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Biomedical subjects

L Alonso

Publications and source records attributed to L Alonso.

70 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Mental illness complicated by the santeria belief in spirit possession.

Santeria, a religious system that blends African and Catholic beliefs, is practiced by many Cuban Americans. One aspect of this system is the belief in spirit possession. Basic santeria beliefs and rituals, including the fiesta santera (a gathering at which some participants may become possessed), are briefly described, and four cases in which the patients' belief in possession played a role in their mental illness are presented. The belief in possession can complicate the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, but it should not be considered a culture-bound syndrome. Rather, it may be a nonspecific symptom of a variety of mental illnesses and should be evaluated in the context of the patient's overall belief system and ability to carry out usual activities.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Direct evidence that insulin does not down-regulate its own receptors in circulating monocytes of human newborns.

To determine the effect of insulin on its own receptor concentrations in circulating monocytes of normal human adults and full-term newborns, these cells were chronically exposed (2-18 h) to 10(-9) to 10(-7) mol/l insulin at 37 degrees C in vitro. The reduced 125I-insulin binding observed in monocytes from adult individuals was dependent on the concentration of unlabelled insulin and on the duration of exposure, while in the monocytes obtained from umbilical cord blood, insulin did not induce any reduction of insulin binding. The modifications observed in insulin binding were accounted for by changes in receptor concentrations rather than by any change in receptor affinity for the hormone. These findings show that insulin does not down-regulate its own receptors in monocytes of human newborns.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Efficacy of monolayer preparations for cervical cytology: emphasis on suboptimal specimens.

OBJECTIVE: To compare specimen adequacy and detection of disease in conventional cytologic smears and CytoRich monolayer preparations. STUDY DESIGN: Five hundred sixty pairs of conventional smears and monolayer preparations were compared. The conventional smear was made first, and the remaining cells were rinsed off into a vial containing transport medium. Monolayer slides were then prepared using the CytoRich system. RESULTS: Evaluation of cases for specimen adequacy based on the Bethesda System demonstrated that the CytoRich method eliminated preparations of poor quality, reducing significantly the number of suboptimal specimens (28.3% for conventional vs. 8.4% for CytoRich). The final diagnosis concurred in 82.8% of cases. In 8 cases the CytoRich slide showed a low grade or more severe lesion, while the conventional smear was "atypical" (ASCUS) in 7 cases of squamous intraepithelial lesion and unsatisfactory in 1 case of invasive carcinoma. In three cases the conventional smear showed a low or high grade lesion, while the CytoRich slide was atypical. CONCLUSION: The CytoRich method significantly reduces suboptimal preparations and the associated ambiguous or inconsistent diagnoses. It detects cervical abnormalities better than does the conventional smear. It may result in cost savings for the community and benefit patients since unnecessary recalls are avoided.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quantitative corneal anatomy in emmetropic subjects.

PURPOSE: Currently there is little information available about the corneal thickness values of healthy emmetropic subjects. Therefore, the authors decided to analyze the corneal thickness in healthy emmetropic subjects. METHODS: The authors analyzed the difference in thickness values between the thinnest corneal site and the central and paracentral cornea in 124 eyes of 124 healthy emmetropic white subjects. RESULTS: The mean difference between the thinnest site of the cornea and the thickness values obtained in the areas analyzed was as follows: 12+/-6 microm center; 140+/-19 microm superonasal; 133+/-23 microm nasal; 117+/-26 microm inferonasal; 122+/-19 microm superotemporal ; 89+/-22 microm temporal; and 99+/-29 microm inferotemporal (p<0.001; one way analysis of variance test). CONCLUSIONS: In healthy emmetropic white subjects the thinnest site of the cornea is statistically lower than the central and paracentral cornea.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Calcium metabolism in lactating women].

During lactation the main source of the breast-milk calcium seems to be maternal bone. The women who breast-fed, lost bone mineral content, which is recovered once breast-feeding ceased. Breast-milk calcium do not depend on an increase in calcium intake by the lactating mother. Calcium demand during lactation is associated with adjustments in the calcium metabolism, such as a decrease in urinary calcium excretion and mobilization of calcium from maternal bone. The classical calciotropic hormones concentrations (PTH and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D) are not associated with bone turnover markers or with changes in bone mineral content in the lactating women. However, serum estradiol is strongly associated with calcium balance, bone loss and calcium milk content.

Bone and Bones↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Obesity in children].

