Biomedical subjects

E J Markley

Publications and source records attributed to E J Markley.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1993

Polysymptomatic syndromes and autonomic reactivity to nonfood stressors in individuals with self-reported adverse food reactions.

This study compared symptom reports and cardiovascular reactivity of a group of 24 individuals recruited from the community who reported a cognitive or emotional symptom caused by at least one food (food-sensitivity reporters, FSR) vs those of 15 controls (C) without a history of food, chemical, drug, or inhalant sensitivities. The main findings were: 1) FSR indicated sensitivities not only to foods, but also to environmental chemicals, drugs, and natural inhalants, as well as significantly more symptoms than C in multiple systems; 2) more FSR than C noted recent state depression and anxiety, as well as higher trait anxiety on the Bendig form of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale; 3) however, on multiple regression analysis, not only depression, but also the number of sensitivities (foods, chemicals, drugs, inhalants), accounted for part of the variance in total number of symptoms (38 and 17%, respectively), whereas none of the affective measures accounted for any of the variance in total number of sensitivities over all subjects; 4) after controlling for depression and anxiety, FSR still showed a trend toward poorer performance on a timed mental arithmetic task (p = 0.16); and 5) FSR and C showed opposite patterns of heart rate change to two different stressful tasks (mental arithmetic and isometric exercise) (group by task interaction, p < 0.05). The data are discussed in terms of a time-dependent sensitization (TDS) process that predicts a cross-sensitizing and cross-reactive role for xenobiotic agents (e.g., foods, chemicals, drugs, and inhalants) and for salient psychological stress in the expression of psychophysiological dysfunctions of FSR. As in other chronically ill populations, negative affect in food-sensitive individuals may explain greater symptom reporting, but not necessarily account for the illness itself. For either a food or a psychological stimulus to begin to elicit sensitized responses, e.g., marked physiological differences from C, FSR may require multiple, intermittent exposures spaced over 5-28 days rather than on only 1 day.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Factors affecting a student's choice of dietetics as a profession.

In order to design more effective recruitment strategies, 419 junior students in 38 coordinated dietetics programs completed self-administered questionnaires to identify factors that attracted them to the profession. The majority (43.9%) first became interested in a dietetics career while in college; 24.9% became interested before or during secondary school; and 17.7% were making a career change. Factors that most frequently led to a career in dietetics were a course in nutrition (32.9%), a friend or relative other than parent (31.0%), and a dietitian (30.3%). Students rated the opportunity to help others (95.2%) and the relationship of nutrition to health (94.0%) as characteristics of the profession that had a highly positive influence on their decision. Interests in health, disease, and health care (70.5%); teaching and health promotion (42.7%); sports and fitness (40.7%); counseling and behavior change (35.6%); and food and cooking (35.4%) were most frequently cited as influencing the choice of a dietetics career. Students were most interested in practicing dietetics as a consultant or in private practice (37.5%) or as a clinical dietitian (34.8%). New and innovative recruitment strategies should target high school and college students and pay special attention to second-career students. Interests such as health, disease, and health care and health promotion and characteristics of the profession such as the opportunity to help others attracted present dietetics students and should be emphasized in recruiting. The best marketing tools may be the practicing dietitian and a course in nutrition.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1983

A classification of dysgeusia.

The results of this study indicate that patients with dysgeusia can be classified into groups on the basis of the number and kinds of foods and beverages they perceive as distorted. Furthermore, a relationship between this classification and weight loss has been demonstrated, suggesting that caloric intake is decreased, particularly in patients with Type III and IV. The symptoms of dysgeusia worsened in 41% of all patients. These patients had sought medical help more quickly than any other patients with dysgeusia. An elevation in dysgeusia type (increase in severity) occurred in only a small number of patients, and no patient exhibited any improvement in dysgeusia once it occurred. Specific types of foods and beverages were commonly distorted in these patients. To characterize these abnormalities, we used six common food groups. On occasion, patients would eliminate an entire food group from their diets; if the nutrients contained in these foods could not be obtained from other dietary sources or if the food aversion persisted long enough (16), these patients could develop nutritional deficiencies. A nutritional history, using a standard form, was selected as the method for collecting data. Classification might have been even more accurate if a standardized food array had been used as part of this study. Indeed, we have developed such an array consisting of 120 food items and have since used it in conjunction with a diet history to evaluate patients with dysgeusia. Preliminary results confirm its usefulness in the classification described in this article.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1981

Absorption of orally administered 65Zn by normal human subjects.

Despite studies by several investigators of human gastrointestinal 65Zn absorption, implications of these data for evaluation of functional zinc status are unclear because limited numbers of normal subjects have been studied. To evaluated zinc absorption in normal humans, 75 subjects (31 women, 44 men, ages 18 to 84 yr) were given 10 micro Ci carrier-free 65Zn orally after an overnight fast. Absorption calculated from total body retention measured 7, 14, and 21 days after administration of tracer was 65 +/- 11% (mean +/- 1 SD), range from 40 to 86%. Comparison of these results with those for patients with a variety of diseases indicate that patients exhibit a wider range of absorption and, in four of six studies patients exhibit decreased mean zinc absorption. These results of gastrointestinal zinc absorption in a large number of normal humans offer a basis for a clearer comparison with data from patients who exhibit abnormalities of zinc absorption.

Absorption↗