Biomedical subjects

R Detels

Publications and source records attributed to R Detels.

243 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Risk factors for cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction in a Japanese rural community.

A ten-year follow-up study of stroke among residents 40 years and older in a rural community located on Shikoku Island, Japan, was completed in 1977. The response rate for the initial examinations was 85% of 920 males and 90% of 1,012 females. Seven hundred and seventy-two males and 901 females who were initially free of stroke were followed from July 1967 through June 1977. The incidence of all strokes was 10.47 per thousand person-years for males and 6.41 per thousand person-years for females. The statistically significant risk factors for stroke were age, male sex, elevated blood pressure, ECG abnormalities, and funduscopic abnormalities. Elevated blood pressure was the strongest risk factor and mean arterial pressure was the best predictive measure. Twice as high a proportion of strokes were subclassified as cerebral hemorrhage (26%) in this study as have been reported in comparable studies in the United States (12-15%). An inverse relationship between serum cholesterol levels and cerebral hemorrhage incidence, but not cerebral infarct, was observed. High alcohol intake was a risk factor for cerebral hemorrhage but not for cerebral infarct. No relationship between stroke and weight was observed despite the relationship of stroke to blood pressure and of weight to blood pressure.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Susceptibility to environmental pollutants among minorities.

Susceptibility to environmental pollutants involves both biological and nonbiological factors. Individuals belonging to minority groups are much more likely to be subject to a number of these factors. This paper examines biological susceptibility of minorities to environmental pollutants and provides specific examples of susceptibility resulting from: genetic makeup; occupation; other factors such as compromised health status, exposure to mixtures of pollutants, substance abuse, and unemployment; and social inequality of access to health care, education, and communication skills. Recommendations are made for specific actions and for additional studies.

Disease Susceptibility↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Epidemic zoster and AIDS.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reliability of plethysmography, the single breath oxygen test, and spirometry in population studies.

Three thousand five hundred and twenty-eight residents of a census tract in Los Angeles, California underwent pulmonary function testing in a mobile laboratory (the Breathmobile). Tests included respiratory questionnaire, electronic spirometry, the single breath O2 test and body plethysmography. The reliability and sensitivity of the tests performed in the Breathmobile was measured by repeating the same tests and others on a 3% probability sample at the University of California at Los Angeles Pulmonary Function Laboratory. The reliability of the FVC and FEV1 was excellent; of the FEF 25-75% and the FEF 50-75% -- good; and of the VTG, RA and delta N2 -- reasonably good. As yet the reliability of the closing volume fraction is inadequate in our study. Grouping by individual reported symptom complexes identified different groups of people. The questionnaire and the forced expiratory flow rates identified the most people as having decreased respiratory function. Selection of the best breath or average of the two best breaths affected results of spirometry very little.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

HIV-1 IgA specific serum antibodies and disease progression during HIV-1 infection.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of serum human immunodeficiency virus type 1 immunoglobulin A (HIV-1 IgA) antibodies in the progression of HIV-1 infection in relation to viral load and CD4 cell counts. METHODS: Sequential serum specimens were obtained from 218 homosexual men: 123 HIV-1 seropositives, 24 HIV-1 seroconverters, and 71 HIV-1 seronegatives. HIV-1 IgA antibodies were tested blindly by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot. T-lymphocyte subsets were measured by flow cytometry. Viral plasma load was determined by a sensitive branched DNA assay. RESULTS: HIV-1 IgA antibodies with a titer greater than or equal to 50 were detected among 50% of the seroconverters, 27% of the HIV-1-seropositive asymptomatic subjects, 25% of lymphadenopathy, and 23% of HIV-1-related symptomatic subjects. Among patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome, the prevalence of virus-specific IgA antibodies (55%) was significantly higher (p < 0.03) as compared with the HIV-1-seropositive asymptomatic subjects, lymphadenopathy and HIV-1-related symptomatic patients, but not versus the seroconverters (p = 0.8). IgA antibodies to HIV-1 gP160 were the most prevalent among all subjects tested. A significant decrease in CD4 cell counts was observed after HIV-1 seroconversion. Viral load was slightly higher among the seroconverters who demonstrated higher (> or =50) HIV-1 IgA levels. CONCLUSIONS: HIV-1 IgA serum antibodies did not predict the progression of the disease. Correlation between HIV-1 IgA antibodies titer, viral load, and CD4 cell counts was not detected.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

HIV and HTLV-I antibody studies: pregnant women in the 1960s, patients with AIDS, homosexuals, and individuals with tropical spastic paraparesis.

