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Biomedical subjects

T J Crowley

Publications and source records attributed to T J Crowley.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Substance abuse among American Indians in an urban treatment program.

Chart reviews were used to describe demographic and clinical characteristics of 68 urban American Indian people attending an Indian-oriented outpatient substance-abuse treatment program in Denver, Colorado, and to describe program staff's assessment of client's response to treatment. Alcohol and marijuana were the drugs abused most frequently. The program admitted about equal numbers of males and females; age averaged 24 years. Although Colorado has only Ute reservations, 49% of clients were Sioux, while none were Ute. Moreover, 87% of clients were not active in Indian religion and culture. Clients had low educational achievement and very low income. Few were in stable marriages. In comparison to counselors, clients underestimated the severity of their problems. By counselors' assessment, 78% of clients did not finish the program, and only two fully achieved the treatment goals. Areas for further clinical research are suggested.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Carbon monoxide assessment of smoking in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a major, often fatal, drain on health-care resources. Most cases of COPD result from Tobacco Dependence, and smoking cessation slows COPD's progression. But there is very little information on treating Tobacco Dependence in COPD patients. In preparation for clinical trials using monetary payments to motivate reduced smoking, as assessed by breath carbon monoxide (CO) levels in COPD patients, we have addressed three issues. First, surveying 182 advanced COPD patients, we found that CO levels above 8 parts per million (ppm) were strongly associated with a self-report of current smoking, and that CO levels correlated neither with COPD severity, nor with age: about one-third of these patients were currently smoking. Second, among 12 still-smoking COPD patients serially observed for 8 h. CO half-life averaged about 6.5 h. Third, 8 patients reinforced with lottery tickets for CO reductions significantly reduced CO levels during 2 test weeks, mainly by deferring smoking before scheduled CO measurements.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1989

Inexpensive outdoor enclosure for Japanese macaques used in biobehavioral research.

For studies of alcohol self-administration in a monkey social group, we effectively and humanely enclosed nine Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in an ellipse 32 x 40m, with a 1 m high chain-link fence surmounted by a 3 m curtain of electrically conductive nylon net. High-voltage brief-pulse charges prevent climbing on the net. Materials for this fence cost less than $14.50 per running meter. Weeds and grass grew freely within the ellipse, and seven dead trees interconnected with ropes permitted climbing and swinging. An open, roofed gazebo provided sun and rain shelter, and its single wall blocked the prevailing wind. Mouth activated drinkometer spouts in the corral supplied solutions for voluntary alcohol self-administration. Automatic counters informed an observer of exact doses consumed by each subject. Another observer recorded the frequency of occurrence of various social behaviors. A small kennel run, roofed over with chain-link fencing, connected the corral with a paddock-like, partially heated building, to and from which the monkeys usually had free access. It contained three interconnected chain-link pens. A raceway opening from the pens incorporated a squeeze cage used for weighing animals, drawing blood samples, or administering medications. This unique facility promotes the psychological well-being of research primates, which is being mandated by federal law.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1987

Alcoholic-like drinking in simian social groups.

We have developed two protocols for inducing sustained, high-dose, alcohol-reinforced, oral alcohol drinking among some members of Macaca nemestrina social groups. Both protocols initially co-present alcohol and the entire daily food supply in a 2-h daily drinking session, with a later return to continuous availability of food. One protocol presents unflavored aqueous alcohol to partially food-deprived subjects; the other compares the drinking of flavored alcohol solutions with the drinking of equally palatable isocaloric non-alcohol solutions when monkeys are not deprived of food. Daily high-dose drinking developed in both protocols, with biomedical changes similar to those of early human alcoholism. Daily drinking to blood alcohol concentrations above 100 mg/dl was sustained in some animals after return to baseline food conditions, and this may have been related to social rank within the groups. Alcohol reinforced drinking of the flavored solutions. Although food deprivation initially produced heavier drinking, drinking with the two protocols was equivalent after return to baseline feeding conditions. These procedures open new opportunities for examining combined social and genetic influences on alcoholic-like drinking.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1986

Hematologic malignancy in sickle cell disease: report of four cases and review of the literature.

