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Biomedical subjects

J M Marín

Publications and source records attributed to J M Marín.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

[Dyspnea in COPD: relation to the MRC scale with dyspnea induced by walking and cardiopulmonary stress testing].

OBJECTIVE: Exercise-related dyspnea is the main symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), yet its relation to lung function deterioration is weak. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation between the patients' usual level of dyspnea and dyspnea caused by a maximum cardiopulmonary stress test or a 6-minute walking test. METHODOLOGY: Thirty-six consecutive patients with stable COPD (age 66 7 years post-bronchodilator FEV1 47 14% of predicted) were studied. In addition to full baseline function testing, all patients underwent stress testing on a cycle ergometer and a 6-minute walking test in a corridor 50 m long. Exercise-induced dyspnea was assessed by the patient on a Borg scale before beginning and after completing each test. Chronic dyspnea during activities of daily living was quantified on the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale. RESULTS: The MRC value was only weakly related to percent of predicted FEV1 (r = 0.34, p = 0.04). Parameters obtained during exercise tests that were associated with the MRC were SaO2 at the end of the 6-minute walking test (r = 0.49, p = 0.004) and change in dyspnea on the Borg scale during the 6-minute walking test (deltaBorg-6mWT, r = 0.54, p = 0.0008) and during the stress test (r = 0.35, p = 0.04). Multiple regression analysis, with the MRC result as the dependent variable, showed that deltaBorg-6mWT and SaO2 at the end of the walking test explained 29% of the variance. CONCLUSION: Severity of chronic dyspnea in COPD patients assessed on the MRC scale is more related to dyspnea triggered by the walking test than with dyspnea induced by cycle ergometer stress testing.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2000

Spontaneous regression of Elschnig pearl posterior capsule opacification.

After extracapsular cataract extraction with in-the-bag intraocular lens implantation, a 72-year-old woman had reduced visual acuity from posterior capsule opacification (PCO) resulting from Elschnig pearl proliferation. No capsulotomy was performed, and the PCO decreased spontaneously over time, improving visual acuity and leaving a clear capsule.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Minimum distance estimation of mutational parameters for quantitative traits.

Individual spontaneous mutations affecting the expression of quantitative traits cannot be systematically identified and, therefore, their effect on the trait cannot be measured. Thus, the rate of occurrence of such mutations and the moments of the probability distribution of the corresponding effects, which are important in evolutionary studies, remain unknown. Here we propose a method to estimate those mutational properties from the observed distribution of the trait mean in a set of independent inbred lines (all derived from the same homozygous base population) in which mutations had been allowed to accumulate randomly. It is based on the use of the well-known minimum distance method, i.e., on the minimization of a distance between the observed distribution and that expected on the basis of a genetic model. We analyze data for three morphological traits (wing length and abdominal and sternopleural bristle number) in Drosophila melanogaster. The method appears to be powerful, giving evolutionary coherent estimates of relevant mutational properties that had not been estimated previously. For all traits, mutational rates were low (smaller than 0.05). Most mutations affecting wing length or abdominal bristle number and negative effect, while almost half of those affecting sternopleural bristle number had positive effect. For each trait, results obtained from data on different generations are in qualitative agreement, although mutational effects seem to depend on generation-specific environmental factors. The method detected between-trait differences in the kurtosis coefficient of the distribution of mutational effects, which varied from values close to that of the normal distribution (wing length) to relatively high values (sternopleural bristle number). It reveals that an important proportion of the mutational input variance of each trait is due to mutations with absolute effect smaller than 0.5 environmental standard deviation units. For morphological traits undergoing weak direct selection, this suggests that large amounts of genetic variance due to genes segregating at intermediate frequencies can be present at the equilibrium.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

[Continuous domiciliary oxygen therapy in Zaragoza: a cross-sectional home study].

To assess use of long-term domiciliary oxygen therapy (LDOT) in Saragossa by means of home interviews. We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients undergoing LDOT, interviewing 312 of the 614 patients who used O2 at home in January 1993 (103/100,000 h). Health care workers visited the patients at home and collected all available information related to indications, pattern of use of O2 and complementary tests done. The interviewer also took spirometric readings, SaO2 readings breathing room air and after 30 min breathing O2, and administered a quality of life questionnaire (only to patients with pneumopathies). All patients selected were assessed; 195 (62.5%) suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 33 (10.6%) from asthma, 31 (9.9%) from other pneumopathies, and 53 (17%) from a variety of conditions that were not primarily bronchopulmonary. Thirty-six (11.5%) were active smokers. Only 101 of the 184 patients for whom arterial gasometric readings were available met the criteria for prescribing LDOT. SaO2 without O2 was > or = 92% in 89 (28.5%) patients and > or = 90% in 193 (61.8%). Only 96 (31%) patients reported using O2 more than 15 hours/day and there was a weak inverse relation (p = 0.04) between hours of use and FEV1 in the COPD group. Quality of life for patients with pneumophaties depended entirely on degree of lung function deterioration and was unrelated to use of O2. The rate of use of LDOT Saragossa is one of the highest in Spain. In an estimated 28.5-46% of cases, the indications are inappropriate, mainly due to infrequent use of arterial gas measurement and the prescription of LDOT for patients without COPD. This situation largely explains why patients hardly ever use LDOT on a daily basis.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

[Active pulmonary tuberculosis in the community. Current presentation].

