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Biomedical subjects

F H Meyers

Publications and source records attributed to F H Meyers.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Central sympathoplegic and norepinephrine-depleting effects of antioxidants.

Carbon disulfide (CS2), tetraethyl lead (TEL), tetraethyl tin (TeET), dithiothreitol (DTT), and gossypol acetic acid (GAA) significantly decreased brain norepinephrine (NE) in rats. The central dopamine (DA) increased after ip administration of CS2, TEL, and DTT, but decreased after TeET and GAA. The brain serotonin decreased only after TeET. Two doses of DTT decreased the NE longer than one dose (24 vs 2 hr) but did not increase DA. L-DOPA, given SC with DTT, delayed the decrease in NE by 24 hr. The similar behavioral and autonomic effects of each of these compounds suggest a central sympatholytic effect and an antipsychotic type of sedation and rigidity. A possible mechanism is reversible inhibition of dopamine beta-hydroxylase through the reduction of the copper ion of the enzyme. Each of these reducing agents, together with the boranes previously studied, has similar behavioral and autonomic effects and a common effect on NE concentration, suggesting that the agents act through a physicochemical property rather than by combination with a cellular component. These data have applications to the toxicity of the single agents. They also provide an index of activity, previously lacking, of systemic antioxidant effect.

Animals↗

Management of chronic pain.

Relief of pain without drug toxicity can be achieved in cancer patients by adhering to basic pharmacologic principles. Agents should be chosen on the basis of potency and route of administration. Tolerance can be dealt with by combining different classes of drugs, such as phenothiazines and aspirin, and by using special routes of administration. Patients with severe pain from illnesses other than cancer can be effectively palliated in a similar manner.

Analgesics↗

The Hospital Capitation Payment Project: new incentives and tools for cost containment.

Blue Cross of North Dakota, Blue Cross of Massachusetts, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, along with 10 hospitals, developed and implemented the Hospital Capitation Payment Project as a novel approach for containing escalating hospital costs. The hospital is paid a prospective, fixed amount for each person covered; in exchange, it assumes responsibility to provide or pay for all covered services needed by that individual. This responsibility extends to payment for covered care provided by other hospitals. The new tools and incentives created by the program, notably an innovative management information system, are designed to help hospitals better manage the health care needs and related costs of a defined population.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans↗

The pharmacology of drug abuse--a novel approach to drug education at San Quentin.

A novel and successful undergraduate-level course in pharmacology has been established as part of the drug education program at California's San Quentin State Prison. The program was designed to create a two-way teaching--learning experience between former drug abusers and their teachers, all of whom were doctoral candidates and post-doctoral scholars in pharmacology at a nearby university medical center. In reviewing the pharmacology of psychoactive drugs, the emphasis was on the principles of drug action in the central nervous system, with additional attention to those factors that contribute a potential for abuse. An attempt was made to present information in a strictly objective and non-prejudical manner. An initial analysis has shown a possible change in attitude among the student-inmates toward drugs of abuse. It is likely that courses following a similar design would be well received and successful in any type of undergraduate program that addresses the subject of drug abuse.

Adult↗