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Biomedical subjects

E C Shuttleworth

Publications and source records attributed to E C Shuttleworth.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Dementia in Parkinson's disease.

Estimates of the prevalence of dementia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) vary considerably. Dementia in PD has been linked to a visuospatial disturbance, impairment of memory, and depression. Previous research suggests that visuospatial deficits and depression do not vary with severity of intellectual decline and thus are not useful measures to distinguish demented from nondemented patients. We examined immediate, recent, and remote memory in patients with PD and found that unlike visuospatial performance and depression, a qualitatively distinct pattern emerged, which did vary with severity of intellectual decline.

Aged↗

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease presenting as progressive aphasia.

The syndrome of slowly progressive aphasia usually has been associated with Pick's disease, Alzheimer's disease, or an isolated focal degenerative disorder of unknown etiology involving the left perisylvian cortex. This report is of a patient with progressive aphasia due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Aphasia↗

Palatal myoclonus in Behçet's disease.

A patient with neuro-Behçet's disease developed palatal myoclonus approximately eight years after the initial symptoms of brain-stem involvement. We could find no prior instances of this association in the English-language literature.

Adult↗

Atypical presentations of dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Seven patients who eventually met established criteria for dementia of the Alzheimer type are described to illustrate the variety of atypical clinical presentations of this disorder. The value of a careful history, examination, and follow up in reaching the earliest possible diagnosis is emphasized. In the event of the development of adequate therapy this information will become essential in proper management of these patients.

Aged↗

Further observations on the nature of prosopagnosia.

Two new cases of prosopagnosia are described and compared with pertinent clinical material from the English language literature. The interpretation of this disorder most compatible with the clinical data appears to us to be that there is an underspecification of visuoperceptive information preventing both the formation of significant face images and the retrieval of well-known face memoranda existing within a relatively intact visual remote memory store. Failure of formation of immediate memoranda of similarly complex visual images is also commonly observed but does not seem to be a requirement for the symptom of prosopagnosia. Conceptualizing this abnormality as simply a material specific visual agnosia of images beyond the classifier level would still appear to be acceptable if less informative.

Aged↗

Memory function and the clinical differentiation of dementing disorder.

For the demented patient, relatively accurate bedside diagnosis is feasible by use of a carefully designed neurologic examination coupled with an understanding of the neuroanatomy of memory and related cognitive processes. Further confirmation of the clinical diagnosis by the application of selected laboratory diagnostic procedures can then result in an appropriate plan of treatment. With the promise of continued development of new therapeutic modalities for specific dementing illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, a parallel improvement in diagnostic precision seems mandatory in order to permit detection of the disease at an earlier stage. A clinical anatomic approach with special emphasis on the understanding and assessment of memory function is suggested as a starting point. It is hoped that the serial examination of a significant number of patients by this method will eventually yield clues to aid in the earlier differential diagnosis of dementia.

Aged↗

Munchausen's disorder: a case of a factitious neurological emergency.

Few signs are more ominous than the dilated pupil which is unreactive to light. The deliberate use of this fact and the simulation of other neurologic signs to enhance the aura of a serious illness will often expose a patient to hazardous procedures. A patient with Munchausen's Disorder who made unsuccessful attempts to simulate a neurological emergency is presented. A thorough knowledge of the pathophysiology of neurologic disease will enable the physician to detect the possibility of malingering when confronted with this problem. A strong cholinergic solution will produce pupillary constriction in normals and neurologic disorders but often will not alter the pupil in cases of pharmacologic pupillary paralysis.

Adult↗

Acid hydrolase and cytochrome oxidase activities in nitrosourea induced tumors of the nervous system.

Nitrosourea induced tumors of the nervous system in rats have proven useful for biochemical studies combined with morphological approaches. The pattern of enzyme activities for acid hydrolases and cytochrome oxidase resemble those previously observed in spontaneous nervous system tumors of man. The activities of 4 acid hydrolases were generally high in the gliomas. This could not be attributed solely to zones of regression or necrosis but was a general characteristic of the neoplasms. The activities were predominantly particulate and most likely lysosomal in localization. In schwannomas a similar increase in hydrolases was found in comparison with normal neural tissues but aryl-sulfatase was not increased. Cytochrome oxidase activities were markedly reduced in all tumors studied. The proportionate reduction with respect to normal brain was comparable to that noted in man. No differences were found with respect to fairly well differentiated gliomas.

Animals↗

Chronic stress and immunity in family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease victims.

Although acute stress has been associated with transient immunosuppression, little is known about the immunologic consequences of chronic stress in humans. In order to investigate possible health-related consequences of a long-term stressor, we obtained blood samples for immunologic and nutritional analyses and psychologic data from 34 family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) victims and 34 sociodemographically matched comparison subjects. Family caregivers for AD victims were more distressed than comparison subjects without similar responsibilities. Greater impairment in the AD victim was associated with greater distress and loneliness in caregivers. Caregivers had significantly lower percentages of total T lymphocytes and helper T lymphocytes than did comparison subjects, as well as significantly lower helper-suppressor cell ratios; caregivers also had significantly higher antibody titers to Epstein-Barr virus than did comparison subjects, presumably reflecting poorer cellular immune system control of the latent virus in caregivers. The percentages of natural killer cells and suppressor T lymphocytes did not differ significantly. These data suggest that chronically stressed AD family caregivers do not show immunologic or psychologic adaptation to the level of their well-matched age peers.

Alzheimer Disease↗

Differentiation of early subarachnoid hemorrhage from traumatic lumbar puncture.

The problem of early differentiation of "traumatic tap" from subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was studied in the rabbit by determining the changes in percentage of hemolysis and in lactate concentrations in CSF within the first twenty-four hours following induced SAH. The 0.3 to 7% hemolysis which occurred was relatively independent both of the time following SAH and of the number of red blood cells (rbc) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). There was, on the other hand, a significant and time-dependent increase in CSF lactate concentration early after SAH, suggesting the potential clinical value of the detection of increased lactate with a relatively normal lactate/pyruvate ratio in hemorrhagic CSF. Until this can be evaluated in human subjects, however, determination of the rbc counts or total hemoglobin concentrations in serially collected samples of CSF remains the best clinical method.

Animals↗