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Biomedical subjects

J W Osselton

Publications and source records attributed to J W Osselton.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Breathing during sleep in patients with myotonic dystrophy and non-myotonic respiratory muscle weakness.

Sleep apnoea and hypopnoea have been reported in myotonic dystrophy, but it is unclear whether this is simply attributable to the respiratory muscle weakness which is common in this condition. We therefore investigated whether breathing and oxygenation during sleep were more abnormal in patients with myotonic dystrophy than in patients with non-myotonic muscle weakness. Seven subjects were studied in each of three groups: normal controls, myotonic dystrophy and non-myotonic weakness. Patients in the latter group were chosen to represent a similar range of severity of respiratory muscle weakness to those with myotonic dystrophy. Detailed polysomnography was performed; the severity of breathing disorders during sleep was quantified in terms of the frequencies of apnoea and hypopnoea and the degree of arterial desaturation. The myotonic patients showed more frequent apnoea and hypopnoea and more severe desaturation than the other two groups; the results in the non-myotonic patients were generally intermediate. The results suggest that abnormal breathing during sleep is common in myotonic dystrophy and is not due solely to the direct effects of respiratory muscle weakness. Somnolence, which is a well recognized symptom of myotonic dystrophy, was not clearly attributable to the sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome nor to abnormal sleep architecture in the myotonic patients.

Adult↗

Effect of discothèque environment on epileptic children.

A free-field study of 22 epileptic children, selected on the basis of past electroencephalographic abnormality, identified a group who exhibited a significant increase in epileptiform discharge rate on electroencephalography in a discothèque environment (p less than 0.05). Laboratory investigations showed that these children were activated by a wide range of stimuli, including intermittent photic stimulation and exercise. The response to exercise was a good predictor of a child's electroencephalographic response in a discothèque. The findings suggest that most epileptic children are not particularly vulnerable in a discothèque environment.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

A comparison of sleep patterns in natural and mandrax- and tuinal-induced sleep.

A within-subject comparison of the effects on the overnight sleep EEG of 1 tablet of Mandrax (containing methaqualone base 250 mg. and diphenhydramine hydrochloride 25 mg.) and 200 mg. Tuinal (equal parts of quinalbarbitone sodium and amylobarbitone sodium) in 14 normal subjects is reported.Mandrax-induced sleep was not significantly different from natural sleep in the duration of light, moderate, deep and REM phases. Tuinal produced a significant reduction in REM sleep (P < 0.01) compared with natural sleep and with Mandrax-induced sleep.

Adolescent↗