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Major aeroallergens in Anchorage are birch, alder, poplar, spruce, grass pollen, Cladosporium, and unspecified fungus spores. Lesser pollens are sorrel, willow, pine, juniper, sedge, lamb's-quarters, wormwood, plantain, and others. The aero-flora is discussed in terms of the frequency of allergenically significant events and within-season and year-to-year dynamics.
Five hundred ninety-two allergic subjects from two different groups (Caucasian and Chinese) were skin tested to detect sensitivity to grass and tree pollens. Chinese reacted five times more often to trees than Caucasians. Chinese were 2.3 times more likely to be sensitive to grass pollens than were Caucasians (P less than .01). In both groups, subjects sensitive to grass pollens were more likely to be sensitive to tree pollens (P less than .001 for both populations). Grass sensitive Chinese were 21.7 times more likely to react to trees than those not grass sensitive. Grass sensitive Chinese were 10.8 times more likely to be sensitive to trees than Caucasians. Several hypotheses are presented to explain these results. This if the first report of a racial difference in antigen recognition. Physicians who test and treat Chinese patients with allergies may wish to more carefully evaluate the possible role of cedar, cypress, and juniper in their patients' allergic condition.
Five decades of daily pollen measurements have catalogued a growing number of imported and native plants in Tucson, Arizona, a city that has a high prevalence of allergic rhinitis and asthma. These plants have contributed a large proportion of the overall pollen rain and include mulberry, olive, juniper, cypress, privet, mesquite, Bermuda grass, ragweed, Palmer's amaranth, and Russian thistle. Factors contributing to these increases in pollen include population growth as well as changing architectural and landscape preferences. The institution of pollen control laws, inner city development, and nonreplacement of allergenic trees along with the growing popularity of desert landscaping suggests that trend reversal may be occurring.
Alzoon is a concoction containing extracts of petasites, juniper, ferns, brunellias, and dandelions that has been treated with oxygen and UV-light. A variety of indications are claimed: cachexia, severe pain, anemia as a result of malignant tumors, stomach or duodenal ulcers and also relief for desperate end-stage cancer patients. A long-term treatment is recommended. Prior to meals 2 to 3 times daily, 1-2 tablespoons of Alzoon are recommended. A bottle with 1 liter costs CHF 31.80. Apparently, Alzoon is harmless and free of side effects. Alzoon was patented in 1943 by the chemist M. R. von Niederhäusern from Basel. His company Alsana Inc. (pharmaceutical specialities, Thun, Switzerland) produces and sells Alzoon. A mechanism of action is not mentioned. Alzoon is sold as "holistic therapy", and is supposed to relieve pain, stimulate appetite, and enhance quality of life. The most important plant of the mixture is supposedly petasites. In the mid sixties a study on 42 patients was conducted under the pressure of the Alsana Inc. and v. Niederhäusern. The analysis of the results of the two experts showed that Alzoon had no influence on tumor growth. Six patients (14%) had a temporary improvement of quality of life and appetite. Further trials do not exist. In Switzerland, Alzoon is registered on the list D at the IKS, but is not reimbursable by insurance companies. It is not established as an anti-cancer remedy.
Quality of life becomes more and more important in evaluating the effects of treatments. At the moment, different questionnaires to measure quality of life in children and adolescents with asthma are available. The Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQL) was developed by Juniper and co-workers in Canada and has already been translated into German. It is a self- or interviewer-administered instrument for children and adolescents between age 7 and 17. The PAQL contains 23 items in three domains: activity limitation, symptoms, and emotional function. The empirical results suggest that the PAQL is reliable and sensitive to clinical change. Problems associated with the administration are discussed.
Based on biomechanic and electromyographic studies, it has been argued that the two heads of the human lateral pterygoid muscle (LPt) are reciprocally active during the masticatory cycle. Thus, it has been proposed that the heads be considered separate muscles. However, questions about the accuracy of these data have arisen. The authors hypothesized that partition cannot be complete without an independent nerve supply. To test this, complete unilateral lateral pterygoidectomies were performed on 20 dissection room cadavers. A novel approach, using an en bloc method, proved optimal to expose the detailed nerve supply to the LPt heads. In the two most frequently observed patterns (15 of the 20 specimens), the heads were supplied from a common source that was derived from either the long buccal or mandibular nerve, or from a loop that arose between the long buccal and lingual nerves. In a third pattern, independent branches to either head arose from the deep temporal, long buccal, or mandibular nerve. In only 20% of the specimens did the two heads receive exclusive innervation from separate sources. The most significant finding of the present study is that both LPt heads in humans are usually supplied by a common proximate source, but each head also receives independent nerves in every case. In the absence of precise information about the functional components in each nerve branch, these data appear to support Juniper's proposal to regard the two LPt heads as entirely separate muscles.
