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Biomedical subjects

R D Moore

Publications and source records attributed to R D Moore.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Social integration and black intraracial variation in blood pressure.

An evaluation is made of the inverse role social integration plays in explaining variation in blood pressure among a sample of 1420 black Americans. This sample is part of a larger representative sample of 6717 adults (18 years and older) who were interviewed in the 1981-82 Maryland Statewide Hypertension Control Program. Social integration is operationalized in terms of five submeasures: employment, marriage, church affiliation, group affiliation, and having someone to talk to when needed. Separate multiple regression analyses were conducted for males (n = 587) and females (n = 833), and selected covariates (eg, age, education, body mass index, physical exercise, current use of antihypertension medication, cigarette smoking) were entered to assess more adequately the hypothesized inverse relationship between social integration and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Only church affiliation appears inversely associated with systolic (males: b = -4.898; 95% CI = -10.385 to 0.589; females: b = -4.005; 95% CI = -8.341 to 0.331) and diastolic (males: b = -6.511; 95% CI = -10.038 to -2.985; females: b = -5.318; 95% CI = -8.329 to -2.307) blood pressure. These results indicate that several pathways can influence how social integration, especially affiliation with a church, contributes to lower levels of blood pressure. The possibility that biological as well as psychosocial pathways operate is discussed. Given the dominant and independent inverse association of church affiliation to blood pressure, health education is discussed as a public health strategy to disseminate information regarding the possible health importance of social integration for black Americans. The adherence to sound preventive health practices (eg, exercising, lower weight-to-height body ratio) should also be part of the health education strategy to reduce elevated blood pressure in black Americans.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Youthful precursors of alcohol abuse in physicians.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to determine youthful precursors of alcohol abuse in physicians. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We analyzed data from an ongoing prospective study of 1,014 male medical students enrolled in the graduating classes of 1948-1964 at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The cohort, now physicians aged 52 to 68 years, has been contacted regularly since medical school to identify major disease. In 1986, the CAGE alcoholism screening questionnaire was administered. Alcohol abuse was defined as self-admitted alcoholism, excessive consumption of four or more beverages per day on average, or a score of 2 or higher on the CAGE questionnaire. RESULTS: By these criteria, 131 of 1,014 (12.9%) patients abused alcohol. Medical school precursors associated (p less than 0.05) with subsequent alcohol abuse were as follows: non-Jewish ancestry (relative odds [RO] = 3.1), lack of religious affiliation (RO = 4.1), cigarette use of one pack or more per day (RO = 2.6), regular use of alcohol (RO = 3.6), anxiety (RO = 1.8) or anger (RO = 1.8) as a reaction to stress, frequent use of alcohol in nonsocial settings (RO = 1.6), past history of alcohol-related difficulty (RO = 3.1), and maternal alcoholism or mental illness (RO = 1.9). Precursors found not to be associated with alcohol abuse included sleep habits, use of sedatives or amphetamines, interest in athletics or hobbies, and parental relationship. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that there are several identifiable medical school precursors of alcohol abuse in physicians.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Disulfiram treatment of alcoholism.

PURPOSE: For 40 years, disulfiram has been the alcohol-aversive drug used most frequently by American physicians in the treatment of alcohol dependency disorders. We reviewed the clinical literature regarding the risks, benefits, indications, and efficacy of this controversial drug and summarized current knowledge of this therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Disulfiram will produce an aversive reaction with ethanol, usually at a dose between 250 mg/day and 500 mg/day, although some patients may not have an aversive reaction at this level. Cardiac, hepatic, and neurologic toxicity can also occur within this dosage range. If disulfiram is to be used, the patient must clearly understand the risks of drinking while taking the drug, and the physician and patient must agree about the need for continued clinical supervision and monitoring for efficacy and side effects. The physician must also recognize that disulfiram is only an adjunctive therapy and that continued support, supervision, and other therapeutic measures are required. Disulfiram is probably effective in reducing the frequency of alcohol consumption in the compliant patient over the short term (e.g., 6 months). Certain subgroups of patients, such as those who are older, those who are more socially stable, and those who are well-motivated, may experience a beneficial effect for longer periods. The drug may be most effective in reducing short-term alcohol consumption when the compliance of the patient is supervised, although consideration of this kind of therapy includes the practical problems of supervising the patient and concerns that the supervising person may be placed in a difficult position. Prescription of disulfiram without accompanying education, counseling, and concomitant alcoholism therapy is not beneficial. Disulfiram has no proven effect on the long-term outcome of alcoholism.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1990

Alcohol consumption and blood pressure: a comparison of native Japanese to American men.

