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Biomedical subjects

F Wood

Publications and source records attributed to F Wood.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

Cerebral brain metabolism in adult dyslexic subjects assessed with positron emission tomography during performance of an auditory task.

Ten dyslexic adults (aged 33.5 +/- 7.3 years, nine men, one woman) and 10 age-, sex- and handedness-matched control subjects (aged 33.6 +/- 5.8 years) performed an auditory syllable discrimination task during 18-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose uptake, and then underwent positron emission tomographic scans. A second normal control group performed an analogous visual discrimination task. Dyslexic subjects experienced greater difficulty and made significantly more errors in performing the auditory task. There were no differences in brain metabolic rates in lateral cortical areas (frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes). A significant difference emerged in the medial temporal lobe, with dyslexic subjects having significantly higher absolute and relative brain metabolism along an anterior-posterior gradient than normal adults. These data support the hypothesis of altered cerebral processing of auditory stimuli in patients with dyslexia.

Adult

Contractions to 5-hydroxytryptamine in human coronary artery and human saphenous vein.

Isometric contractions were obtained to 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor agonists in human saphenous vein and human coronary artery. Based on the interaction with the 5-HT2 receptor antagonist ketanserin, both 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 receptors are involved in contractions of human saphenous vein, but the predominant subtype involved in contractions of human coronary artery is the 5-HT1 receptor.

Coronary Vessels

Glipizide pharmacokinetics in young and elderly volunteers.

The effects of aging on the pharmacokinetics of glipizide were studied. Ten healthy young men (24.9 +/- 1.9 years of age) and 10 healthy older men (74.4 +/- 7.9 years of age) each ingested a single 5-mg tablet of glipizide after an overnight fast. Blood samples were obtained immediately before drug ingestion and at 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 minutes and at 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 24 hours after drug ingestion. Serum samples were assayed for glipizide content by a modified high-pressure liquid chromatographic method. Clearance, volume of distribution at steady state, and half-life were estimated from the serum concentration-time curve data. Area under the concentration-time curve and area under the moments curve were calculated using the trapezoidal rule. The mean values for young and older subjects for time to peak concentration (2.1 versus 2.5 hours), peak concentrations (465 versus 399 micrograms/mL), elimination half-life (4.2 versus 4.0 hours), clearance (38.8 versus 38.1 mL/min), and distribution volume at steady state (12.5 versus 14.3 L) were not significant. However, two older individuals had a markedly prolonged time to peak concentration (six to eight hours). For 8 of the 20 subjects a more prolonged terminal half-life may have existed. Further study is required to determine whether significant pharmacokinetic differences between young and elderly subjects appear with multiple dosing of glipizide.

Adult

Focal and diffuse memory activation assessed by localized indicators of CNS metabolism: the semantic-episodic memory distinction.

Methods for in-vivo measurement in humans of local brain activation are reviewed, to assess their potential contribution to the understanding of the brain organization of memory. Methodologically, it is argued that the instructive studies are those: (a) using fully normal subjects; (b) using sufficient sample sizes to account statistically for individual differences; and (c) using properly designed control tasks to isolate relevant independent variables that determine the brain response. The review of emerging data concentrates on the regional cerebral blood flow literature and proposes certain hypotheses for further test, based on extant findings. These include: (a) that hyperfrontality of cortical activation signals the type of processing that converts material from episodic to semantic memory; (b) that semantic remembering itself is likely to engage focal association areas relevant to the particular task (e.g. Wernicke's area in language tasks); but (c) that episodic remembering, even when task components such as language are controlled, will engender a less focal but more diffuse activation pattern than would a control semantic remembering task.

Brain

Evaluation of two dose levels of loxapine succinate in chronic schizophrenia.

In a double-blind, placebo controlled design in chronic schizophrenic inpatients using 50 mg. and 100 mg. LOX, an attempt was made to replicate the findings of a previous study and to establish the dose-level and duration of treatment optimal for this kind of patient. Multiple regression analysis adjusting for dose, age, duration of illness, and baseline values indicated that 100 mg. LOX was an effective dose as previously shown. In contrast to the previous study, significant response effects were found by the 4th week. In addition, the dose was linearly related to response on nearly all the variables. The principal side effects were drowsiness and extrapyramidal signs.

Adult

Butaclamol in newly admitted chronic schizophrenic patients: a modified fixed-dose dose-range design.