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OBJECTIVE: To learn about the physical, emotional, and social limitations experienced by postmenopausal women who have back pain due to vertebral fractures resulting from osteoporosis. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of female patients with persistent pain due to vertebral fractures. RESULTS: Respondents had a mean (+/- SD) bone density of 0.87 +/- 0.13 gm/cm2 and a mean (+/- SD) of 2.84 +/- 2.18 fractures. Disability was identified in pain, movement, activities of daily living, and emotion. There was a poor correlation between quality of life and findings on radiography or densitometry. CONCLUSION: To evaluate the effects of osteoporosis on a patient's functional status, direct questioning is required.
Parents and primary caregivers of children with asthma are limited in normal daily activities and experience anxieties and fears due to the child's illness. We have developed the Paediatric Asthma Caregiver's Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ) to measure these impairments. The objective of this study was to evaluate the measurement properties of the PACQLQ. A 9-week single cohort study was conducted with assessments at 1, 5 and 9 weeks. Participants in the study were primary caregivers of 52 children (age 7-17 years) with symptomatic asthma, recruited from notices in the local media and paediatric asthma clinics. Caregivers completed the PACQLQ, Impact-on-Family Scale and Global Rating of Change Questionnaires. Patients completed the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire and an asthma control questionnaire. Spirometry and beta-agonist use were recorded. The PACQLQ was able to detect quality of life changes in those caregivers who changed (p < 0.001) and to differentiate these from the caregivers whose quality of life remained stable (p < 0.0001). The PACQLQ is reproducible in subjects who are stable (ICC = 0.84), and showed acceptable levels of longitudinal and cross-sectional correlations with the child's asthma status and health-related quality of life and with other measures of caregiver health-related quality of life. The PACQLQ functions well as both an evaluative and a discriminative instrument.
The Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire contains 23 items that children with asthma have identified as troublesome in their daily lives. The aim was to evaluate the measurement properties of the questionnaire. The study design consisted of a 9 week single cohort study with assessments at 1, 5 and 9 weeks. Patients participating in the study were fifty-two children, 7-17 years of age, with a wide range of asthma severity. At each clinic visit, a trained interviewer administered the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, the Feeling Thermometer, a clinical asthma control questionnaire and measured spirometry. For 1 week before each clinic visit, patients recorded morning peak flow rates, medication use and symptoms in a diary. The Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire was able to detect quality of life changes in those patients who altered their health status either as a result of treatment or natural fluctuations in their asthma (p < 0.001) and to differentiate these patients from those who remained stable (p < 0.0001). It was reproducible in patients who were stable (ICC = 0.95), which also indicates the instrument's strength to discriminate between subjects of different impairment levels. The questionnaire showed good levels of both longitudinal and cross-sectional correlations with the conventional asthma indices and with general quality of life. The results were consistent across individual domains and different age strata. The Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire has good measurement properties and is valid both as an evaluative and a discriminative instrument. It captures aspects of asthma most important to the patient and adds additional information to conventional clinical outcomes.
Recent work on secretion in plants is reviewed, with emphasis on the anatomy and physiology of root cap cells in higher plants, the stalked glands of Drosera capensis, and the secretory mechanism of Dionaea muscipula. Cells of the root cap of higher plants switch from a geo-perceptive role to one of mucilage secretion at maturation. Features of this process, the role of the Golgi and the pathway for mucilage distribution are reviewed. In contrast, the stalked glands of the leaves of Drosera capensis are much longer lived and have a complex anatomy. The mechanisms for mucilage secretion, protein absorption and the role of the cell membranes in the internal secretion of the protein are described, using data from X-ray microscopv. The secretion of fluid and protein by Dionaea is stimulated by various nitrogen-containing compounds. Uric acid, often excreted by captured insects, is particularly effective in this respect.
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