Obesity during childhood and adolescence is an increasingly common complaint in our daily clinical practice. The increase in its prevalence makes paediatrician worry about this disease, which is now considered an epidemic by the World Health Organisation. Obesity is a complex disease. Its aetiology is not yet clear, due to the multiple factors involved: environment, genetics, behaviour, life style, neuroendocrinology and metabolism. Persistent obesity increases the risk of suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and gallbladder disease. The treatment of obesity is problematic and there are few patients who persist on a long term weight reduction programme. A multidisciplinary approach is therefore required. Paediatricians, dieticians, nurses, psychologists and psychiatrist should intervene in the treatment programme. Dietary changes must combine a decrease in energy intake and an increase in energy expenditure, inculcating both healthy eating habits and lifestyle without interfering in the child's growth and development.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The neuropathology of temporal lobe epilepsy: primary and secondary changes in the cortical circuits and epileptogenicity].

INTRODUCTION: Temporal lobe epilepsy is associated to many disorders localized to the neocortex, the hippocampal formation or both (dual pathology). The most common pathologies are mesial sclerosis, tumours, malformations and scars. However, these alterations are not intrinsically epileptogenic, as they are also seen in patients who do not develop epilepsy. Thus, the cortical tissue in the damaged brain undergoes changes that may become a primary epileptogenic region. This region, in turn, may induce the formation of secondary epileptogenic regions situated at some distance from the primary focus. DEVELOPMENT: In this paper we consider the possibility that in both the primary and secondary epileptogenic regions there are similar changes in the neuronal circuits which induce epileptic activity. In the case of the primary epileptogenic regions, these changes occur non specifically following an initial lesion or precipitating factor (e.g. a tumour) which induces gliosis and neuronal loss around the lesion. These changes give rise to a perilesional synaptic reorganization (elimination of connections with or without the formation of new synapses) which causes the onset and continuation of epileptic activity. However, the changes in the circuits in the secondary epileptogenic regions are the result of epileptic activity originated in the primary epileptogenic region which is propagated by specific anatomical connections. This anomalous activity causes changes in the target region (gliosis and neuronal loss) which leads to epileptogenic synaptic reorganization similar to that occurring in the primary perilesional areas.

Cerebral Cortex↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Shift in the balance between circulating thrombospondin-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor in cancer patients: relationship to platelet alpha-granule content and primary activation.

Tumoral angiogenesis is regulated by the balance between factors that activate and inhibit angiogenesis. Elevated levels of activators have been associated with a poor prognosis in cancer patients, but little is known about the net balance between circulating activators and inhibitors in these patients. This study was designed to determine whether the balance between circulating concentrations of the angiogenesis inhibitor TSP-1 and the activator VEGF differs from that in healthy persons, and to shed light on the possible role of platelets in this balance. Twenty-five cancer patients and 18 healthy subjects were included. Serum and plasma concentrations of VEGF, TSP-1 and PF4 were measured by ELISA. Our results showed that in healthy subjects the balance between the TSP-1 and VEGF concentrations in serum and in serum minus plasma was twice to three times as high as in cancer patients (p < 0.05). The theoretical TSP-1 content per platelet was greater in healthy subjects than in patients (94 vs. 53.6 ng/mL, p < 0.05), and platelet activation (determined indirectly as the plasma concentration of PF4) was greater in cancer patients (129 vs. 48 IU/mL, p < 0.01). Platelet activation correlated significantly with serum concentration of TSP-1 (r = 0.470, p = 0.018) and showed a tendency toward correlation with plasma concentration of TSP-1 (r = 0.382, p = 0.059). Our findings show that the circulating TSP-1/VEGF balance is diminished in cancer patients. Platelet activation may play an important role in this decrease and may ultimately lead to increased angiogenic activity in these patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[A study of the prevalence of alcohol consumption in the Baix Ebre region (Tarragona)].

A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Baix Ebre region about the prevalence of alcohol use, within a wider study of hypertension and other risk factors. The following characteristics were considered for the elaboration of the present study: non drinker, moderate drinker and heavy drinker, as well as the amount of alcohol intake related with demographic, socioeconomical and cultural variables such as: age, sex, urban or rural medium, marital status, place of origin, working status, social and professional level, and educational status. 64.2% of the whole population greater than or equal to 20 years were usual alcohol users, and so were 79.4% of males and 48.2% of females. According to the definition of heavy or excessive drinker, such were 21.8% of males and 2.6% of females. Males drank a higher alcohol amount, with a mean and standard deviation of 47.1 +/- 35.5. In females, these figures were 19.4 +/- 12.4 g per day. The rate of alcohol drinkers was higher in young individuals, in those with active working status, in those with medium social and professional level, and in those with medium and high educational status.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Liver disease in toxic oil syndrome. Clinical and enzymatic course].

