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Biomedical subjects

B J Mason

Publications and source records attributed to B J Mason.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Desipramine treatment of alcoholism.

Depression has been related to relapsed drinking in alcoholics striving to maintain sobriety. Treatment with tricyclic antidepressants might reverse or prevent depressive symptoms related to relapse, and may reverse biochemical abnormalities hypothesized to underlie both depression and alcoholism, thus helping to prolong abstinence in recovering alcoholics. This is a preliminary report of the findings of an ongoing 6-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of desipramine (DMI) in recently abstinent alcoholics, with stratification on the presence or absence of secondary depression and DMI plasma level monitoring. Hypotheses are that DMI will prolong sobriety and reduce depression secondary to alcoholism significantly more than placebo. Subjects were 34 males and 8 females with 19 subjects stratified as depressed after an average of 16.31 days of sobriety. Depressed DMI subjects were significantly less depressed at the time of their termination from study than depressed placebo subjects. No group differences were found in rate of nonsobriety. However, there was a trend for DMI subjects to maintain sobriety for a longer duration on the study since onset of alcoholism, with 33.3 percent depressed placebo, 9.1 percent nondepressed placebo, 60.0 percent depressed DMI, and 41.7 percent nondepressed DMI subjects having their longest period of sobriety on the study.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Amoxapine versus amitriptyline for continuation therapy of depression.

The efficacy of continuation therapy with tricyclic antidepressants has been established in a number of controlled trials. This study investigated the efficacy of continuation therapy with a relatively new antidepressant, amoxapine, using a double-blind controlled comparison with amitriptyline. Subjects met DSM-III criteria for major depressive disorder and were randomized to treatment with either amoxapine 400 mg (N = 47) or amitriptyline 300 mg (N = 45). The acute phase lasted up to 8 weeks. Responders were continued on the same drug at the same dose for a 16-week continuation phase. Some measures found more rapid onset for amitriptyline, which is inconsistent with findings from some prior studies. Amitriptyline was more effective in inducing full recovery. There was a trend for higher relapse rates on amoxapine, perhaps related to the fact that there were more partial responders entering continuation therapy from this group. Side effect rates were equivalent in the two drugs. However, physicians rated amoxapine's side effects as more frequently interfering with its therapeutic effect. These data suggest that amoxapine does not offer any clear advantage over amitriptyline for continuation therapy in patients who have major depressive disorder. Of potential clinical relevance is the finding that achieving full recovery in the acute phase may reduce the likelihood of relapse in the continuation phase, regardless of the type of antidepressant medication prescribed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Metoclopramide utilization review.

Utilization review of metoclopramide conducted at the Ambulatory Care Center at the Veterans Administration Medical Clinic in Boise, Idaho, revealed that a substantial proportion of prescriptions were written for indications that were considered inappropriate. After further evaluation, it was found that the medical literature supported metoclopramide use for one of the indications that had been considered inappropriate.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1988

Imipramine treatment for chronic depression.

Antidepressant drugs in the treatment of chronic depressions have received little systematic study. We used a two-week, single-blind placebo washout followed by a six-week, double-blind comparison of imipramine hydrochloride and placebo in a sample of 76 outpatients with DSM-III dysthymic disorder entered into a trial at two centers. Subjects were preponderantly female, had insidious onset at an early age, and had depressions of moderate severity; 96% also met the DSM-III criteria for major depressive disorder at the time of presentation. Sixty percent had a history of persistent depressive symptoms sufficient to meet criteria for major depression for longer than two years. Markedly favorable responses occurred in 45% of imipramine-treated (n = 29) and 12% of placebo-treated (n = 25) patients and, respectively, 59% and 13% of those who completed the study. Imipramine produced significant advantage in measures of depressive symptoms, global severity of illness, and self-rated social and vocational function. Recovered patients experienced remission from both long-standing symptoms and deficits as well as more recently exacerbated aspects of their syndrome. Patients with pure dysthymic disorder of a mild, subsyndromal type were uncommon in these clinical settings. However, anti-depressant medication was effective for many moderately severe chronic depressions, which had previously been untreated or undertreated, presumably related to misdiagnosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Imipramine and social-vocational adjustment in chronic depression.

The authors compared the effects of 6 weeks of imipramine treatment with 6 weeks of placebo treatment on social and vocational impairment in chronic depression. Imipramine was associated with significantly greater pre- to posttreatment improvement of social-vocational impairments in chronic depression, suggesting that these impairments may have represented affective symptoms rather than characterologic deficits.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Cell patterning in pigment-chimeric eyes in Xenopus: germinal transplants and their contributions to growth of the pigmented retinal epithelium.

