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Biomedical subjects

P Bailey

Publications and source records attributed to P Bailey.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Tetrahydroaminoacridine-lecithin combination treatment in patients with intermediate-stage Alzheimer's disease. Results of a Canadian double-blind, crossover, multicenter study.

We studied the efficacy and safety of oral tetrahydroaminoacridine (THA) combined with lecithin in 52 patients with Alzheimer's disease. The maximal tolerated dose of THA (up to 100 mg per day) was determined during an eight-week titration period, after which the tolerated dose of THA or placebo was given during two sequential randomized periods of treatment lasting eight weeks each. Highly purified lecithin (4.7 g per day) was administered during all phases of the study. Efficacy was expressed in terms of scores on the Mini-Mental State (MMS) test, the modified MMS test, the Hierarchic Dementia Scale, the Rapid Disability Rating Scale-II, and the behavioral scale of Reisberg et al. Safety was assessed by careful clinical monitoring as well as serial measurements of liver aminotransferases. Forty-six patients completed the titration period, and 39 completed the double-blind period, during which only the MMS score showed a small but significant increase (P less than 0.05) after four weeks of treatment with THA. Autonomic side effects of THA were common but mild. Reversible elevations of serum aspartate and alanine aminotransferase levels to three or more times the upper limit of normal occurred in 17 percent of patients; most of the patients affected were women. A liver biopsy performed in one patient showed resolving focal liver-cell necrosis. These studies fail to demonstrate a significant clinical benefit of THA given orally in a maximal dose of 100 mg per day over a period of eight weeks in combination with lecithin.

Administration, Oral↗

A study of infant mortality and causes of death in a rural north-east Brazilian community.

In 1984 a prospective study of 1645 women and 1677 births in a rural community in north-eastern Brazil showed the infant mortality rate to be 65 per 1000 live births. Neonatal, post-neonatal and infant mortality are analysed to determine the most important risk factors for each period. Post-neonatal survival depends largely on factors relating to child care, while neonatal deaths are more likely to be associated with biological factors. The principal cause of death, diarrhoeal disease, was responsible for a third of the deaths.

Brazil↗

Progress report on the Canadian Multicentre Trial of tetrahydroaminoacridine with lecithin in Alzheimer's disease.

Since the discovery of a significant depletion of acetylcholine in discrete areas of the brain of patients affected by Alzheimer's disease, attempts at symptomatic therapy have concentrated on acetylcholine supplementation, an approach that is based upon the efficacy of dopaminergic supplementation therapy for Parkinson's disease. Choline, then lecithin, used orally, failed to improve symptoms but the hypothesis that long-term choline supplementation might stabilize the course of Alzheimer's disease remains to be tested. Nerve growth factor may also offer that possibility. Bethanechol administered intracerebroventricularly did not help when a fixed dose was used but individual titration of more selective muscarinic agonists may prove more effective. In this article we report that tetrahydroaminoacridine (THA), given together with highly concentrated lecithin, appears to bring improvement in cognition and in functional autonomy using the Mini Mental State and the Rapid Disability Rating Scale-2 respectively, without change in behavior as reflected by the Behave-AD. Double-blind cross-over studies are in progress to establish its efficacy. Improvement in study design and means of assessment of cognition, functional autonomy and behavior have been made possible by these drug trials.

Aged↗

Assessment of gastric bleeding in rats: effects of cyclooxygenase inhibitors and 16,16-dimethyl prostaglandin E2 on gastric bleeding.

Gastric bleeding caused by cyclooxygenase inhibitors has been assessed by a novel method. Rats are adapted to a strict light-dark cycle with limited access to food to reduce the stress associated with starvation. Such animals are then labeled with 51Cr-red blood cells from donor animals and dosed with the compound under evaluation. After 24 hr. animals are sacrificed and the amount of blood that has accumulated in the lumen of the cecum is quantitated. The potency of cyclooxygenase inhibitors in this assay to cause gastric bleeding is as follows: indomethacin greater than piroxicam greater than naproxen greater than ibuprofen greater than diflunisal which is similar to their antiinflammatory potency in the rat. In addition, the protective activity of PGE2 on indomethacin-induced gastric bleeding is clearly shown by this method.

16,16-Dimethylprostaglandin E2↗

Surfer's rib: isolated first rib fracture secondary to indirect trauma.

A case of anterolateral first rib fracture produced by indirect trauma in a surfer is presented. A 17-year-old man was seen in the emergency department with the complaint of left shoulder pain that developed while he performed a so-called lay back maneuver on a surfboard. No history of direct trauma was elicited. After physical examination revealed point tenderness high in the left axilla, radiographic evaluation of the chest showed an isolated fracture of the anterolateral aspect of the left first rib. No morbidity was associated with this fracture which, when produced by other forces, can have serious sequelae.

Adolescent↗

Primary diffuse leptomeningeal gliomatosis.