We compared the cross-sectional association of alcohol consumption with blood pressure in 810 Japanese men (JM) living in Tokyo and 946 white men (WM) living in New York. Mean systolic (JM and WM, p less than 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (JM, p less than 0.002; WM, p less than 0.001) were associated with alcohol consumption in both groups. Compared to abstainers, the heaviest drinkers had the highest systolic (JM, p = 0.001; WM, p less than 0.01) and diastolic (JM, p less than 0.002; WM, p less than 0.05) blood pressures. The relation of blood pressure to alcohol intake was J-shaped in the Americans, but linear in the Japanese. Exploratory analyses revealed that the J-shape may have been due to under-reporting of heavy alcohol ingestion by American abstainers. When abstainers were excluded, the relationships were similar in both the American and Japanese. The positive association between blood pressure and alcohol consumption persisted after adjustment for age, cigarette smoking, use of antihypertensive medications, body mass index, heart rate, abdominal skinfold thickness, hematocrit, fasting blood glucose, serum uric acid levels and urinary sodium/potassium ratio. Alcohol use was also related to prevalence of hypertension. These findings confirm the presence of an independent association between alcohol intake and blood pressure in both JM and WM and suggest that, despite differences in the metabolism of alcohol, the relation of alcohol consumption to blood pressure is similar in both nationalities.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Alcohol consumption and blood pressure in the 1982 Maryland Hypertension Survey.

This study examines the relationship between alcohol consumption and blood pressure in the 1982 Maryland Hypertension Survey, a crossectional population-based household survey of blood pressure control in adults residing in Maryland. In individuals less than 50 years old, a J shaped dose-response association was found with abstainers and heavy alcohol consumers having significantly higher blood pressures than moderate alcohol consumers (1 to 2 beverages per day). In individuals 50 years and older, alcohol was associated with higher blood pressures only at the highest levels of intake (greater than 2 beverages per day). The prevalence of hypertension was similarly affected in each age group. This association between alcohol consumption and blood pressure was independent of several variables that are associated with increased blood pressure such as age, sex, race, smoking, education, Quetelet index, social participation, and physical activity. The population attributable risk for hypertension due to heavy alcohol consumption is 5 to 7% in those greater than 50 years old and 6 to 8% in those less than 50 years old. These data suggest that alcohol consumption is a potentially important risk factor for elevations in blood pressure and hypertension.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Knowledge, attitudes, and reported practices of medical students and house staff regarding the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism.

Although alcoholism is prevalent in both general and inpatient populations, barriers to its timely diagnosis and effective treatment exist. These are often attributed to physicians' inadequate understanding and skill development and negative attitudes toward the disease. All Johns Hopkins' medical students and house staff, during 1986 through 1987, received a self-administered survey of their attitudes, skills, perceived role responsibility, knowledge, and reported practices with regard to alcoholism. Results indicate a strong relationship between perceived role responsibility, confidence in skills, and reported screening and referral practices among students and house staff. Knowledge levels strengthened the association between skills and practices for medical students. House staff perceived less of a responsibility for screening than medical students. There was a trend toward lower confidence and more negative attitudes among house staff than medical students. The results point to areas where educational interventions can be improved to enhance quality of care and outcomes for this major chronic disease.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1989

Prevalence, detection, and treatment of alcoholism in hospitalized patients.

