PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K D Parker

Publications and source records attributed to K D Parker.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Variables associated with adolescent alcohol use: a multiethnic comparison.

The authors examined the influence of sociodemographic variables on the frequency and intensity of alcohol use among a nationally representative sample of Black, Hispanic, and White adolescents who had participated in the 1991 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1993). The sample consisted of 8,756 U.S. adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. The authors found that (a) approximately 19% of the respondents had used alcohol in the last 30 days: (b) among the respondents who had used alcohol, 21% had consumed 1 or more drinks per drinking episode; and (c) there were important similarities as well as important differences in variables that promoted alcohol use among Black. Hispanic, and White adolescents.

Adolescent↗

Fear of crime and the likelihood of victimization: a bi-ethnic comparison.

Fear of crime and the likelihood of future victimization for Hispanics and Blacks in the United States was examined. The sample size was 2,235 (1,696 Black and 539 Hispanic respondents). Fear of crime and the likelihood of victimization were perceived as serious social problems by both Hispanics and Blacks, but Hispanics and women reported higher levels of fear of crime and felt more likely to be victimized than Blacks and men did.

Adolescent↗

Actions and metabolism of codeine (methylmorphine) administration by continuous intravenous infusion to humans.

Miosis produced by codeine is not antagonized by nalorphine until large oral doses are administered for several days. The present experiment was conducted in order to further study this characteristic of the codeine effect. Eight healthy male volunteers, who were former drug users, were divided into two groups. Subjects in the first group were given a continuous infusion of codeine, 30 mg/hr for 11-16 hr. No subjective effects were reported by the volunteers. In three of the individuals definite miosis antagonized by nalorphine was observed at 9.5 hr. The dose of codeine for the second group was 60 mg/hr for 11 hr. Mild but definite subjective effects were experienced by each of the participants in this group. Miosis appeared between 2 and 6 hr. Challenges at 4 and 6 hr were positive in two subjects and negative or equivocal in the other two. Codeine was excreted in the urine as free and conjugated codeine, morphine, and norcodeine. Maximum rates of excretion were similar for both groups, suggesting that the maximum amount of codeine that can be metabolized is equal or less than 30 mg/hr. Also codeine clearance, being greater than creatinine clearance, suggests that codeine might be excreted by glomerular filtration and tubular secretion. Blood levels of codeine in the 60 mg/hr group were about 10 times those reported as therapeutic. However, morphine or norcodeine were not detectable by the methods used.

Adult↗

Detection of narcotic use. Comparison of the nalorphine (pupil) test with chemical tests.

The nalorphine (pupil) test for narcotic abuse is widely used in California. It is based on the ability of nalorphine to produce mydriasis in subjects who have recently taken morphine-like drugs and to produce miosis in others. The test will usually detect as little as 15 mg of morphine or comparable doses of other narcotics for several hours except in special circumstances. It is even more reliable for detection of chronic use of narcotics. A simple card pupillometer is adequate for measuring changes in pupil size resulting from nalorphine. Analysis for narcotics in urine by thin layer chromatography is also used, either alone or in conjunction with the pupil test, to detect drug abuse. In one study which included many urine speciments from subjects who had negative pupil tests the correlation between the pupil test and urinalysis was good (85 percent). When urinalysis was used to confirm suspicion of drug use resulting from a positive or equivocal pupil test, inter-method agreement dropped to about 50 percent for various reasons. Even so, use of the pupil test for screening and urinalysis for confirmation provides a satisfactory program for detection of narcotic abuse.

Chromatography, Thin Layer↗