Biomedical subjects

Daniel Norman

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel Norman.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Effects of continuous positive airway pressure versus supplemental oxygen on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with recurrent episodes of nocturnal hypoxia and increased risk for development of systemic hypertension. Prior studies have been limited, however, in their ability to show reduction in blood pressure after continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, and the effect of supplemental oxygen alone on blood pressure in OSA has not been evaluated. We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study comparing the effects of 2 weeks of CPAP versus sham-CPAP versus supplemental nocturnal oxygen on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in 46 patients with moderate-severe OSA. We found that 2 weeks of CPAP therapy resulted in a significant reduction in daytime mean arterial and diastolic blood pressure and nighttime systolic, mean, and diastolic blood pressure (all Ps <0.05). Although nocturnal supplemental oxygen therapy improved oxyhemoglobin saturation, it did not affect blood pressure. We conclude that CPAP therapy reduces both daytime and nighttime blood pressure in patients with OSA, perhaps through mechanisms other than improvement of nocturnal oxyhemoglobin saturation.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Does obstructive sleep apnea increase hematocrit?

This study assessed the relationship between hematocrit levels and severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and examined how this relationship was affected by the degree of hypoxia as well as by possible confounding factors. Two-hundred sixty three subjects (189 men and 74 women) underwent nocturnal polysomnography with oximetry and had measurements of hematocrit, hemoglobin, white blood cell count, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and 24-h urine norepinephrine (NE). Patients with severe OSA [respiratory disturbance index (RDI) >30] had significantly higher hematocrit values than patients with mild to moderate OSA or nonapneic controls (p < 0.01). However, only one patient had a hematocrit in the range of clinical polycythemia. Hematocrit levels were significantly correlated with BMI, BP, urinary NE, RDI, percent of time spent at oxygen saturation <90%, and with mean oxygen saturation. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that mean oxygen saturation, RDI, and percent of time spent at oxygen saturation <90% were significant predictors of hematocrit level, even after controlling for gender, ethnicity, 24-h urine NE, BMI, and BP (p < 0.05). The severity of OSA is significantly associated with increased hematocrit, even after controlling for possible confounding variables. However, nocturnal hypoxemia in OSA does not usually lead to clinical polycythemia.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Evidence of sustained forearm vasodilatation after brief isocapnic hypoxia.

Healthy subjects exposed to 20 min of hypoxia increase ventilation and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA). After return to normoxia, although ventilation returns to baseline, MSNA remains elevated for up to an hour. Because forearm vascular resistance is not elevated after hypoxic exposure, we speculated that the increased MSNA might be a compensatory response to sustained release of endogenous vasodilators. We studied the effect of isocapnic hypoxia (mean arterial oxygen saturation 81.6 +/- 4.1%, end-tidal Pco2 44.7 +/- 6.3 Torr) on plethysmographic forearm blood flow (FBF) in eight healthy volunteers while infusing intra-arterial phentolamine to block local alpha-receptors. The dominant arm served as control. Forearm arterial vascular resistance (FVR) was calculated as the mean arterial pressure (MAP)-to-FBF ratio. MAP, heart rate (HR), and FVR were reported at 5-min intervals at baseline, then while infusing phentolamine during room air, isocapnic hypoxia, and recovery. Despite increases in HR during hypoxia, there was no change in MAP throughout the study. By design, FVR decreased during phentolamine infusion. Hypoxia further decreased FVR in both forearms. With continued phentolamine infusion, FVR after termination of the exposure (17.47 +/- 6.3 mmHg x min x ml(-1) x 100 ml of tissue) remained lower than preexposure baseline value (23.05 +/- 8.51 mmHg x min x ml(-1) x 100 ml of tissue; P < 0.05). We conclude that, unmasked by phentolamine, the vasodilation occurring during hypoxia persists for at least 30 min after the stimulus. This vasodilation may contribute to the sustained MSNA rise observed after hypoxia.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Eosinophilic pneumonia as an initial manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease that may have pulmonary manifestations. We describe a case of eosinophilic pneumonia as the primary presentation of rheumatoid arthritis. While several cases of acute and chronic eosinophilic pneumonia have been reported in patients with preexisting rheumatoid arthritis, this is the first case reported in which the eosinophilic lung disease was the initial manifestation of systemic rheumatoid arthritis.

Adult↗