Hematologic malignancy has rarely been reported in adults with sickle cell disease. We describe four sickle cell patients (two with hemoglobin SC, two with hemoglobin SS) who developed hematologic malignancy (acute myeloblastic leukemia, multiple myeloma, malignant histiocytosis, and Hodgkin's disease). Three of the cases represent the first adult association between SC or SS hemoglobinopathy and the particular malignancy involved. Sickle hemoglobin does not appear to exert a protective effect against childhood hematologic malignancies, suggesting that better survival in sickle cell disease may be accompanied by an increased incidence of hematologic neoplasms in adulthood. Karyotypic analysis revealed alterations of chromosome 5 in two sickle cell patients with leukemia, raising the possibility of a chromosomal link between the two diseases. Further epidemiologic and cytogenetic studies are needed to define the relationship between hematologic malignancy and sickle cell disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Acetylmethadol versus methadone: human mood and motility.

Outpatients receiving daily methadone-maintenance treatment were crossed over to alternating-day doses of 1-alpha-acetylmethadol, receiving placebo on between-dose days. Spontaneous motility was dramatically higher on acetylmethadol dose days than on placebo days; activity on methadone days was intermediate between these extremes. Patients reported less vigor, more fatigue, and fewer ejaculations on placebo days than on acetylmethadol days, and patients' mood while on this drug was slightly euphoric in comparison to methadone. These effects are subtle, but such drug-induced variations in day-to-day behavior might adversely affect social interactions.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Variability in simian motor and social behavior with alternating-day acetylmethadol.

Monkeys receiving acetylmethadol thrice weekly were more active on dosing days, and less active on between-dose days, than while drug-free. Aggressive social behaviours increased significantly on drug-dosing days, while quiescent resting behaviors were much more common on between-dose days. Tolerance to these effects was modest, and the effects were not blocked by naltrexone. These subtle but potentially disruptive behavioral effects appear to parallel many of the actions of acetylmethadol in man.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Naltrexone-induced dysphoria in former opioid addicts.

Naltrexone treatment, used to prevent relapse among former opioid addicts, is reported to have an extraordinary rate of noncompliance. Since activation of opioid receptors produces a sense of well-being, naltrexone's blockade of these receptors might produce dysphoria, which could contribute to noncompliance among addicts under treatment. To test this hypothesis, the authors administered naltrexone to four men who had been free of opioids for 9 to 44 months using a 6-week, placebo-controlled crossover design. One subject dropped out with abstinence-like symptoms, and two others reported mild but significantly greater dysphoria during naltrexone administration. The results suggest that naltrexone may induce mild dysphoria long after addicts stop using opioids.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Contingency contracting treatment of drug-abusing physicians, nurses, and dentists.

Seventeen drug-abusing physicians, dentists, and nurses entered contingency-contracting treatment. They deposited with their therapist letters to their respective licensing boards, confessing renewed drug abuse and surrendering their licenses. Each contract directed the therapist to collect frequent urine samples and to mail the letter if a scheduled sample was not provided, or contained drugs. The followup occurred a mean of 20 months after signing the contracts, which were of varied duration. Drug use dramatically declined for most patients after a contract was signed. Most patients' personal and professional lives also improved over the followup time. Twelve patients had suspended licenses or professional privileges before signing the contracts. All then worked; two subsequently lost their licenses through the contract mechanism, and three lost their licenses for other reasons. About half of the patients completed a full year with no apparent relapse. Relapses were more common when contracts were not in effect than when they were.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

A clinical profile of 136 cocaine abusers.

Our examination of 136 cocaine-abusing patients who sought treatment revealed impairment in the following areas: Psychological (99 percent of patients); Interpersonal (87.5 percent); Financial (83 percent); Physical (81 percent); and Vocational (68 percent). Daily dose did, but route of administration did not, contribute to degree of impairment. From these data, we conclude that cocaine's deleterious effects are both physiological and psychological. It appeared to us that maintenance of a cocaine habit is frequently at great expense to the user, regardless of whether the use is intranasal, intravenous, or free-base smoking. In our opinion, it is the multiplicity of psycho-social factors which drives patients to treatment. These factors also define most accurately the extent of consequences associated with cocaine use.

Adult↗