A review of the literature on primary diffuse meningeal gliomatosis (DMG) yielded three cases and we report a fourth. DMG is a syndrome characterized by extensive basal and spinal chronic meningitis with mental confusion, headaches, diplopia, papilledema and cranial nerve palsies. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has a markedly elevated protein content, moderate mononuclear pleocytosis and a normal or low glucose. This picture invariably leads to the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculous or fungal meningitis despite persistently negative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures. Reaction of exfoliated CSF cells with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunoperoxidase labelled antibody is suggested as a diagnostic tool. A basal meningeal biopsy appears to be the only alternative diagnostic approach.

Central Nervous System Diseases↗

Multiple projectile injuries secondary to motorized lawn edger use.

A case of projectile injuries secondary to lawn edger use is presented. A 32-year-old man was seen in the emergency department with the complaint of bilateral shoulder pain and initially without a history of trauma. When small scars were noted at the sites of pain, a history was elicited of possible injury six months previously while using a gasoline-powered lawn edger. Radiographic evaluation revealed bilateral wire missiles embedded in soft tissue. These were later removed uneventfully.

Accidents, Home↗

Pediatric esophageal foreign body with minimal symptomatology.

Presented is the case of a child who swallowed a large plastic button that required endoscopic removal from the esophagus. A 5 1/2-year-old girl was seen in the emergency department on two occasions after having told her parents of the ingestion. There were no clinical findings. Results of AP roentgenogram were negative. Six days after the initial visit, the child developed a fever and mild anterior neck discomfort on palpation and flexion. A barium swallow clearly revealed the impacted foreign body. Removal under general anesthesia and subsequent course were uneventful.

Child, Preschool↗

[Intravenous isosorbide dinitrate in acute cardiac failure (author's transl)].

Isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN) was used by intravenous infusion in 7 patients with acute cardiac failure consecutive to acute (5) or chronic (1) myocardial infarction or to non-obstructive cardiomyopathy (1). Pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), pulmonary capillary pressure (PCP), right atrial pressure (RAP) and cardiac output were measured (PCP), right atrial pressure (RAP) and cardiac output were measured by intracardiac catheterization. The initial dosage of 2.5 mg/hour was increased until PCP was reduced to 15 mmHg or less or until troublesome side-effects developed. Control was achieved in 3 patients with doses of 2.5 to 7 mg/hour and, to a lesser extent, in one patient with up to 20 mg/hour. Three patients failed to respond even to higher doses and needed furosemide i.v. or furosemide + dobutamine. One patient died of cardiogenic shock. No changes in cardiac output, heart rate and blood pressure and no clinical side-effects were recorded. Thus, in acute cardiac failure ISDN may be effective in doses slightly superior to those of nitroglycerin, but increasing the dosage above 7 or 8 mg/hour does not bring additional benefits. The drug is remarkably well tolerated.

Acute Disease↗

Size at birth from 37 - 41 weeks gestation: ethnic standards for British infants of both sexes.

Birth size standards are presented for neonates of 37-41 weeks gestation born in South London and Sussex, England. Separate standards are provided for males and females in the three main ethnic groups (North European whites, blacks and Asians from the Indian subcontinent) for the following measurements: weight crown-heel, crown-rump and rump-heel length, forearm, upper arm and lower leg length, head circumference, mid-upper arm and maximum calf circumference, triceps, biceps, subscapular and peri-umbilical skinfold thickness, and upper arm fat and 'lean' areas. The results are discussed in relation to other available standards.

Anthropometry↗

Trends in the hospital care of acute childhood asthma 1970-8: a regional study.

In the South-west Thames Region over the period 1970-8 the number of admissions for asthma in children aged 5-14 years increased from 256 to 684, an increase of 167%. Factors associated with this trend were investigated by an analysis of routine hospital statistics and examination of case notes for 1970 and 1978 from every hospital in the region. The trend was caused partly by an increase in readmission rates. There was a more than fivefold increase in self-referrals; these patients had less severe asthma on admission and a higher readmission rate than patients referred by general practitioners. Drug management before and after admission changed considerably over the nine years, as did hospital investigations. Overall, there was little change in the level of severity on admission. The increase in admissions was not associated with a reduction in deaths from asthma in the region and occurred in spite of major advances in the drug control of asthma; this indicates an inadequacy of ambulatory care. The shift in the balance of care towards the hospital and the increasing adoption of a primary care function by the hospital indicate a need for hospitals and general practice to agree jointly on management policies for acute asthma.

Acute Disease↗

Isolation and characterization of myosin in the human term placenta.

The major contractile protein myosin was isolated and characterized from the smooth muscle of human term placentas. Placental myosin originates chiefly in the anchoring villi which bridge the fetal and maternal surfaces of the placenta. The molecular weight of placental myosin is about 460,000; it is composed of two heavy chains of 200,000 molecular weight and two pairs of light chains with 13,500 and 17,500 molecular weights. The adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) of the myosin is activated by potassium and calcium and it is inhibited by magnesium. Placental actomyosin ATPase is activated by magensium. Contraction and relaxation of the smooth muscle in the anchoring villi are thought to adjust the volume of the intervillous space; thus, actin-myosin interaction is implicated in the regulation of placental hemodynamics.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