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Biomedical subjects

J Foulds

Publications and source records attributed to J Foulds.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Randomized comparative trial of nicotine polacrilex, a transdermal patch, nasal spray, and an inhaler.

BACKGROUND: There are several nicotine replacement products on the market, and physicians are likely to be asked with increasing frequency about which of these products their patients should use. OBJECTIVE: To provide a basis for rational advice by comparing nicotine polacrilex (gum), a transdermal patch, nasal spray, and an inhaler. DESIGN: Randomized trial with assessments at the quit date and 1, 4, and 12 weeks later. SETTING: Hospital smokers' clinic. PATIENTS: Male and female community volunteers (N = 504) smoking 10 or more cigarettes per day and seeking help to stop smoking. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were given brief advice, and purchased their nicotine replacement treatment at approximately half the regular retail price. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Nicotine replacement treatment use, ratings of withdrawal symptoms, ratings of product characteristics and helpfulness, and biochemically validated continuous lapse-free abstinence. RESULTS: The products did not differ in their effects on withdrawal discomfort, urges to smoke, or rates of abstinence. The continuous validated 12-week abstinence rates were 20%, 21%, 24%, and 24% in the gum, patch, spray, and inhaler groups, respectively. Compliance with recommended nicotine replacement treatment use was high for the patch, low for gum, and very low for the spray and the inhaler. The spray was underused because of adverse effects more often than the other products. In the subjects using the spray, the level of use among abstainers at week 1 predicted outcome at week 12. The inhaler was rated as more embarrassing to use than the other products, but provided at least as much nicotine as the gum. CONCLUSION: When asked about nicotine replacement treatment products available, physicians should note that, despite low compliance with the recommended dose of the spray and inhaler and differences in product ratings, overall, there are no notable differences between the products in their effects on withdrawal discomfort, perceived helpfulness, or general efficacy.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1998

Nicotine absorption and dependence in unlicensed lozenges available over the counter.

AIM: To demonstrate the nicotine absorption and dependence potential from unlicensed nicotine containing lozenges. DESIGN: A single case report of dependence on nicotine lozenges, plus measurements of nicotine levels before and after consumption of eight nicotine lozenges over 2 hours in volunteers. SETTING: Hospital Smokers' Clinic. PARTICIPANTS: One male patient suffering from schizophrenia who had consumed 150 "Stoppers" lozenges per day for the previous 5 years, plus seven non-smoker volunteers. MEASUREMENTS: Blood nicotine concentration. FINDINGS: The patient's low expired carbon monoxide level (5 p.p.m.) and high plasma nicotine (32 ng/ml) and cotinine levels (947 ng/ml) were consistent with very heavy lozenge consumption. The non-smoker volunteers obtained nicotine concentrations of around 11 ng/ml by consuming eight Stoppers lozenges over 2 hours. Other brands of nicotine lozenges produced lower initial levels, but also produced delayed intestinal absorption and vomiting after food consumption. CONCLUSION: Nicotine lozenges are a potential aid to smoking cessation but their safety, efficacy and abuse potential remain to be properly evaluated.

Humans↗
PubMed1998

New tools for the diagnosis of tuberculosis: the perspective of developing countries.

New diagnostics for tuberculosis are urgently needed to replace or facilitate acid-fast bacilli (AFB) microscopy for the identification of smear-positive cases, and to improve the diagnosis of AFB smear-negative cases. These need to be appropriate for use in low income countries. Tests to replace or facilitate AFB microscopy must offer improvements to this test, including increased sensitivity, speed, ease of use, and safety. Products to improve the identification of smear-negative cases should focus on the diagnosis of patients with paucibacillary pulmonary disease, including children and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected persons, and those with extrapulmonary forms of tuberculosis.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMed1997

Mood and physiological effects of subcutaneous nicotine in smokers and never-smokers.