OBJECTIVE: To discover how patients in a provincial general hospital, diagnosed as having pulmonary tuberculosis had first clinically and radiologically presented. DESIGN: This was a retrospective observational study. SITE. The San Jorge de Huesca General Hospital. The period of study was between January, 1986, and December, 1989. PATIENTS AND OTHERS PARTICIPANTS: Those studied were the 59 patients diagnosed as having active pulmonary tuberculosis during the study period. MAIN MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 45.6 +/- 19.25 SD. There was greater occurrence in males. The most common form in which the disease first appeared was thoracic symptomatology (59%), followed by constitutional syndrome (45.7%). 8 patients were addicted to drugs taken parenterally (ADVP), of whom 4 were HIV-positive (6.8%). The most common radiological pattern was ulcero-caseous. CONCLUSIONS: We underline the importance of diagnostical awareness at the Primary Care level in order to rapidly begin the correct treatment; and thus fight the adverse epidemiological situation caused by tuberculosis today.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

[Update of surgical criteria in thyroid pathology].

Review of an aleatory sample composed by 100 patients suffering some thyroid disorder, operated at ENT Department of the Hospital, during the last 5 years. Statistical evaluation of the significance and reliability of several parameters, clinical items, diagnostic tests and surgical judgements contrasted with the corresponding nowadays bibliography.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Symptomatic right aortic arch in adults].

A 54-year-old female presented with dyspnea on exertion and wheezing, with a negative response to inhaled beta-2 stimulating drugs and intravenous glucocorticoids. The major values of basal spirometric study were normal; however, the morphology of the flow-volume curve showed intrathoracic obstruction of large airways, with negative response to beta stimulating drugs. The bronchial provocative test with histamine was normal. Chest radiographs only showed a mild widening of the median mediastinum with left anterior tracheal displacement. Nuclear magnetic resonance showed a right aortic arch with tracheal strangulation.

Aorta, Thoracic↗
PubMed1990

[A second drug in nonatopic asthma insufficiently controlled with beta 2-adrenergic stimulants: budesonide versus theophylline].

We assessed whether theophylline or budesonide (an inhaled corticosteroid) is the most adequate drug to be added to the treatment of patients insufficiently controlled with beta agonists (procaterol). Two comparable groups of nonatopic asthmatic adults (n = 24), aged between 16 and 66 years (42 +/- 17), were investigated in a crossed, randomized study. After 4 weeks with procaterol + 800 micrograms of budesonide, the forced expiratory flow improved (p less than 0.01), the degree of bronchial hyperreactivity to histamine was reduced (p less than 0.001), the daily recorded symptomatology almost disappeared in all and the number of procaterol inhalations was reduced (p less than 0.05). The combination of theophylline + procaterol during 4 weeks did not improve these parameters from their baseline values. It was concluded that inhaled steroids are the drugs of choice in patients with asthma which is not controlled only with beta agonists.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Strengthening of the steering role of health++ authorities in health care reforms].

Strengthening the ability of health authorities to provide leadership and guidance, now and in the future, is an important issue within the context of health sector reform. It means, among other things, redefining the role of health in light of leading social and economic trends seen in the world at the beginning of the 21st century, increasing participation in health by nongovernmental entities, moving toward participatory democracy in many countries, and modifying concepts of what is considered "public" and "private." Within this scenario, it is necessary to redirect the role of the health sector toward coordinating the mobilization of national resources, on a multisectoral scale, in order to improve equity and social well-being and to channel the limited available resources to the most disadvantaged groups in society. The liberalization of the production and distribution of health-related goods and services, including insurance, challenges the exercise of authority in the area of health. Furthermore, the formation of regional economic blocks and the enormous weight wielded by multinational companies in the areas of pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies and technologies are forcing the health sector to seek ways of harmonizing health legislation and international negotiations. According to many experts, all of these demands surpass the ability of Latin American ministries of health to effectively respond, given most countries' current organizational, legal, and political conditions and technical infrastructure. The countries of the Americas must make it a priority to strengthen their health officials' ability to provide leadership and guidance in order to meet present and future challenges.

Americas↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nifedipine in exercise-induced asthma.

The calcium entry blockers may inhibit EIA in patients with bronchial asthma, but it is not demonstrated that they produced bronchodilation once the crisis is established. Nine patients with exercise induced asthma were studied. We carried out an exercise test for ten minutes with constant load and the following were measured; FVC, PEF, MEF25 and sGaw before and after test. All the values fell 20% or more than the initial values. A 20 mg was administered without modifying the studied parameters and only the administration of 400 micrograms of metaproterenol by inhalation made the sensation of dyspnea recur in all patients.

Adolescent↗