Biomedical subjects

D Belcher

Publications and source records attributed to D Belcher.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Stress fractures of the femoral shaft in women's college lacrosse: a report of seven cases and a review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Stress fractures do not often occur in the shaft of the femur. They are more common in the femoral neck, the tibial shaft, the metatarsals, and other bones of the foot. In female athletes, stress fractures classically afflict the distance runner, the ballerina, the gymnast, and the figure skater. OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and outcome of seven college female lacrosse players with femoral shaft stress fractures, and review the literature. RESULTS: The unusual results of this study support the principle that clinical suspicion should be high when treating any female athlete regardless of the sport. In this case series, an abrupt change in the quality of the running surface during the competitive training season was the only underlying common thread among the athletes. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that risk factors for the female athlete are variable and are no longer limited to the undernourished or overtrained.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Nutrition assessment practical approaches.

Because of the insidious nature of malnutrition in the elderly and its mimicking the usual aging process, it is important to recognize early warning signs of risks for malnutrition. Because the majority of individuals are encountered at times of a specific event (i.e., illness, injury, surgery, or annual examination) the physician needs to be cognizant of the triggers or alerts of poor nutritional health during history/physical and laboratory examinations for the particular event. Only then will early detection and applicable interventions provide a salutary paradigm shift towards prevention, whether primary, secondary, or tertiary. A high degree of suspicion, a thorough history, and physical examination coupled with pertinent laboratory data can identify the elderly at risk. Those in need of more comprehensive nutrition screen and assessment are examined with the tools developed by the NSI, which encompass not only the routine medical and dietary history and physical exam but also an expansive look at the older individual's psychosocial, functional, socioeconomic, and drug use aspects that are more indirect and significant determinants of risk. Based on parameters from a Level II Screen, measurable indicators are available that provide the nutrition assessment necessary for an overall healthcare plan of selected interventions. Future research should provide more practical, age, sex, and culturally specific nutrition parameters. The main factor in the implementation of a practical, comprehensive geriatric nutrition screening and assessment program is the clinician's imagination and motivation.

Aged↗

PubMed1990

A comparison of the effects of linolenic (18:3 omega 3) and docosahexaenoic (22:6 omega 3) acids on phospholipid bilayers.

The class of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids known as omega-3 are believed to be involved in prevention of a number of human afflictions. The mode of action for two of the most common omega-3 fatty acids, linolenic 18:3 delta 9,12,15 and docosahexaenoic 22:6 delta 4,7,10,13,16,19 (DHA), is not known. One suggestion is that they may be incorporated into membranes and there provide some specific function. Here we compare the effects of DHA and its metabolic precursor linolenic acid on the membrane properties of fluidity, fusion and permeability. The fatty acids were investigated as both free fatty acids and mixed chain 18:0, 18:3 and 18:0, 22:6 phosphatidylcholines (PCs). Fluorescence polarization of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and a series of anthracene stearic acid probes indicates 20 mol% incorporation of either fatty acid into dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers broadens and depresses the temperature of the phase transition, but has almost no effect on fluidity in the liquid crystalline state. Similar fluidity was also observed in the liquid crystalline bilayers of the mixed chain PCs using the same set of fluorescent fatty acid probes. In contrast, DHA as a free fatty acid or as part of a mixed chain PC, causes a much greater enhancement than linolenic acid of the rates of fusion and permeability as monitored by fluorescence resonance energy transfer and aqueous compartment mixing (fusion) and by lipid vesicle swelling in isotonic erythritol, (permeability). These experiments establish a clear distinction between the effects of linolenic acid and DHA in membranes.

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine↗

PubMed1988

Effect of fish oils on rat plasma lipoproteins.

Plasma high (HDL) and low (LDL) density lipoproteins were isolated from rats fed a diet supplemented with either fish (menhaden) oil or hydrogenated coconut oil (control). Fluorescence polarization and electron spin resonance of labelled fatty acid probe molecules incorporated into the outer amphiphilic monolayer of HDL indicate molecular motion is restricted in the upper portion of the acyl chain following the fish oil diet, which is consistent with a 'hook' conformation predicted by preliminary molecular model calculations for n-3 fatty acids (the predominant component of fish oil). Negligible dependence on diet was observed in LDL. Thus, a HDL specific effect of dietary fish oil on molecular fluidity and order in the outer monolayer of rat lipoproteins is suggested.

Animals↗

PubMed1976