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T Satoh-Nakagawa

Publications and source records attributed to T Satoh-Nakagawa.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Erythromycin and common cold in COPD.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether erythromycin therapy lowers the frequency of the common cold and subsequent exacerbation in patients with COPD. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled, but not blinded, trial. PATIENTS: One hundred nine patients with COPD were enrolled into the study. Patients were randomly assigned to erythromycin therapy or to no active treatment in September 1997. Patients then were observed for 12 months, starting in October, during which time the risk and frequency of catching common colds and COPD exacerbations were investigated. Fifty-five patients received erythromycin at study entry (erythromycin group). The remaining 54 patients received no active treatment (control group). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The mean (+/- SE) number of common colds for 12 months was significantly lower in the erythromycin group than in the control group (1.24 +/- 0.07 vs 4.54 +/- 0.02, respectively, per person; p = 0.0002). Forty-one patients (76%) in the control group experienced common colds more than once, compared to 7 patients (13%) in the erythromycin group. The relative risk of developing two or more common colds in the control group compared with that in the erythromycin group was 9.26 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.92 to 31.74; p = 0.0001). Thirty patients (56%) in the control group and 6 patients (11%) in the erythromycin group had one or more exacerbations. The relative risk of experiencing an exacerbation in the control group compared with that in the erythromycin group was 4.71 (95% CI, 1.53 to 14.5; p = 0.007). Significantly more patients were hospitalized due to exacerbations in the control group than in the erythromycin group (p = 0.0007). CONCLUSION: Erythromycin therapy has beneficial effects on the prevention of exacerbations in COPD patients.

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PubMed1998

No increase in cerebrospinal fluid tau protein levels in patients with vascular dementia.

Tau protein levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF-tau) were determined in 29 patients with old cerebrovascular disease (CVD, 21 demented and eight non-demented), 69 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 17 age-matched normal controls. The CSF-tau level in the vascular dementia (VD) group (24.0 +/- 17.0 pg/ml) was significantly lower (P < 0.0001) than that in the AD group (90.0 +/- 45.3 pg/ml), but not significantly different from that in the non-demented patients with CVD (18.1 +/- 10.2 pg/ml) or controls (20.3 +/- 13.0 pg/ml). Among the VD patients, 1/21 exceeded a cut-off value (mean +/- 2 SD of controls), whereas 8/69 of the AD patients had CSF-tau levels below this value. These findings suggest that VD constitutes a group of dementias that can be separated from AD by normal CSF-tau levels. CSF-tau determinations in combination with other clinical findings may provide another diagnostic aid in the differential diagnosis between VD and AD.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Risk factors of aspiration pneumonia in Alzheimer's disease patients.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is the reported cause of death of a high proportion of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. OBJECTIVES: This study assessed swallowing function to explore the potential risk factors of aspiration pneumonia in AD patients. METHODS: Data were gathered on 121 AD patients (mean age 78.2, SD 7.5, male/female ratio = 48/73) treated in two psychiatric hospitals. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios for the risk of aspiration pneumonia. The following risk factors were considered: age, severity of dementia, silent brain infarction (SBI) in the basel ganglia, use of psychotropic drugs (neuroleptics and benzodiazepines), and gender. The latency time of the swallowing reflex was analyzed (1) among groups based on the severity of dementia; (2) between groups with and without SBI in the basal ganglia; (3) before and after the use of psychotropic drugs in the group without SBI in the basal ganglia, and (4) between males and females. RESULTS: Aspiration pneumonia in ambulatory AD patients was significantly and independently associated with severe dementia, presence of SBI in the basal ganglia, intake of neuroleptics, and the male gender. The mean latency of the swallowing reflex in the severe AD group was significantly longer compared to that in the mild-to-moderate AD group. The mean latency of the swallowing reflex after the intake of neuroleptics was significantly prolonged compared to that obtained before any neuroleptic intake, whereas there was no significant difference in the mean latency of the swallowing reflex before and after benzodiazepine intake. CONCLUSION: We recommend the use of the smallest efficacious dosage of neuroleptics especially in treating severely demented AD patients with basal-ganglia infarction. As soon as the behavioral and psychiatric problems are resolved, drug tapering or discontinuation should be considered in order to prevent life-threatening aspiration pneumonia.

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