One-hundred and fifty-nine patients intoxicated with adulterated oil in the province of Salamanca, Spain, were followed-up for 2 years from the onset of the syndrome, in 1981. Four alcoholic patients were excluded from the study. In the remaining 155 patients the liver involvement at the onset took different forms. It was acute in 12 (7%), with jaundice and/or hepatomegaly associated with cytolysis and/or cholestasis; 21 patients (13%) had evidence of cytolysis and/or cholestasis without clinical symptoms, and 29 (18%) only showed a rise in gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase with normal transaminase and alkaline phosphatase levels. Liver enlargement and/or jaundice subsided within 1 month in the 12 patients with clinical symptoms. However, high gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase levels persisted in 4 of them and in 5 of the 21 patients with laboratory abnormalities only. At the end of the study, this enzyme remained elevated in 6 and 7 patients respectively of these two groups and in 5 of the 29 patients with no other abnormality than a rise in gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Physiopathological study in 2 cases of Bartter's syndrome].

Batter's syndrome is characterized by retardation in growth pitressin-resistant hypostenuria, hypokalemic alkalosis, high activity of the jux angiotensin-renine-aldosterone system with normal blood pressure; vascular insensibility to angiotensin and hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the juxtaglomerular apparatus. In both patients we studied, we found negative balance of sodium and potassium conditioned to a renal loss of them.

Bartter Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Calcium and phosphorus balance in rural lactating women in Mexico].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the balance of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) between lactation and weaning, and to determine the Ca and P milk production in Mexican rural lactating women. METHODS: Thirty-six women aged 18-36 y, weight 49 +/- 3 kg and height 148 +/- 2 cm, were divided in six groups: four groups of lactation (1st, 3rd, 6th and 12th month) one post-weaning group and one of non pregnant non lactating women. The balance studies were performed collecting duplicate diets, 24 h urine for 3 days, 72 h feces and 24 h milk samples for 2 days. The Ca content was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and P by the molybdate method. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Ca content in milk was higher in the 3rd month of lactation. The Ca balances were negative in all lactation groups (789 +/- 165 mg/d). Ca urinary excretion was lower in the lactating group (p < 0.05) suggesting a regulatory mechanism to conserve Ca during lactation. No differences were observed in the P content in milk and positive balances of P were observed in the non lactating and the post-weaning groups, whereas they were negative in the lactation groups (115 to 475 mg/d). High fecal Ca and P excretion (approximately 1300 mg/d) was observed, which contributed to the negative condition of the balance during lactation. The production of Ca and P in the milk of these rural women was similar to the one seen in rural and urban groups in Africa, Asia, Europe and the U.S.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Free amino acids in plasma and milk of mexican rural lactating women].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the free amino acid pool in plasma and milk in Mexican rural lactating women. METHODS: Twenty-eight women with an age 24 +/- 5.0 (+/- SD) years, weight 50 +/- 4.9 kg and height 148 +/- 4.8 cm were studied under metabolic balance conditions. Subjects were divided into five groups (three groups of lactation at 1st, 3rd and 6th month, one post-weaning group and a control group of non pregnant, non lactating women). Amino acid analyses of the diet and of plasma and milk samples were performed using an automated amino acid analyzer. RESULTS: Differences were observed between the lactation groups and the other groups: aspartate increased at the 6th month (p < 0.05) while leucine, valine and isoleucine declined in the 3rd month (p < 0.05). In milk, valine, proline and taurine decreased at 6 months (p < 0.05), while serine and threonine raised at 3 months. Plasma levels were > 4 fold greater than milk levels for branched chain amino acids and for the basic, aromatic and neutral amino acids. In contrast, glutamate was 40 fold higher in milk than plasma and it was the predominant amino acid in the free pool of milk. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the metabolic use of amino acids and the presence of specific amino acid transport systems during lactation, contribute to specific concentrations of free amino acids in milk that were not associated with the pool of free amino acids in plasma.

Adult↗