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Biomedical subjects

E Val

Publications and source records attributed to E Val.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Low levels of vitamin B12 and venous thromboembolic disease in elderly men.

OBJECTIVES: Hyperhomocysteinaemia is a well-known risk factor for venous thromboembolic disease (VTD). However, it is not clear whether homocysteine (Hc) itself or a related metabolite or a cofactor is primarily responsible for VTD. We carried out a case-control study to investigate whether vitamin concentrations that are involved in the Hc metabolism are associated or not with an elevated risk of VTD. DESIGN: Case-control study. METHODS: We measured serum vitamin B12, folate, creatinine and albumin concentrations and plasma Hc concentrations in 101 consecutive patients with VTD, diagnosed by image tests and 101 control subjects, matched for age and sex. RESULTS: Serum vitamin B12 concentrations were significantly lower in VTD patients than in the control subjects. There were no differences in plasma Hc or serum folate concentrations between the groups. Among the male subgroup aged more than 70 years, serum vitamin B12 concentrations were significantly lower (240.88 +/- 103.07 vs. 421.20 +/- 314.31 pmol L(-1); P = 0.03) and plasma Hc concentrations were significantly higher (13.1 +/- 4.18 vs. 10.56 +/- 3.06 micromol L(-1); P =0.04) in VTD patients than in the control group. On multivariate analysis, in patients aged more than 70 years, serum vitamin B12 concentrations were independently associated with VTD. Compared with the highest quartile of vitamin B12 (>512.6 pmol L(-1)) the odds ratio (OR) for VTD in the lowest quartile (<230.9 pmol L(-1)) was 3.8 (95% CI 1.44-10.18; P = 0.01). In the VTD group, lowest vitamin B12 concentrations (percentile 10 <152.8 pmol L(-1)) were associated with the factor V Leiden mutation (OR = 6.07, 95% CI 0.93-38.55; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Measuring vitamin B12 concentrations in elderly males may help in identifying people at risk of venous thromboembolism in our population.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2003

[Malignant insulinoma in an 84-year-old woman].

The malignant insulinoma is a very strange disorder (6% of the diagnosed insulinoma whose incidence is one to eight cases records in a million inhabitant per year) specially in people under 40 years or over 70 years old. We report the case of a woman, aged 84, who was admitted because of lost of consciouness and sweating. The patient suffers pancreatic tumour that products insuline with liver metastasis. She shows a good response when treated with diazoxide. We also revise her clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic features in this disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

EEG sleep, lithium transport, dexamethasone suppression, and monoamine oxidase activity in borderline personality disorder.

Twenty-one patients who met DSM-III criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD) and also scored at least 7 on the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB) were assessed on four biological markers: electroencephalographic (EEG) sleep, in vitro lithium ratio, platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO), and dexamethasone suppression test (DST). REM latency averaged 58.66 (SD 14.39); platelet MAO averaged 21.74 (SD 10.33); and lithium ratio was 0.357 (SD 0.139) in the BPD patients. All of those values were significantly abnormal. Many patients had abnormalities on three or four measures. These patients in general had multiple Axis I diagnoses from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS), and these Axis I diagnoses tended to produce patient clusters. Patients with a DIS diagnosis of schizophrenia, mania, hypomania, or schizoaffective mania had elevated lithium, low MAO, and normal EEG sleep, while those patients with coexisting major depression tended to have short rapid eye movement (REM) latency, high REM density, and normal MAO and lithium ratio. Only two patients were nonsuppressors on the DST, confirming recent reports of normal DST results in personality disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Foreign medical graduates and board certification: myths and realities.

The participation of foreign medical graduates (FMGs) in American medicine is a longstanding phenomenon, yet the documentation of their role has been mainly impressionistic and anecdotal, particularly in psychiatry. Using the results of a survey on Board certification, the authors compared FMGs with U.S. medical graduates (USMGs) on several variables: demographic characteristics, attitudes toward certification, performance, and personal experience with the examination process. They found that FMGs are more similar than dissimilar to USMGs in attitudes, values, and opinions about certification. The authors conclude that the differences are not sufficiently remarkable to warrant some of the prevalent misconceptions about FMGs.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1980

Reduced platelet MAO activity and vulnerability to psychiatric disorders.

Platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) is a genetically controlled mitochondrial enzyme that metabolizes amines in the brain by deamination. We investigated the relationship between MAO activity and the presence or absence of psychopathology by determining MAO activity and the psychiatric diagnosis in 61 first-degree relatives of 31 patients with bipolar (manic-depressive) illness. Relatives who themselves were diagnosed as having bipolar I illness or alcoholism had a significantly lower mean MAO activity level than did other relatives or 255 normal individuals. These findings indicate that a relationship exists within pedigrees between MAO activity and psychiatric disorders. Reduced MAO activity may play a role in vulnerability to some types of psychopathology.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1980

Supervision and self-esteem in psychiatric teaching.

This paper focuses on the supervisory tasks of empathizing with the student so as to appreciate the student's observations and transferences. It is shown that empathy becomes more difficult to achieve in the training of the foreign graduate whose situation is used as a paradigm for understanding of the teaching tasks. A prominent issue in this paper is the elaboration of the transference needs of the student.

Empathy↗
PubMed1979

Lithium transport across red cell membrane: a cell membrane abnormality in manic-depressive illness.

In the families of manic-depressive patients, relatives with a history of affective disorders had a significantly higher ratio of mean red cell lithium to plasma lithium in vitro than relatives with no such history. A genetically controlled abnormality in lithium-sodium transport, the mechanism that determines the lithium ratio, may play a role in the etiology of some forms of affective disorders.

Biological Transport↗
PubMed1975

Day hospital in the context of a community mental health program.

The paper focuses on the role of the day hospital within the framework of total care delivery in community mental health programs and stresses its unique position in the continuity of care cycle. The day hospital lies midway in the service continuum between inpatient and outpatient services and can provide a bridge between community and intramural resources. As such it can serve as a "center for change' where inputs from the entire network of services merge to test solutions for care delivery problems. Experiences with a specific day are used to illustrate relevant issues for those currently engaged in planning or implementing day hospital services.

Community Mental Health Services↗