To investigate the possible occurrence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or human T-cell lymphotropic virus, type I (HTLV-I) infections in the United States prior to 1979-1981, when acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized, we tested sera from 310 pregnant women who participated in the Collaborative Perinatal Project during the period 1959-1964 for HIV and HTLV-I antibody. These samples included sera from 53 pregnant women who were intravenous drug users. The remainder were from women who had cervical epithelial abnormalities, who developed cervical carcinomas, who had had children with erythroblastosis fetalis, who had had children that developed malignant neoplasms early in life, or normal pregnant women. None of the 310 women had confirmed HIV or HTLV-I antibody. The rate of false-positive reactions with the HIV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antibody test in these long-frozen samples was similar to that observed in fresh sera. HIV antibody was detected in homosexual patients with AIDS; HTLV-I antibody was not detected in any of these sera. HTLV-I antibody was detected in 17 of 20 patients with tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) and in two of seven patients with other neurological diseases diagnosed as transverse myelopathy and multiple sclerosis, and in none of nine normal controls; HIV antibody was not detected in any of these sera patients. Thus, we conclude that there was no serological evidence of infection with HIV or HTLV-I in the pregnant women studied; however, HIV antibody was present in all AIDS patients tested, and HTLV-I antibody was found in the majority of patients with TSP.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Monitoring health in Los Angeles County.

The University of California at Los Angeles School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, compiled data and developed a standardized format that displayed a comparison of mortality and morbidity data between Los Angeles County, the State of California, and the United States in 1960, 1970, and 1980 for 16 health topic areas. Findings noted both favorable and unfavorable health trends, as well as substantial data collection problems. In 1980, compared with the United States, the Los Angeles County rates for tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, and hepatitis B were as much as 45 to 128 percent higher, the homicide rate was more than double, and, for the population aged 65 years and over, the cirrhosis of the liver rate was more than 56 percent higher. The myocardial infarction rate was 58 percent lower in the population aged 18 to 64. Problems of inadequate data for many health indicators, lack of comparability in data, and conflicting information from different data sources were noted. These limitations with the data underscore the need to standardize data collection procedures and to extend the parameters on which information is collected. The approach represents a tool that could be used by many health departments to monitor their activities and set future goals.

Accidents↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Co-occurrence of multiple sclerosis and glioma--case report and neuropathologic and epidemiologic review.

This paper reports on a 54-year-old male in whom multiple sclerosis developed 10 years prior to his death from glioblastoma confirmed at autopsy. A causal relationship is still uncertain despite the 24 cases of concurrent multiple sclerosis and glioma reported since 1938. We discuss the neuropathologic and epidemiologic evidence for and against the hypothesis that multiple sclerosis lesions promote the development of gliomas and conclude that no current reason exists to support the hypothesis.

Astrocytes↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Chlamydia specific IgG and IgA serum antibodies in a study of homosexual men at various clinical stages of HIV related disease.

The significance of chlamydia serum IgG and IgA antibodies was studied, by immunoperoxidase assay, in 210 homosexual men at various stages of HIV infection. Cross sectional analysis of chlamydia IgG antibodies at a titer of > or = 128 indicated a significantly higher prevalence rate among AIDS patients (27.0%) as compared to asymptomatic HIV seronegatives (6.0%) (p = 0.022). The geometric mean titer (GMT) of IgG antibodies to chlamydia was also significantly higher in AIDS patients (106.4) as compared to HIV seronegatives (58.2) (p = 0.022) and persistently asymptomatic HIV seropositives (51.7) (p = 0.05). Chlamydia IgA antibodies did not differ significantly in prevalence and GMT among the various groups.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