PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

J F Soothill

Publications and source records attributed to J F Soothill.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Effect of diet treatment on enuresis in children with migraine or hyperkinetic behavior.

Twenty-one children with migraine and/or hyperkinetic behavior disorder which was successfully treated with an oligoantigenic (few-foods) diet also suffered from nocturnal and/or diurnal enuresis. On diet, the enuresis stopped in 12 of these children and improved in an additional four. Identification of provoking foods was by sequential reintroduction of the foods that were avoided on the oligoantigenic diet. In eight of the 12 children who recovered on the oligoantigenic diet and in the four who improved, reintroduction of one or more foods provoked a reproducible relapse of the enuresis. Nine children were subjected to a placebo-controlled, double-blind reintroduction of provoking foods. Six children relapsed during testing with incriminated foods; none reacted to placebo. Enuresis in food-induced migraine and/or behavior disorder seems to respond, in some patients, to avoidance of provoking foods.

Adolescent

Oligoantigenic diet treatment of children with epilepsy and migraine.

We studied the role of oligoantigenic diets in 63 children with epilepsy; 45 children had epilepsy with migraine, hyperkinetic behavior, or both, and 18 had epilepsy alone. Of the 45 children who had epilepsy with recurrent headaches, abdominal symptoms, or hyperkinetic behavior, 25 ceased to have seizures and 11 had fewer seizures during diet therapy. Headaches, abdominal pains, and hyperkinetic behavior ceased in all those whose seizures ceased, and in some of those whose seizures did not cease. Foods provoking symptoms were identified by systematic reintroduction of foods, one by one; symptoms recurred with 42 foods, and seizures recurred with 31; most children reacted to several foods. Of 24 children with generalized epilepsy, 18 recovered or improved (including 4 of 7 with myoclonic seizures and all with petit mal), as did 18 of 21 children with partial epilepsy. In double-blind, placebo-controlled provocation studies, symptoms recurred in 15 of 16 children, including seizures in eight; none recurred when placebo was given. Eighteen other children, who had epilepsy alone, were similarly treated with an oligoantigenic diet; none improved.

Adolescent

Few food diets in the treatment of atopic eczema.

Sixty six children with severe atopic eczema were treated with highly restricted ('few food') diets followed, if they improved, by serial reintroduction of excluded foods. Twenty four patients (36%) improved considerably during the few food phase of the diet. Fifteen of these (23% of the study group) maintained this improvement on dietary treatment, of whom three abandoned the diet after periods ranging from six to 10 months, despite continued benefit, because they found the dietary restrictions too arduous. Thus 12 out of 66 children (18%) with severe eczema experienced prolonged and useful benefit from this dietary manoeuvre. Double blind food challenges performed in 10 patients failed to establish that parental identification of provoking foods is reliable. A search for historical and in vitro predictors of diet responsiveness was unsuccessful in this series.

Adolescent

Meningitis caused by Absidia corymbifera.

A 56-year-old man developed mucormycotic meningitis caused by Absidia corymbifera and which followed a penetrating head injury. Antibodies to it were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid at titres higher than those found in the serum, thereby suggesting local production of antibody in the subarachnoid space.

Antibodies, Fungal

Neutrophil mobility during anaesthesia in children. A trial of ascorbate premedication.

In 20 healthy children undergoing elective surgery, mobility of neutrophils, both unstimulated and stimulated by endotoxin, was studied using a millipore filter system with microscopic determination of leading front migration. Paired samples were incubated with 10(-2) mol l-1 calcium ascorbate and ten children also received 10 mg kg-1 ascorbic acid before premedication. Stimulation of mobility was reduced after the opioid premedication (P less than 0.05) in the ascorbate group only, but not significantly during anaesthesia and surgery. A few individuals showed persisting abnormally low values. No effect of ascorbate in vivo or in vitro was demonstrated. There were no infections.

Adolescent

Controlled trial of oligoantigenic treatment in the hyperkinetic syndrome.

76 selected overactive children were treated with an oligoantigenic diet, 62 improved, and a normal range of behaviour was achieved in 21 of these. Other symptoms, such as headaches, abdominal pain, and fits, also often improved. 28 of the children who improved completed a double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled trial in which foods thought to provoke symptoms were reintroduced. Symptoms returned or were exacerbated much more often when patients were on active material than on placebo. 48 foods were incriminated. Artificial colorants and preservatives were the commonest provoking substances, but no child was sensitive to these alone.

Adolescent

Prospective study of cancer in patients with hypogammaglobulinaemia.

Among 377 patients with primary hypogammaglobulinaemia, mainly common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), 316 patients survived the first 2 years after diagnosis and were the subject of a study of cancer incidence. Among the 220 patients with CVID, there was a 5-fold increase of cancer due mainly to large excesses of stomach cancer (47-fold) and lymphomas (30-fold). The excess of stomach cancer is probably related to the high frequency of achlorhydria in CVID. 3 of the 7 patients with stomach cancer and CVID survived for 5 years or longer.

