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Biomedical subjects

A A Rizzo

Publications and source records attributed to A A Rizzo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Gender comparisons of cognitive performances among vascular dementia, Alzheimer disease, and older adults without dementia.

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that women with Alzheimer disease (AD) would perform worse on a test of semantic memory but not on tests of other cognitive domains. We did not expect that women without dementia would perform more poorly than men without dementia on the same task. OBJECTIVE: To explore the specificity of a semantic memory deficit among women with AD by exploring gender differences among a group of subjects with vascular dementia (VD). DESIGN: A case-control study in which differences between men and women were explored using regression models to control for the potentially confounding effects of age, education, duration of dementia, and severity of dementia. SETTING: Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Consortium of Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California. SUBJECTS: Volunteers, recruited from the community or clinic referrals, who met clinical criteria for AD (n = 159) or VD (n = 117) or met criteria for control status without dementia (n = 134). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Five neuropsychological measures, commonly used in the diagnosis and assessment of dementia. RESULTS: Women with VD scored lower than men with VD on 3 tests. However, when controlling for potential confounds, the gender difference was maintained only for the semantic memory task. Women with AD showed a strong trend to perform worse than men with AD on the test of semantic memory only. No gender differences were found among subjects without dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the existence of a semantic memory deficit for women with AD and suggest that a similar deficit may exist among women with VD.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Effects of caffeine withdrawal on motor performance and heart rate changes.

Heavy caffeine Users and Non-users were tested twice using a signalled reaction time paradigm, while heart rate was recorded. During the 7-day interval between the two sessions, the User group maintained normal caffeine intake for the first 5 days and abstained from caffeine during the last 2 days, which constituted a withdrawal period. The Non-users abstained from caffeine (as they usually do) during the entire 7-day period. The analyses of the reaction time (RT) data indicated no differences during Session 1 and a significant group difference during Session 2, with the Non-users exhibiting faster RT's. The Users exhibited no change between Sessions 1 and 2, while the Non-users showed a decrease in RT's (increased speed) across Sessions, which may be indicative of a practice effect. The analysis of the heart rate data from the 5-s period prior to the imperative stimulus yielded no differences during Session 1, and a significant group difference in Session 2, with the Non-users exhibiting larger decelerations. Across the two Sessions, the Non-users showed an increase in the magnitude of the heart rate deceleration, while the Users exhibited a decline in the size of the deceleration. Since the magnitude of heart rate deceleration has been interpreted as an index of attention, it appears that the Users were exhibiting less efficient attention during withdrawal from caffeine (Session 2) than were the Non-users. This conclusion is supported by the RT data, showing slower response times for the Users during Session 2, as compared to Non-users.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

The saliva thiocyanate analysis: a methodological extension and its relationship to CO and self-report in moderate smokers.

Parameters for the storage and analysis of saliva samples used to measure thiocyanate (SCN) levels among moderate smokers were systematically studied. The variables targeted for study were the temperature of storage (0 to 20 degrees F) and the size of the container (5 ml or 10 ml). Additionally, these same variables were examined, independently under three different temporal delays to laboratory analysis: immediate, 3 days, and 7 days. Results within each of the delay conditions revealed no significant differences in SCN levels and provided support for the reliability of measurement when using these procedures in the study of thiocyanate levels. Self-reported smoking rate and alveolar carbon monoxide (COa) readings of a week prior were found to correlate relatively highly with thiocyanate readings. These findings broaden the support for SCN as a corroborative measure of smoking.

Carbon Monoxide↗
PubMed1984

Crab lung.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

[H2 histamine antagonists and the hypothalamo-hypophyseal-gonadal axis: effect of short-term treatment on serum levels of prolactin, FSH, LH and testosterone in male ulcer patients].

Serum prolactin (PRL ng/ml) was measured in 7 male patients on cimetidine (CMT) and in 13 on ranitidine (RNT) before therapy and 5, 10, 15 and 30 days after; at the same intervals FSH (ng/ml), LH (ng/ml) and testosterone (ng/ml) were measured in 5 patients too, in order to ascertain hypothalamic, pituitary, gonadal dysfunction caused by H2 histamine blockers. In agreement with other authors, FSH, LH and testosterone were not affected: no statistical difference was found between basal values and the times of follow-up. In RNT-treated patients PRL showed a little, but not significant increase; in CMT-treated group PRL increased with a peak on 10th day (19.41 +/- 2.14 ng/ml vs. 9.50 +/- 1.72 ng/ml; P less than 0.01); on 30th day PRL levels were still higher than basal ones (15.85 +/- 2.38 ng/ml vs. 9.50 +/- 1.72 ng/ml; P less than 0.05). Unlike other trials we observed that PRL rises very early in oral treatment with CMT, perhaps for resetting of inhibiting factors, it trends to decrease and reach basal values shortly after 30th day notwithstanding therapy. It is now widely accepted that H2 blocker's action is on central histaminergic pathways modulating PRL secretion; in our opinion, the measured differences of PRL secretion with CMT and RNT in short term observations, are produced by different crossing of blood-brain barreer.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Long-term follow-up (3-4 years) of treatment for smoking reduction.

The present paper reports the 3- and 4-year follow-ups of two smoking reduction clinics (n = 103) employing a comprehensive, non-aversive, behavioral treatment using stimulus control and self-control techniques. Most of the data were gathered via phone contact, while some clients were interviewed in person with corroborative carbon monoxide measurements taken at that time. While the general findings were similar to those reported for other long-term follow-ups of smoking programs, unlike earlier reports, the overwhelming majority of subjects were contacted (an average of 90% for all follow-up periods). The average percentage of baseline for smoking subjects was equal to 56% and average percentage abstinent equal to 24% at final follow-up. Data are also presented which suggest greater attention be paid to the potential efficacy of controlled smoking when assessing the effectiveness of smoking reduction programs.

Adult↗