This study compared the effect of subcutaneous nicotine injections (2 x 0.3 mg and 2 x 0.6 mg) with saline on subjective and physiological measures in 18 never-smokers and 18 smokers (24-h nicotine deprived), under conditions of rest and cognitive testing. Prior to the injections the mood of the smokers had deteriorated to a level significantly below that of the never-smokers as a result of tobacco withdrawal. Cognitive tests caused reductions in calmness and increased alertness but there was no evidence of nicotine improving mood in either group under either condition. The 0.6 mg dose worsened mood in never-smokers and caused unpleasant symptoms (e.g. dizziness and arm pain) in both groups. Compared with smokers, never-smokers experienced stronger symptoms of nicotine toxicity and a greater reduction in alertness in response to the 0.6 mg dose, suggesting chronic tolerance to some nicotine effects in smokers. Nicotine produced similar increases in heart rate and decreases in finger pulse volume in both groups. Our results imply that if nicotine has a mood enhancing effect it occurs only after tolerance has been acquired to its primary adverse effects, and that its ability to reverse the mood deterioration caused by tobacco withdrawal is susceptible to situational factors such as our experimental conditions.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Cognitive performance effects of subcutaneous nicotine in smokers and never-smokers.

In a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study the effects of two doses of subcutaneous nicotine and saline were compared on a range of performance measures in 18 abstaining smokers and 18 never-smokers. Each subject received two injections (40 min apart) of saline, 0.3 mg nicotine, or 0.6 mg nicotine in a balanced order over three sessions. Performance was assessed before and after the injections on nine tests [news recall, Sternberg memory task, finger tapping, logical reasoning, rapid visual information processing (RVIP), long-term word recognition, digit recall, Stroop test, and critical flicker fusion threshold]. In the abstinent smokers, nicotine produced significantly faster correct responses on the logical reasoning test, more target hits, faster reaction times and improved sensitivity on the RVIP task, and more correct responses on word recognition. In never-smokers, nicotine produced faster reaction times on the RVIP and digit-recall tasks, although in the latter case this was at the expense of fewer correct responses. There were no significant differences between the two groups' responses to nicotine but smokers performed worse than never-smokers prior to injections, even controlling for background characteristics. These results are consistent with other recent research suggesting a primary effect of nicotine in enhancing cognitive performance.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Strategies for smoking cessation.

Smoking cessation strategies should be geared to the target group's level of motivation to quit, and degree of tobacco addiction. Motivational interventions (e.g. media campaigns) aim to encourage more people to try to stop smoking. Treatment interventions (e.g. nicotine replacement) aim to increase the chances of a quit attempt being successful. In populations which have already been saturated by motivational interventions, the overall effect of adding further motivational interventions may be rather small, and possibly non-existent in heavy smokers. As a population's smoking prevalence declines, so the balance of interventions should shift from motivational to treatment approaches. Nicotine replacement is an effective smoking cessation aid and should form the basis for treating moderate to heavy smokers. There may be a case for the development of more specialist clinics to treat motivated but addicted smokers and train health professionals how to apply effective smoking cessation methods as part of their routine work.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1996

Global eradication of poliomyelitis: benefit-cost analysis.

A benefit-cost analysis of the Poliomyelitis Eradication Initiative was undertaken to facilitate national and international decision-making with regard to financial support. The base case examined the net costs and benefits during the period 1986-2040; the model assumed differential costs for oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) and vaccine delivery in industrialized and developing countries, and ignored all benefits aside from reductions in direct costs for treatment and rehabilitation. The model showed that the "break-even" point at which benefits exceeded costs was the year 2007, with a saving of US$ 13 600 million by the year 2040. Sensitivity analyses revealed only small differences in the break-even point and in the dollars saved, when compared with the base case, even with large variations in the target age group for vaccination, the proportion of case-patients seeking medical attention, and the cost of vaccine delivery. The technical feasibility of global eradication is supported by the availability of an easily administered, inexpensive vaccine (OPV), the epidemiological characteristics of poliomyelitis, and the successful experience in the Americas with elimination of wild poliovirus infection. This model demonstrates that the Poliomyelitis Eradication Initiative is economically justified.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1995

Counting the costs of children's smoking.