Adolescent

Infant feeding and subsequent risk of atopic eczema.

An attempted controlled trial of exclusively breast fed neonates with atopic parents, to assess the effectiveness of breast feeding in preventing atopic allergy, was not successfully achieved. Analysis of the data as an observational study, however, provided evidence that breast feeding offers some protection against eczema in genetically vulnerable infants. Feeds of soya preparations were associated with eczema as often as cows' milk based feeds.

Age Factors

A dietary management of severe childhood migraine.

We describe in detail a dietary treatment which has been shown to be effective in most children with severe migraine. Potential adverse nutritional and allergic effects are outlined; because of the diet should be undertaken only in those ill enough to justify it. In the first stage very few foods are given, and if the child responds to this oligoantigenic diet, foods are reintroduced one by one at weekly intervals. In this way foods causing symptoms are identified and eliminated. Research is urgently needed to establish simpler empirical diets and diagnostic tests.

Adolescent

Royal Commission.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Evaluation Studies as Topic

Delayed separation of the umbilical cord, widespread infections, and defective neutrophil mobility.

In six infants, from two families. the umbilical cords were still attached at 3 weeks of age. Five of these developed severe local and disseminated infections from which four died. Two of these children were tested, and both, including the survivor, had defective neutrophil mobility; in the survivor this was improved in vitro and in vivo by ascorbic acid. It is suggested that a primary genetic defect of a contractile protein could explain the association. The sixth child, with delayed cord separation but normal neutrophil mobility and no excess of infections, who has survived without special treatments, also has mastocytosis, apparently inherited independently.

Bacterial Infections

An inherited defect of neutrophil mobility in Shwachman syndrome.

Selected immunologic functions were assessed in 14 patients with the Shwachman syndrome. Nine patients were neutropenic and four had low levels of IgA or of IgM. Neutrophil mobility was significantly defective in the group of patients as a whole (in 12 it was below the lower limit of normal) and in their parents. No other consistent abnormality in immunity was found. These results suggest that the defective neutrophil mobility is a feature of Shwachman syndrome which may contribute to the vulnerability of these patients to frequent infections. The defect appears to be a primary genetic one, inherited as an autosomal recessive characteristic consistent with the assumed inheritance of Shwachman syndrome.

Adolescent

Antigen-antibody complexes in the serum of patients with juvenile chronic arthritis.

IgG-containing antigen-antibody complexes were detected in the sera of all of 7 patients with the systemic form of juvenile chronic arthritis, usually at high levels. Only 9 of 25 patients with the polyarticular form had such complexes, usually at low levels. Three patients had low levels of serum IgA which were probably drug induced; the one patient with low C2 and the 3 with low yeast opsonisation were probably not more than to be expected in a random population.

Adolescent

A controlled trial of cyclophosphamide and azathioprine in Nigerian children with the nephrotic syndrome and poorly selective proteinuria.

In a controlled trial, symptomatic treatment alone, or 12 weeks of cyclophosphamide or azathioprine were compared in Nigerian children with nephrotic syndrome (mainly quartan malarial nephropathy) and poorly selective proteinuria. Full remission in 2 patients in each of the two groups treated with drugs, and diminution of proteinuria in most patients in the cyclophosphamide group showed possible evidence of benefit. Infections during treatment were significantly more common in the drug-treated groups but were controllable. Mortality from renal failure in the 2nd year after treatment was significantly greater in the azathioprine-treated group than in the other two, suggesting that the drug may have exacerbated the nephritis. The 5-year survival rate was similar in the cyclophosphamide and the control group.

Azathioprine

Four families with immunodeficiency and chromosome abnormalities.

Six children, with severe deficiency of some or all of the immunoglobulins and minor somatic abnormalities, had chromosomal abnormalities: (1) 45,XY,t(13q/18q), (2) 46,XY,21ps +, (3) two brothers 46,XY (inv. 7) (4) 45,X,t(11p/10p)/46X,iXq,t(11p/10p) and, (5) in addendum, 45,XX,-18;46,XX, r18. The chromosome abnormalities were detected in B- as well as T-lymphocytes (as evidenced by using both PHA- and PWM-stimulated cultures) in all probands, but one was mosaic in PHA culture, although all his PWM-stimulated cells were abnormal. Chromosomal variants were also detected in relatives of three and immunodeficiency in relatives of two.

Agammaglobulinemia

Absorption of antigens after oral immunisation and the simultaneous induction of specific systemic tolerance.

Antigenic proteins may be absorbed intact. We report here results from in vivo experiments in mice showing that the prior feeding of protein antigen may reduce the subsequent absorption of that antigen without altering its elimination from the circulation. This may be a function of local immunity. We have also shown that the same feeding regime can paradoxically induce a state of systemic tolerance and suggest that the two phenomena contribute to the safe handling of these antigens.

Administration, Oral