As part of an institution-wide program to enhance the education of physicians in diagnosing and treating alcohol dependence and abuse, a comprehensive survey was conducted in which all new admissions to the adult inpatient services of The Johns Hopkins Hospital were screened for alcoholism. The prevalence of screen-positive alcoholism, by department, was as follows: medicine (25%), psychiatry (30%), neurology (19%), obstetrics-gynecology (12.5%), and surgery (23%). Detection rates by the house staff and faculty physicians caring for those patients who screened positively were less than 25% in surgery and obstetrics-gynecology, between 25% and 50% in neurology and medicine, and greater than 50% in psychiatry. However, physicians were less likely to identify as alcoholic those patients with higher incomes, higher education, or private medical insurance; women; and those who denied heavy alcohol intake. Physician-instituted treatment rates for those patients diagnosed by the physician as having nonrecovered alcoholism were less than 50% in surgery and obstetrics-gynecology, between 50% and 75% in medicine and neurology, and 100% in psychiatry. The extent to which the physicians intervened while the patient was hospitalized correlated with the patient's reported change in alcohol use after discharge. Recommendations based on these data are being incorporated into the medical education curriculum.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Alcohol use and retinal vessels: insights into the mechanism of alcohol-induced stroke.

Alcohol use is a recognized risk factor for stroke. We hypothesized that alcohol use may increase the risk of stroke, independent of an effect on blood pressure, by causing cerebral vasoconstriction. To examine this, we used retinal vessels as a marker for cerebral vessels and analysed the cross-sectional associations between alcohol use and total retinal vessel width in 741 Japanese and 434 American white male telephone executives. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were negatively associated with retinal vessel width in the Japanese (p less than 0.0001, 0.0001, respectively) but this association did not achieve statistical significance in the Americans (p less than 0.1, 0.3). Japanese drinkers had a larger mean retinal vessel width than Japanese abstainers, while American drinkers had a smaller retinal vessel width than abstainers. These associations between alcohol use and retinal vessel width were not significant within nationalities but the interaction between alcohol use and nationality was significant, independent of other stroke risk factors (p less than 0.04). Although these results do not support the initial hypothesis, they are consistent with known biological differences in alcohol metabolism between Japanese and American men and support different effects of alcohol use on retinal vessel calibre in these two nationalities.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment of alcoholism in elderly patients.

The purpose of this study is to examine the ability of physicians to diagnose alcoholism in the elderly patient and to define characteristics specific to the elderly patient with alcoholism. During a 3-month period, all new admissions to the medical service of The Johns Hopkins Hospital were screened for alcoholism with two screening tests (the CAGE questionnaire and Short Michigan Alcohol Screening Test). The prevalence of screen-positive alcoholism was 27% in patients under 60 years of age and 21% in patients 60 years and older. Elderly patients with alcoholism were more likely to be black (P less than .01), but did not differ significantly in any other way from elderly patients who did not have alcoholism. Although 60% of screen-positive young patients with alcoholism were identified by their houseofficers, only 37% of elderly patients with screen-positive alcoholism were so identified (P less than .05). The elderly patients with alcoholism were significantly less likely to be diagnosed by their houseofficer if they were white, female, or had completed high school (P less than .01). Even when diagnosed, elderly patients with alcoholism were less likely than younger patients with alcoholism to have treatment recommended by their houseofficers (P less than .05) and, if treatment were recommended, it was less likely to be initiated (P less than .05). These data suggest that current medical education is deficient in providing physicians with the skills to detect and treat elderly patients with alcoholism.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1989

Frequency and determinants of adverse reactions induced by high-osmolality contrast media.

To determine the frequency of and risk factors for adverse reactions to high-osmolality contrast media, the authors prospectively studied hospitalized patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. The authors also studied patients undergoing peripheral angiography and contrast material-enhanced computed tomography (CT) of the head or body who met at least one of the following criteria thought to increase the risk of adverse reactions: age of more than 60 years, diabetes, renal or liver disease, concurrent nephrotoxic drug use, or a history of allergic reactions (n = 795). Criteria were defined and used to group adverse reactions into three classes of clinical severity. Overall, class I (mild), class II (moderate), and class III (severe) reactions occurred in 362 (45%), 44 (5.5%), and three (0.4%) patients, respectively. Class II reactions were relatively common (25%) in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization yet were uncommon (2%) in patients undergoing the other three procedures. Nephrotoxicity occurred in 18 of 651 patients who had follow-up creatinine levels obtained at 48-72 hours. With multivariate regression analysis, the only risk factor (P less than .05) for combined class II and III reactions was diabetes. Diabetes, furosemide use, and a history of atopy (odds ratio = 2.8) were associated with nephrotoxicity (P less than .05). Underlying renal insufficiency was not a risk factor for nephrotoxicity.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Effect of low-dose alcohol use versus abstention on apolipoproteins A-I and B.

