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Biomedical subjects

V Anderson

Publications and source records attributed to V Anderson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Neuropsychological functioning in adolescents with diabetes.

Investigated the relationship between disease variables, neuropsychological performance, and psychosocial status in adolescents with Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM). The study group consisted of 85 adolescents, aged 14 to 16.5 years who had been diabetic for longer than 12 months. Parameters of both recent and long-term metabolic control were determined, including diabetic incidents such as severe hypoglycemia or ketoacidosis. The mothers completed standardised measures of adolescent adjustment, and the adolescents provided self-reports of psychosocial status. Neuropsychological functioning was evaluated with standardised tests of verbal and nonverbal intelligence, memory and new learning, visuo-graphic skills, mental flexibility, and problem-solving ability. Using retrospective accounts of disease history, there was no relationship between neuropsychological functioning and variables such as age of onset, chronic poor control, or major metabolic crises. The findings emphasise the need for a long-term, prospective study of a cohort of diabetic children from the time of diagnosis to clarify causal relationships, if any, between illness variables, neuropsychological performance, and psychosocial factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

An inner-city community's perspective on infant mortality and prenatal care.

Neither expanded Medicaid eligibility nor case-finding approaches have significantly increased use of early prenatal care. Failure to improve use points to the importance of further study of the broader community's perspectives on prenatal care and perinatal health issues. A convenience sample of 380 low-income, inner-city, black adults were interviewed with respect to their understanding of infant mortality, perceived barriers to and importance of prenatal care, and recommended numbers of prenatal visits. All respondents reside in a community with negative indexes of perinatal health as measured by infant mortality, low birthweight, and average number of prenatal visits. Fifty percent of the sample could correctly define the term infant mortality. The majority believed that prenatal care is very important and should begin in the first trimester of pregnancy. Respondents recommending the least number of prenatal visits (0-6) perceived financial, institutional, and attitudinal factors as barriers to care. Pregnant women's fear of detection of drug use was the most salient barrier regardless of the recommended number of prenatal visits, age, sex, employment status, or number of children. Changing health problems mandate continued monitoring of community perceptions and expectations of services such as prenatal care. Public health nursing is ideally positioned to articulate community values to policy makers and health care professionals concerned with perinatal health.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Hepatic pathology in pediatric acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

In a retrospective study we assessed the hepatic changes in children with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome by reviewing 12 biopsy specimens and 48 autopsy specimens from 54 children. Hepatopathology differed in biopsy and autopsy material. In biopsy specimens, chronic active hepatitis with predominantly T8 lymphocytes by tissue immunochemistry was common (five of 12 specimens). Fatty degeneration and hepatocellular necrosis were either absent, mild, or patchy. On the other hand, at autopsy, chronic active hepatitis was not observed. The most prominent changes were extensive fatty degeneration, nonspecific portal mononuclear infiltration, portal fibrosis, and confluent (ischemic) necrosis. Opportunistic infections such as Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAI) were noted only at autopsy. In addition, three unusual morphologic characteristics were noted: nodular lymphoplasmacytic portal infiltrate, a pseudosarcomatous variant of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection, and multinucleated giant cells (foreign both type and giant cell transformation of hepatocytes).

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1989

Ischemic injury to newborn rabbit ileum: protective role of human superoxide dismutase.

The effectiveness of human superoxide dismutase (hSOD) in the prevention of reperfusion injury was evaluated in a rabbit ileal loop model. Weanling white New Zealand rabbits, 6 weeks of age and weighing 500 to 1,000 g, were used. Intraluminal administration of SOD (5 mg/kg) was studied in 12 animals with each animal serving as its own control. In an additional 12 animals, parenteral SOD in a dose of 5 mg/kg in seven animals and 10 mg/kg in five animals was evaluated, while five additional control animals received parenteral saline. The effect of reperfusion injury was evaluated in each bowel loop by interruption of blood supply for five minutes, followed by reperfusion. Blood was drawn at 0, 16, 20, 24 hours in the parenteral group for measurement of hSOD levels by radioimmunoassay. The loops were studied pathologically for extent of mucosal damage. In the intraluminal group, nine of 12 loops without SOD v three of 12 loops with SOD showed necrosis when rendered ischemic (P = .0196). In the parenteral group 22 of 24 loops were normal when pretreated with SOD and subjected to ischemia v five of ten when no SOD was given (P = .0139). In the parenteral group, mean baseline level of hSOD was 0.42 +/- 0.26 micrograms/mL. Levels peaked at 16 hours (3.64 +/- 1.75 micrograms/mL) and progressively decreased at 20 hours (2.85 +/- 1.34 micrograms/mL) and 24 hours (1.82 +/- 1.15 micrograms/mL). This preliminary animal study suggests that hSOD may be an effective method for the prevention of postischemic bowel injury, adding to the literature on the protective effects of SOD in various models of intestinal ischemia.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Ambulatory care teams: the dehassling of Air Force medicine.

Lack of complete outpatient medical records is a chronic problem. Most facilities are only able to find 60% to 70% of records for appointments. Many records have incomplete laboratory and x-ray information. A program utilizing Ambulatory Care Teams (ACTS) was tested at the Air Force hospital at Carswell AFB. Records were pulled 48 hours prior to appointments, and the day prior to the appointment clinics endeavored to locate 100% of the records and reports. During a 1-year test period the staff at Carswell was able to produce or account for 98.2% of all medical records for more than 102,000 scheduled appointments.

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed1987

Affect and nurturance: mechanisms mediating maternal behavior in two female mammals.