The recent publication of the 1994 OPCS survey of smoking among secondary school children confirmed that the Health of the Nation target for children's smoking (a reduction in regular smoking from 8% in 1988 to less than 6% in 1994) has not been achieved. In 1994, 12% of English schoolchildren aged 11-15 were regular smokers (as were 12% in Scotland, 9% in Wales, and 12.5% in Northern Ireland). In 1994 the government spent around 10 million pounds on initiatives to prevent smoking, but received around 8643 million pounds in tax receipts from tobacco sales, about 108 million pounds of which was tax receipts from the illegal sale of cigarettes to children under 16 years old. The tobacco industry spent an estimated 100 million pounds on promotional activities. Improving current trends in children's smoking by the year 2000 will require decisive action by the government. The government should legislate to ban tobacco advertising and should use the 108 million pounds taken each year in taxes from smoking children to fund smoking cessation and prevention initiatives.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

A case of nicotine psychosis?

A woman attempting to stop smoking using transdermal nicotine patches experienced a variety of transient delusions and hallucinations after smoking a cigarette. Various possible explanations are discussed.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1995

The role of nicotine in tobacco smoking: implications for tobacco control policy.

This paper outlines some of the evidence that tobacco smoking is maintained by addiction to nicotine. Smokers often perceive that tobacco helps them cope with stress and aids their mental alertness. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms are one important factor preventing many smoker from quitting (only about 3% succeed with each unaided quit attempt). A number of policies are suggested to reduce the health consequences of smoking more quickly than at present. These include (a) banning all tobacco advertising and prosecuting retailers who sell illegally to children, in order to reduce the number of young people becoming addicted, (b) increasing the real price of tobacco in order to encourage more people to try to stop smoking, (c) providing specialist smokers' clinics in every large general hospital in order to assist highly motivated but addicted smokers to quit and (d) increasing the rate at which tobacco manufacturers must reduce permissible tar and carbon monoxide yields, such that in 20 years time only nicotine delivery products which are free of tar and carbon monoxide will be allowed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Effect of subcutaneous nicotine injections of EEG alpha frequency in non-smokers: a placebo-controlled pilot study.

The effect of two subcutaneous injections of 0.6 mg nicotine, administered 40 min apart, was compared with placebo in four non-smoking subjects in a counter-balanced double-blind crossover design. The nicotine injections produced mean peak plasma nicotine concentrations of 5.3 ng/ml 10 min after the first injection and 8.5 ng/ml 10 min after the second injection. The nicotine injections produced an increase in mean dominant alpha frequency on the electroencephalogram (EEG) which was 2 Hz greater than the effect of placebo (P = 0.049) and also produced a heart-rate boost which was 8 beats per minute greater than that produced by placebo (P = 0.022). These effects on dominant alpha frequency and heart rate were most apparent in the 10 min following each nicotine injection. The increase in dominant alpha frequency found in non-smokers in this study was similar to that following nicotine inhalation in abstinent smokers in previous studies, and suggests that this is a primary effect of nicotine, rather than simply a reversal of withdrawal-induced EEG slowing.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Transdermal nicotine patches with low-intensity support to aid smoking cessation in outpatients in a general hospital. A placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether transdermal nicotine patches combined with low-intensity support can help outpatients in a general hospital stop smoking. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 12 weeks of follow-up. SETTING: Department of Thoracic Medicine in an inner-city public general hospital, London, England. SUBJECTS: Two hundred forty-eight outpatients in a general hospital, who smoked at least 10 cigarettes per day (the majority were being treated for smoking-related diseases), referred by clinicians at the hospital. INTERVENTION: Brief advice to stop smoking and daily application of transdermal nicotine patches (delivering 15 mg over 16 hours) or placebo, with follow-up appointments at 1, 3, 6, and 12 weeks, with a doubling of the dosage for continuing smokers at week 1. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Sustained abstinence from tobacco from week 3 to week 12 validated with measurement of expired-air carbon monoxide concentration at weeks 3, 6, and 12. RESULTS: Twenty-nine (23.4%) of 124 subjects assigned to the nicotine group were validated as having abstained from smoking at both weeks 3 and 6, compared with 16 (12.9%) of 124 subjects receiving placebo (P = .008). At week 12, 22 (17.7%) of the subjects in the nicotine group were validated as having abstained at all three points as were 15 (12.1%) of the subjects in the placebo group (P = .058). CONCLUSION: Transdermal nicotine patches combined with low-intensity support are effective in helping outpatients in a general hospital stop smoking but do not prevent relapse after 6 weeks.

Administration, Cutaneous↗