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Biomedical subjects

M McDermott

Publications and source records attributed to M McDermott.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Heart disease associated with deletion of the short arm of chromosome 18.

Deletion of the short arm of chromosome 18 provides a highly variable phenotype. Mental retardation, short stature, and abnormal facies are invariably present. About 9 percent of patients with this syndrome have cardiac pathology. An additional case with congenital heart disease has been presented along with a review of the literature concerning the association of congenital heart disease and the 18p- syndrome.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1990

A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of fluoxetine plus behavior modification in the treatment of obese binge-eaters and non-binge-eaters.

To determine whether fluoxetine is effective in the long-term treatment of obesity and whether it is particularly useful in the treatment of obese binge-eaters, the authors randomly assigned 45 obese subjects (22 with binge-eating problems and 23 without binge-eating) to fluoxetine (60 mg/day) or placebo in a 52-week double-blind trial. The 21 subjects who completed the trial made 13 clinic visits and were taught basic behavior modification strategies. Patients treated with fluoxetine plus behavior modification lost significantly more weight than those treated with placebo plus behavior modification. However, the drug did not appear to have a differential benefit for binge-eaters.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Variable expression of Parkinson's disease: a base-line analysis of the DATATOP cohort. The Parkinson Study Group.

The DATATOP database, which includes clinical information on 800 patients with early untreated Parkinson's disease (PD), is well suited to explore clinical heterogeneity in PD. Patients with early-onset PD (less than or equal to 40 years, N = 33) reached the same level of disability as the late-onset PD (greater than or equal to 70 years, N = 85) group at a significantly slower rate (2.9 vs. 1.7 years). Early-onset PD patients functioned cognitively better than late-onset PD patients. Bradykinesia, and postural instability and gait difficulty (PIGD), were more common at onset in patients with a rapid rate of disease progression ("malignant PD"; duration of symptoms less than 1 year and Hoehn/Yahr stage of 2.5, N = 11) as compared with those with a relatively slow rate of progression ("benign PD"; duration of symptoms greater than 4 years, N = 65). Comparisons of tremor-dominant PD (mean tremor score/mean PIGD score less than or equal to 1.5, N = 441) with the PIGD-dominant type (mean tremor score/mean PIGD score greater than or equal to 1.0, N = 233) provided support for the existence of clinical subtypes. The PIGD group reported significantly greater subjective intellectual, motor, and occupational impairment than the tremor group. Stage II patients had higher depression scores than stage I patients. Among the patients participating in the DATATOP, older age at onset with bradykinesia, or with the PIGD form of PD, is associated with more functional disability than when the symptoms are dominated by tremor or begin at a younger age.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

LPN to ADN.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Career Mobility↗
PubMed1990

Variables associated with weight loss and improvements in glycemic control in type II diabetic patients in behavioral weight control programs.

Because weight loss is difficult to achieve, it would be helpful to determine whether there are subgroups of obese type II diabetic patients who benefit most from participation in a behavioral weight loss program. We studied 178 obese patients with type II diabetes, who participated in a 12-20 week behavioral weight loss program and were followed for 1 year after the program to determine whether age, gender, percent overweight, medication, duration of diabetes or fasting glucose were related to weight loss and/or to the magnitude of improvement in glycemic control experienced with weight loss. Gender was the only variable related to weight loss; males lost more weight and had greater decreases in percent overweight than females. The variable most strongly related to improvement in glycemic control was pretreatment fasting glucose level; patients with higher initial glucose levels experienced the greatest improvements in control. There was no evidence to support the belief that patients on insulin have poorer weight losses or that patients with long-duration diabetes benefit less from weight reduction than those with recent-onset diabetes.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1989

Antibodies to Epstein-Barr viral antigens in familial rheumatoid arthritis.

Serum antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) were measured in members of twenty-nine families in which two or more first degree relatives had rheumatoid arthritis (RA). These patients were assessed clinically for activity of disease and their treatment recorded. A higher proportion of seropositive individuals was found among patients and affected kindred than among the non-affected groups. Antibody titres to Viral Capsid Antigen (VCA) tended to be higher in patients and affected kindred. In those individuals in whom antibody to Early Antigen (EA) was present there was a lower titre of antibody to Epstein-Barr Nuclear Antigen (ENBA). The results suggest that an immunoregulatory defect may exist in some patients with RA which allows for enhanced expression of EBV.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1988

A molecular basis for MHC class II--associated autoimmunity.