We have examined the process by which small groups of pigmented germinal cells transplanted orthotopically from stage 30-38 donor embryos into stage 28-38 albino hosts contribute new postmitotic cells to the pigmented retinal epithelium of the growing larval eye in Xenopus. In the great majority of chimeric eyes, the transplant healed to occupy a small arc-territory at the intended dorsal or anterior position on the host germinal zone. Over the course of subsequent weeks, the transplanted germinal cells added new mitotically quiescent cells to the distal rim of the pigmented retinal epithelium and so gave rise to an elongating black sector on the growing larval eye. Cellular details at the boundaries of the graft-derived sector were stable over time; the accumulation of such landmarks provided a summary record--in the proximodistal axis of the older eye--of the growth history of the transplant. Case-to-case variation among both groups of transplants suggested a measure of indeterminancy in the details of germinal cell growth.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Cell patterning in pigment-chimeric eyes of Xenopus: local cues control the decision to become germinal cells.

Between 2.5 and 4 days of development, cell proliferation in the Xenopus eye becomes confined to a narrow ring of germinal cells at the front rim of the eye cup. Continued growth of the eye (which lasts until well beyond metamorphosis) is by the continued proliferation of cells in this germinal zone. To determine what factor(s) promotes cell division in this region of the eye long after it ceases at the back of the eye (near the optic nerve), we have transplanted small groups of eye cells from pigmented donor embryos into the eyes of albino hosts, transposing cells from the mitotically quiescent back of the eye to the germinal zone and vice versa. Regardless of their position of origin in the donor eye, only implants into the host germinal zone behaved like germinal cells--as assayed in the living growing eye by the addition of black tissue to the pigment retinal epithelium. Conversely when donor germinal cells were implanted into the back of the host eye, they ceased dividing once they became integrated into the eye and remained as a tiny black spot on the back of the host eye. This suggests that local environmental cues, rather than intrinsic cellular determinants, specify the fates of eye cells ensuring that cells on the eye rim will continue to function as germinal cells while others will withdraw from the cell cycle.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Schizophrenic, depressive, and nonpatient personality organizations described by Rorschach factor structures.

Rorschachs of 155 schizophrenics, 102 depressives, and 186 nonpatients were collected and scored using the Comprehensive System. Twenty-seven Rorschach variables considered central to interpretation were selected for study. Factor analyses and partial correlations controlling for number of responses, R, were generated in order to investigate the personality organization of each of the three groups. A three factor solution was found to be optimal for each group. Patterns of personality organization were discussed within the three groups and factor structures were compared and contrasted. While similarities occur between the three groups, each group also manifests a unique personality organization. These findings support the hypothesis that schizophrenics and depressives differ from nonpatients in kind, rather than degree of disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Protein intake and serum albumin levels in the elderly.

Protein intakes, energy intakes and serum albumin levels were measured in a long-stay geriatric unit. There was a significant positive correlation between albumin levels and protein intake in women, but not in men. A positive correlation was found between albumin levels and protein to calorie ratios in both men and women. This suggests that the protein intakes of long-stay geriatric patients may be suboptimal.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1975

Empyema of the equine paranasal sinuses.

A survey of 28 cases of chronic purulent infection of the sinuses in the horse showed a relationship between incidence and age, and a probable relationship with breed. Dental disease was apparently the cause of half the cases. The conventional treatment of trephination followed by irrigation with antiseptic solutions resulted in freedom from recurrence of the disease for over 1 year in 17 of the 28 horses. Antibiotic therapy appears to be useless in chronic empyema. The prognosis is adversely affected by the development of facial swelling, a sign seen usually only in long-standing cases.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Causes for reduced dietary intake in a long-stay hospital.

The food and nutrient intake of 98 patients in a long-stay geriatric hospital was measured. Intakes of nicotinic acid and iron were reduced in patients requiring help with feeding because of physical disability. This was related to a reduced intake of meat and fish, bread and vegetables other than potatoes. A more generalized reduction in food and nutrient intakes was found in patients with severe mental impairment. Possible causes and remedies for these associations are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1975

The relationship of laboratory parameters to dietary intake in a long-stay hospital.

The dietary intakes of 98 long-stay geriatric patients were measured. These were compared with blood levels of thiamine, pyridoxine, folic acid, ascorbic acid, calcium, phosphate, potassium and albumin. Low leucocyte ascorbic-acid levels were associated with a low intake of ascorbic acid. There was no association between any of the other dietary and laboratory parameters of nutrition. The reasons and significance of these findings are discussed.

Aged↗