An inverse association between low to moderate alcohol consumption and coronary heart disease has been demonstrated in epidemiologic studies of diverse design. An attempt was made to determine if this association might be due to an effect of alcohol on apolipoproteins A-I and B and to determine if low-dose alcohol intake might have a potentially protective effect by this mechanism in persons at increased risk for coronary heart disease. To address this, an eight-week prospective randomized clinical trial of abstention versus low-dose alcohol consumption, defined as one beverage per day, was conducted in white men, aged 21 to 60 years, most of whom were patients of a preventive cardiology program. Apolipoprotein A-I levels had a mean increase of 9 mg/dl in the 28 participants who drank alcohol compared with a mean decline of 5 mg/dl in the 28 participants who abstained (p less than 0.005). This association was independent of other cardiovascular risk factors. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-B levels had a mean increase of 7 mg/dl in both arms of the trial (NS). However, the ratio of apolipoprotein A-I to LDL-B increased by 4 percent in the drinkers and decreased 10 percent in the abstainers (p less than 0.03). No significant changes in mean levels of total high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-, HDL2-, or HDL3-cholesterol were observed with this low dose of alcohol. This effect on apolipoprotein A-I suggests a possible mechanism by which low-dose alcohol may lower the risk of coronary heart disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Contrast medium-induced adverse reactions: economic outcome.

Because the cost of managing an expected greater number of adverse reactions when high-osmolality contrast media (HOM) are used could offset the higher material cost of low-osmolality contrast media (LOM), a prospective study was done of 795 inpatients undergoing any of four procedures involving intravascular injection of HOM: cardiac catheterization, peripheral angiography, head computed tomography (CT), or body CT. The resources used in managing HOM-induced adverse reactions were measured, and the costs of these resources were estimated. Four hundred five patients (51%) had adverse reactions. Reactions were grouped into three classes according to their severity. Class 1 (mild) reactions occurred in 358 patients (45%), class 2 (moderate) reactions occurred in 44 patients (6%), and class 3 (severe) reactions occurred in three patients (0.4%). Ninety-nine patients (12%) consumed resources as a result of an adverse reaction. The average cost of these resources per patient undergoing examination was $1.07 to the radiology department, $5.83 to the hospital, and $12.93 to a charge-paying insurer. Mean (+/- standard deviation) cost to the hospital for managing class 1, class 2, and class 3 reactions were $2.52 +/- $5.33, $24 +/- $54, and $910 +/- $749, respectively. By comparison, the difference in material cost of HOM versus LOM ranged from $93 for body CT to $179 for cardiac catheterization. Even if LOM were to induce no adverse reactions, the increased material cost associated with universal substitution of LOM for HOM would be greater than the expected cost of managing adverse reactions when HOM are used.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

2-(alpha-Naphthoyl)ethyltrimethylammonium iodide and its beta-isomer: new selective, stable and fluorescent inhibitors of choline acetyltransferase.