In a double-blind placebo controlled study of newly admitted chronic schizophrenics, an attempt was made to further evaluate the safety, acceptability, and effectiveness of BT in doses of 10, 20, and 40 mg. Significant dose related responses occurred on several behavioral variables by the first week of treatment. Maximum clinical response appeared to be at the 20-40 mg. dose level. Extrapyramidal signs occurred at all doses, but with greater severity at higher doses. Excessive daytime drowsiness occurred in all groups but with longer duration and greater intensity in the 20 mg. group. Rebound insomnia occurred after the abrupt withdrawal of BT at all dose levels suggesting the desirability of further study of its hypnotic properties.

Adolescent

Loxapine in newly admitted chronic schizophrenic patients.

The standard drug Stelazine (STEL), at a dose of 50 mg/day, exhibited therapeutic activity significantly different from placebo (PL) activity on several variables, most notably BPRS, attesting to the sensitivity of the experiment. On the other hand, the investigational drug, loxapine (LOX), in doses of 100 mg/day for four weeks, could be differentiated from PL as treatment in the described population on only one variable (NGI-Imp.) and one item of the BPRS. On several variables, positive trends were noted, but the differences from PL did not attain the critical values necessary for statistical significance at P smaller than 0.05. One might speculate that the relatively short duration of treatment in this study might account for the difference between these disappointing results and the more gratifying results of a previous loxapine study in chronic long-term institutionalized schizophrenics with the same oral dose.

Adult

Phonophoresis with 1 percent versus 10 percent hydrocortisone.

Phonophoresis, using a topical hydrocortisone preparation, is a little-used method of delivering concentrated antiinflammatory medication to inflamed subcutaneous areas. A retrospective study of 285 patients treated for a variety of common inflammatory conditions compared the results of treatment using a 1 percent hydrocortisone solution preparation and a 10 percent hydrocortisone preparation. The results of the study demonstrated the efficacy of the treatment and the superiority of the 10 percent preparation. The method offers a painless alternative to percutaneous steroid injections in the treatment of selected inflammatory conditions.

Administration, Topical

Pimozide in chronic schizophrenic outpatients.

In a double blind placebo controlled clinical evaluation of maintenance therapy in chronic schizophrenic female outpatients, thiordazine in single daily doses not exceeding 375 mg./day for 6 months was shown to be effective maintenance treatment compared with PL, thereby establishing the sensitivity of the experiment. Pimozide was also shown to be effective in a single oral dose not exceeding 16 mg./day and comparable overall to the standard drug. The experimental design was based on the anticipated retrogression of PL treated subjects during the 6-month study period, which was reflected in 5 of 9 (56%) "treatment failures" in the PL group compared to 2 of 14 (14%) and 2 of 12 (17%) in the THI and PIM groups, respectively. In addition, in some instances improvement over baseline evaluations was noted in both drug groups, particularly on global impression. Though some items of the BPRS exhibited Drug: PL differences, the scale in general was felt to be rather insensitive for this kind of study. Social adjustment ratings on a special scale completed by the patients and families alike, were also found to be insensitive to treatment differences. Side effects most often seen with THI were sedation, EKG and liver function abnormalities. Headache and restlessness occurred most often with PIM. Extrapyramidal symptoms and insomnia were seen most often with PIM and PL equally.

Adult

Synthetic thyroid releasing hormone (TRH) administered orally to chronic schizophrenic patients.

Synthetic TRH and PL were administered orally for 3 weeks (300 mg./day), to long-term institutionalized chronic schizophrenic patients, within the framework of a double blind placebo controlled crossover study. Significant changes in physiological and laboratory parameters suggested increased thyroid activity, but significant favorable psychiatric and behavioral changes were not observed. This study does not support the idea that oral TRH could be useful treatment for long-term institutionalized chronic schizophrenic patients, who generally respond readily to major neuroleptic drugs.

Administration, Oral

Evaluation of butaclamol in chronic schizophrenic patients.

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, an attempt was made to evaluate butaclamol in chronic schizophrenic patients using chlorpromazine (CPZ) as the standard comparative drug. With doses up to 50 mg/day, butaclamol was shown to have significant antipsychotic activity comparable to CPZ but with a much higher incidence of extrapyramidal signs. A more reasonable maintenance dose may be in the range of 5 to 20 mg/day. Rebound insomnia was noted again with butaclamol, which warrants further study.

Adult