Class II major histocompatibility (MHC) molecules have an immunoregulatory role. These cell-surface glycoproteins present fragments of protein antigens (or peptides) to thymus-derived lymphocytes (T cells). Nucleotide sequence polymorphism in the genes that encode the class II MHC products determines the specificity of the immune response and is correlated with the development of autoimmune diseases. This study identifies certain class II polymorphic amino acid residues that are strongly associated with susceptibility to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, and pemphigus vulgaris. These findings implicate particular class II MHC isotypes in susceptibility to each disease and suggest new prophylactic and therapeutic strategies.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Measurement of specific airway conductance in guinea pigs. A noninvasive method.

A constant volume plethysmographic technique has been developed to measure specific airway conductance (sGaw) in unanesthetized spontaneously breathing guinea pigs. The technique utilizes a specially designed animal restraining device and mask piece. sGaw is measured at end-expiration and does not require knowledge of thoracic gas volume. Control values are within the range reported previously for this species. The method is noninvasive with minimum stress to the animals. Exposure of guinea pigs to an aerosol of cotton dust extract produces similar qualitative changes (a fall) in sGaw to those observed in human volunteers exposed to the same aerosol. The method is proposed as a suitable model for the study of byssinosis (the occupational lung disease associated with chronic exposure to cotton dust). The technique may also be applied to the acute and chronic study of the airway response to other airborne pharmacological and toxicological agents.

Airway Resistance↗
PubMed1988

HLA: linkage with rheumatoid arthritis or seropositivity.

HLA haplotype sharing was compared in sibships from multicase families with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), subdivided by rheumatoid factor status, to investigate the claim that HLA is linked more to RA severity than susceptibility. Considerable deviation from expected (Mendelian) inheritance towards greater sharing of inherited parental haplotypes was observed in the sibships as a whole and when subdivided according to the serological status of the sibship's members. Further, there was no evidence that linkage was stronger in the seropositive concordant than in the other sibships. Linkage was also demonstrated between HLA and seropositivity even in sibships where not all members expressed clinical RA. These results, therefore, do not support the existence of genetic heterogeneity between seropositive and seronegative RA, a possibility previously suggested from population studies of antigen associations.

Antibodies↗
PubMed1987

A randomized trial of high dose bolus metoclopramide versus low-dose continuous infusion metoclopramide in the prevention of cisplatin-induced emesis.

We compared the antiemetic efficacy of metoclopramide in a bolus low-dose infusion schedule to that of metoclopramide given in a conventional high-dose bolus schedule in a randomized crossover trial. Thirty-two treatment courses in 16 patients receiving cisplatin chemotherapy were evaluable. The metoclopramide regimen was either 2 mg/kg i.v. bolus, then 20 mg/h by infusion for 4 h, or 2 mg/kg i.v. bolus every 2 h for three doses. Dexamethasone 20 mg i.v. and diphenhydramine 50 mg i.v. were also given. Antiemetic efficacy was assessed by a questionnaire. There were no differences in antiemetic efficacy between the metoclopramide regimens. With either program, 75% of patients were emesis-free, 13% had mild symptoms, and 13% had moderate symptoms (greater than two emetic episodes). The infusion metoclopramide regimen was 30% less expensive than the bolus schedule in our pharmacy. Thus, we recommend low-dose metoclopramide infusion as a less expensive, equally effective alternative to high-dose bolus regimens for antiemetic treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Hospital employee-patient relations: a program for enhancing patient well-being.

Hospital service employees are often untrained for the human relations aspects of their jobs. Yet, workers who clean patient rooms, deliver meals, provide escort services, make room repairs, and the like can make a critical difference in the quality of patients' hospital experiences. The Patient Service Ethic Program helps such employees identify typical patient concerns during the course of hospitalization and guides them in ways to respond appropriately to those concerns. At a large teaching hospital where this program has been implemented, employees have responded positively to the caregiver role, and managers have used the program as a catalyst for constructive change.

Consumer Behavior↗