The activities of 2-(alpha-naphthoyl)ethyltrimethylammonium (alpha-NETA) and its beta-isomer (beta-NETA) were studied at various sites of the cholinergic system using isolated enzyme and organ systems. They were selective inhibitors (I50: alpha-NETA, 9 microM; beta-NETA, 76 microM) of choline acetyltransferase (ChA). The inhibition of ChA by both alpha- and beta-NETA was noncompetitive with acetylcoenzyme A or choline as the variable substrate. In these experiments, the inhibitor and both substrates were added simultaneously to the reaction medium, and short reaction times of 10 min were used to determine initial linear velocities. Under these experimental conditions in the presence of substrates, the degree of inhibition of ChA by alpha-NETA was independent of enzyme concentration indicating the reversibility of the inhibition. If ChA was incubated with alpha-NETA for 10 min in the absence of substrates, the degree of inhibition was higher and was not reversible by dialysis of the inhibited ChA. These observations indicate that alpha-NETA is a pseudo-reversible or slowly reversible inhibitor. Neither alpha- nor beta-NETA exhibited significant effects at muscarinic receptors, ganglionic nicotinic receptors, skeletal muscular nicotinic receptors, cholinesterases or carnitine acetyltransferase at concentrations which inhibited ChA. At concentrations higher than their I50 values to inhibit ChA, both antagonized the effects of acetylcholine (ED50: alpha-NETA, 70-80 microM; beta-NETA, 100 microM), histamine and KCl-induced contractions in the guinea pig longitudinal ileal muscle. At high concentrations, alpha-NETA activated acetylcholinesterase (EC50, 360 microM) and inhibited cholinesterase (EC50, 1100 microM).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1987

Mortality-associated factors in infected lymphoma patients.

Three hundred eighty-eight medical records of patients with lymphoma seen between 1971 and 1980 were analyzed for factors related to infection-associated mortality. Infection occurred in 100 patients (36 Hodgkin's lymphoma [HL], and 64 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [NHL]). The overall mortality with infection was 17% (6 of 36) for HL and 52% (33 of 64) for NHL. In patients with NHL mortality correlated with infection in the respiratory tract (P less than or equal to 0.0001), blood (P less than or equal to 0.003), and multiple sites (P less than or equal to 0.0004) and with the following factors: granulocytopenia (P less than or equal to 0.05), thrombocytopenia (P less than or equal to 0.035), and cytotoxic therapy (P less than or equal to 0.034). Patients with HL showed a positive correlation only with staphylococcal infections (P less than or equal to 0.001) and monocytopenia (P less than or equal to 0.01). The above data may be used to generate a risk factor profile of patients at greater risk of mortality associated with such infections. Advance knowledge of such a profile may assist in the clinical management of these high-risk patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Clinical response to aminoglycoside therapy: importance of the ratio of peak concentration to minimal inhibitory concentration.

In an examination of the relationships among plasma aminoglycoside concentrations, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the infecting organism, and therapeutic outcome, data were analyzed from 236 patients with gram-negative bacterial infections who were participants in four clinical trials of gentamicin, tobramycin, and amikacin. Clinical response to therapy occurred in 188 (80%) patients. Elevated maximal and mean peak aminoglycoside concentration/MIC ratios were strongly associated with clinical response (P less than .00001 and P less than .0001, respectively). A graded dose-response effect was found between an increasing maximal peak concentration/MIC ratio and clinical response. By logistic regression the peak concentration/MIC ratios were associated significantly with clinical response after adjustment for underlying severity of illness and other factors correlated with response. These results demonstrate that a high peak concentration relative to the MIC for the infecting organism is a major determinant of the clinical response to aminoglycoside therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Long-term effects of cigarette smoking and moderate alcohol consumption on coronary artery diameter. Mechanisms of coronary artery disease independent of atherosclerosis or thrombosis?

Epidemiologic studies have shown that cigarette smoking (increased risk) and moderate alcohol consumption (decreased risk) have opposite effects in coronary artery disease. To investigate whether they act via the common mechanism of affecting the coronary diameter, 31 white men with arteriographically normal coronary arteries were evaluated. Histories of cigarette smoking (never smoked, exsmoker, or current smoker) and alcohol consumption (nonuser or low user versus moderate users with an average of one drink per day) were analyzed for an association with coronary diameters. Nonsmokers had larger left main and left anterior descending diameters than either exsmokers or current smokers (p = 0.0001 and 0.004). Moderate alcohol users had large left main and left anterior descending diameters than nondrinkers (p = 0.009 and 0.01). Neither association was removed after adjustment for the other risk factor. These data suggest that smoking and moderate alcohol use have significant, independent, and opposite effects on long-term coronary diameter. These effects may be important mechanisms through which these behaviors alter the risk of coronary artery disease.

Adult↗