This review will discuss hormonal and psychological factors involved in the initiation and maintenance of maternal behavior during the postpartum period in rat and human mothers. Research on primiparous rats suggests that among the ways hormones act to promote maternal responsiveness are by increasing the mother's attraction to odors of young pups, decreasing her natural neophobia and fearfulness, and increasing the ease with which experiences obtained during initial mother-young contacts are retained. Long-term maintenance of elevated maternal responsiveness in the rat is not directly under hormonal control but instead depends on a minimal period of direct interaction with young during the early postpartum. In human first-time mothers, the onset of maternal responsiveness is also directly affected by their mood state as well as their attraction to infants; these factors are, in turn, influenced by the amount of prior experience women have had caring for young. While the role of hormones in mediating maternal behavior in women is still unclear, initial results indicate they may facilitate responsiveness during the puerperium.

Affect↗
PubMed1986

Pancreatic heterotopia as a cause of an acute abdomen.

A 6-year-old boy with fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, and leucocytosis was found to have a small nodule of heterotopic pancreatic tissue in the wall of the jejunum. Leakage of pancreatic enzymes caused inflammation and hemorrhagic necrosis of adjacent smooth muscle. Excision of the lesion was followed by prompt and permanent relief of all signs and symptoms. Small intestinal pancreatic rests can cause acute and chronic abdominal complaints and should be carefully sought at laparotomy when no other etiology is encountered.

Abdomen, Acute↗
PubMed1985

A survey of patients selected by general practitioners for home care of suspected myocardial infarction: arrhythmia detection using Holter monitoring.

From the Lancaster district (pop. 50 000) 101 patients were selected for home care of suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI) by their general practitioners (GPs) and 78% were seen within 6 h (44% within 2 h). Infarction was confirmed in 54 cases compared with 203 in the coronary case unit over the same period. Reasons given for home management were stable condition (48%), diagnostic doubt (34%), patient preference (18%), good home (15%), age (14%). Holter ECGs from 97 patients were analysed to see if arrhythmias were undetected clinically and recordings of at least 20 h were obtained in 88 (91%). Symptoms drew attention to atrial arrhythmias in 5 patients. Ventricular premature beats were recorded in 96% of the AMI group (84% of the non-MI), ventricular tachycardia in 21% of the AMI patients (5% non-MI), atrial fibrillation in 25% of AMI (7% non-MI) and complex ventricular ectopic activity (Lown 3-5) was found in 81% of the AMI (58% of the non-MI). We conclude that the GPs in the Lancaster district select patients for home care of AMI on clinical and social grounds rather than time after onset. Holter ECG recordings reveal major arrhythmias which are usually undetected clinically and are at least as common as those found in CCU treated patients. Further studies involving larger numbers of home treated patients monitored early are required to identify criteria for home care.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Resolution of right atrial thrombus shown by serial cross sectional echocardiography.

A 78 year old woman with congestive cardiac failure developed pulmonary embolism. Cross sectional echocardiography detected an undulating fusiform mass attached to the lateral wall of the right atrium and protruding through the tricuspid valve. Serial cross sectional echocardiograms showed a reduction in the size of the mass, and by three months the mass was immobile and attached by a broad base to the lateral atrial wall. The mass was assumed to be a thrombus, and treatment with heparin and oral anticoagulants appeared to prevent the development of further pulmonary emboli.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Nonstarch polysaccharide consumption in four Scandinavian populations.

Nonstarch polysaccharide (NSP) intake was measured in representative samples of 30 men aged 50-59 in 2 urban and 2 rural Scandinavian populations that exhibited a 3-4 fold difference in incidence of large bowel cancer. Intake was measured by chemical analysis of complete duplicate portions of all food eaten over one day by each individual. NSP intakes showed a rural-urban gradient, with 18.4 +/- 7.8 g/day in rural Finland and 18.0 +/- 6.4 g/day in rural Denmark versus 14.5 +/- 5.4 g/day in urban Finland and 13.2 +/- 4.8 g/day in urban Denmark. NSP intakes were also calculated (using food tables) from weighed food records kept over 4 days, one of which was the day on which the duplicate collection was made. Intakes were 2-2.5 g/day higher with this method than with direct chemical analysis, mainly because published tables of values have become outdated and inaccurate as a result of improved methods for measuring NSP in food. Individual variation from day to day in NSP intake was considerable. Average NSP intake and intake of some of its component sugars were inversely related to colon cancer incidence in this geographical comparison. To show a relationship at the individual level between diet and cancer risk in a prospective study would require detailed and accurate methods for the assessment of NSP consumption.

Colonic Neoplasms↗
PubMed1979

Recurrent pulmonary thromboembolism presenting with cardiac arrhythmias.

Pulmonary emboli seldom recur, and when recurrence does occur it is not associated with permanent sequelae unless there is progressive pulmonary arterial hypertension. Five patients with clinical and perfusion lung scan evidence of recurrent pulmonary embolism presented with abnormal cardiac rhythms without evidence of progressive pulmonary hypertension. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring was valuable in diagnosis and in assessing the effectiveness of treatment. Although palpitation was the main complaint, other symptoms included tiredness, mild exertional dyspnoea, and chest discomfort unrelated to effort. Symptomatic improvement coincided with objective evidence of improvement from repeat lung scans and 24-hour ECG records. Antiarrhythmic agents controlled the arrhythmias but were subsequently withdrawn without the return of symptoms. Four of the five patients continued to take anticoagulants for two years. We believe that these five patients represent a group of patients with recurrent pulmonary emboli and a recognisable clinical picture dominated by arrhythmias unrelated to progressive pulmonary arterial hypertension. Long-term anticoagulant treatment was associated with clinical improvement.

Adult↗