SGOT, and BUN levels; decreasing serum sodium and chloride levels; and increased incidence of infection. The mean values of the following variables were significantly different in 25 fatal episodes and 68 survivors, implicating a bad prognosis: high serum bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, and BUN levels; low serum albumin, sodium, and chloride levels; and a higher incidence of severe infections (sepsis, infected ascitic fluid). Because increasing grade of encephalopathy is the most important factor in determining the prognosis of hepatic encephalopathy (mortality 0, 10, 5, 19, and 85 percent in grades 1 to 5, respectively), more efforts should be made to understand and prevent the pathophysiological changes associated with advancing grades of encephalopathy.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

Fertility and obstetric history in patients with familial Mediterranean fever on long-term colchicine therapy.

The obstetric histories were examined for 36 women with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) on long-term colchicine treatment followed for periods ranging between 3 and 12 years. Seven of 28 pregnancies (25%) associated with colchicine therapy ended in miscarriage. Thirteen women (36%) had periods of infertility; these were due to ovulatory dysfunction in six women, to peritoneal adhesions in four and remained unexplained in three women. The rates for miscarriage and infertility are high but are similar to those reported for women with FMF before colchicine therapy was introduced. All 16 infants born to mothers who had taken colchicine during pregnancy were healthy. Currently, we do not advise discontinuation of colchicine before planned pregnancy but recommend amniocentesis for karyotyping and reassurance.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1986

Immunogenetics of rheumatoid arthritis in Israel.

In an attempt to study the variation of associations between HLA and rheumatoid disease a population of 44 Ashkenazi and 29 non-Ashkenazi patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis were tested for HLA-A, B, C and DR antigens and compared with the relevant control groups. In contrast to the results obtained in Middle European or North American Caucasians, Rheumatoid Arthritis in Israel is not associated with B15 and Cw3, indicating that it is very unlikely that B- and C-locus antigens are involved in coding for disease susceptibility for RA. The allele DR4 which is found associated with RA in almost all populations tested so far was in the total patient group (47.9%) slightly but not significantly more frequent than in the control group (38.3%). This difference was entirely due to a nonsignificant increase in the frequency of DR4 in the Ashkenazi patients (54.5%) compared to controls (40%), while the frequency of DR4 in non-Ashkenazi patients and controls was virtually identical (38.0% vs 36.7%). Another surprising finding was that the frequency of HLA-DR1, which has been reported to be increased in different populations of patients with RA was found to be completely normal in the present study on Israeli patients. The alleles of the Bf and the GLO system did not show any significant difference between patients and controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗
PubMed1986

A simple prognostic index for hospitalized geriatric patients. A prospective study of 70 patients.

A simple prognostic index for hospitalized geriatric patients is reported herein. Seven parameters including: mobility, sphincter control, mental competence, feeding ability, presence of pressure sores, medical condition and family state were recorded in 70 patients. The sum of the scores of all parameters constituted the prognostic index. At the end of 3 months the patients were divided into two groups: 18 patients who were discharged (group 1) and 52 patients who were still hospitalized (35 cases) or had died (17 cases) (group 2). The mean index for group 1 was 14.9 +/- 3.2 (mean +/- SD), while that for group 2 was 23.5 +/- 4.3 (p less than 0.00001). Eighty-three percent of the patients in group 1 and only 8% of those in group 2 had scored lower than 17. Thus, the score of 17 or more had a prognostic sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 83%. The predictive value of indices of 17 or more was 94%. The index described offers therefore a simple and relatively accurate tool for the assessment of the prognosis of elderly patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Total lymphoid irradiation in refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

In two patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, conventional therapy was considered to have failed because of persistent disease activity and unacceptable side effects. Both were treated with total lymphoid irradiation without clinical benefit, despite adequate immunosuppression as documented by markedly reduced numbers of circulating T lymphocytes and T-lymphocyte-dependent proliferative responses in vitro. The first patient developed herpes zoster, gram-negative septicemia, neurologic symptoms, and deterioration of lupus nephritis. The second patient developed massive bronchopneumonia, necrotic cutaneous lesions, and progressive nephritis and died 2 weeks after completion of radiotherapy. These observations, although limited to two patients, indicate that total lymphoid irradiation in patients with severe systemic lupus erythematosus should be regarded as strictly experimental.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Yellow nail syndrome: case report and review of the literature.

A patient with yellow nail syndrome is described. The presenting features were right pleural effusion resistant to therapy, leg edema and slow-growing yellow nails. T-lymphopenia in the peripheral blood and T cell predominance in the pleural fluid were demonstrated. In addition, the capillaries in the conjunctival and nail beds showed increased vasomotion and decreased diameter. It is suggested that the disease is not confined to the lymphatic system, but also involves the capillaries.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1985

Short course of synacthen therapy as an adjunct in the management of rheumatoid arthritis.

The effect of synthetic adrenocorticotrophic hormone (Synacthen), in conjunction with hydroxychloroquine, aurothioglucose, or penicillamine, was evaluated retrospectively in 21 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). One mg of depo Synacthen was administered at increasing intervals of 4 to 14 days for a total period of 3 to 7 months. Fourteen patients with RA on either hydroxychloroquine or aurothioglucose and not on Synacthen, served as controls. Patients in the Synacthen group were, on the whole, sicker, as indicated by a lower functional capacity, higher mean erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and systemic and articular indices. Physicians' estimate of the patients condition after 1 - 2 months of therapy showed no improvement or deterioration in 10 out of 13 cases in the control group. Likewise, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate decreased significantly more and seronegativity was achieved in more of the Synacthen-treated cases. Six to 8 months after the beginning of therapy (1 to 4 months after cessation of Synacthen) clinical improvement was comparable in both groups, although seroconversion was more common in patients who had received Synacthen (7 out of 10 as compared to 1 out of 7 respectively). It is suggested that Synacthen may be used safely in the early phase of selected RA patients, until the effect of second-line drugs is achieved.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1985

Amiodarone-associated hypothyroidism--a possible cause of digoxin intoxication.

The problem of a possible interaction between amiodarone and digoxin is still unsettled. We have recently treated two patients with digoxin intoxication who had received amiodarone for eight and 36 months respectively. Both developed extreme bradycardia requiring temporary pacemakers. The presence of hypothyroidism was confirmed in both cases by laboratory data. Judging by present knowledge concerning the interaction between amiodarone, thyroid function, and digoxin, it is suggested that digoxin intoxication was not the result of its direct interaction with amiodarone. The possibility that amiodarone-induced hypothyroidism precipitated digoxin intoxication seems to be more plausible. Prevention of digitalis toxicity in amiodarone-treated patients would therefore require monitoring of thyroid function every three to six months. Frequent monitoring of digitalis blood levels is also indicated in patients with amiodarone associated hypothyroidism. Early detection of hypothyroidism and digitalis intoxication is necessary in view of the severity of the course of the disease.

Aged↗