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Biomedical subjects

M Elian

Publications and source records attributed to M Elian.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

The changing mortality from motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis in England and Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

A study has been undertaken to ascertain the changes in mortality from motor neurone disease (MND) and from multiple sclerosis (MS) in England and Wales and in the Republic of Ireland. During the 20 years 1968-1987, 16,077 deaths were reported as being primarily due to MND in England and Wales with a male/female ratio of 1.22. There has been an increase in MND deaths from 3,185 in 1968-1972 to 5,241 in 1983-1987. The increase occurred in the death rates in both sexes and in all age groups, but particularly over the age of 65. In contrast, there was no increase in MS deaths and the MS death rates fell below the age of 55 but increased over this age, evidence that MS patients are living longer. A similar but more marked increase in MND mortality, and a considerable fall in MS mortality, occurred in the Republic of Ireland. The increase in MND mortality is not due to an increase in the number of neurologists, as there has been little increase in their numbers. The highest MND mortality was in Social Class IIIN males - skilled non-manual workers.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

EEG and respiration in Rett syndrome.

Forty-four EEGs of 16 girls with Rett syndrome are reviewed. The ages of the girls at the time of the EEG examination ranged from 8 months to 20 years. The normal and abnormal EEGs were scattered among the ages. Eight girls showed a pseudoperiodic pattern, the short bursts of high-amplitude slow waves tending to be associated with apnoea and the lower-amplitude faster rhythms with normal breathing or with hyperventilation. The mechanism of the abnormal breathing pattern, which was present solely in the waking state, is discussed. We suggest that the alternating apnoea and hyperventilation are a behaviourally determined breathing pattern, a pastime which is often pleasurable. The need to treat the idiosyncratic breathing is questionable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Olfactory impairment in motor neuron disease: a pilot study.

The ability to identify smells was tested in nine males and six females with motor neuron disease (MND) of varying severity, using the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT). The olfactory impairment found in MND patients compared with age and sex matched controls is statistically significant at the 0.005 level. The relationship with Parkinson's disease, with Alzheimer's dementia and the possible aetiological implications of this new aspect of the MND are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Multiple sclerosis among United Kingdom-born children of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the West Indies.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is very uncommon among ethnic Asians in the Indian subcontinent, among Asians and Africans resident in the New Commonwealth countries of Africa and in the West Indies. It is also very uncommon among those who have migrated to England from those countries. In contrast, the children born in the United Kingdom of Asian, African and West Indian immigrants have, in the age groups available for study, a high prevalence of MS of a similar order to that occurring in the general population of England.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease: survival and how certified after death.

This study assesses the outcome of a random sample of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and motor neurone disease (MND) selected from a previous study carried out between the years 1960 and 1972. Of the MND patients who are now dead, 20% of the women and 27% of the men lived longer than five years after hospitalised diagnosis, and two of these patients lived up to 19 years after diagnosis in hospital. Also, 10.7% of the random sample of MND patients were still alive in June 1985. Of the MS deaths 26.4% and of the MND deaths 20.4% did not have these respective conditions recorded on the death certificates.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1987

Multiple sclerosis among the United Kingdom-born children of immigrants from the West Indies.

Multiple sclerosis has been reported to be very uncommon in the West Indies. In previous studies immigrants from the West Indies resident in Greater London had only one-eighth the likelihood of being diagnosed in hospital as having multiple sclerosis compared with those born in the United Kingdom. No studies of the incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis were available for London or South East England but there is evidence that it is much the same as occurs in Ireland. In the age groups studied the United Kingdom-born children of West Indian immigrants had an incidence and prevalence of probable multiple sclerosis of the same order as has been reported in Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic. Although there is evidence that genetic factors play a part, our findings are strong evidence that the cause of the disease is mainly environmental and is therefore potentially preventable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

HLA associations with multiple sclerosis in Sicily and Malta.

The islands of Sicily and Malta have very different prevalence rates for multiple sclerosis (MS): at least 44 per 100,000 in Sicily and only 4 per 100,000 in Malta. In Northern Europe, MS is associated with HLA-DR2/Dw2. The other components of the commonest DR2-containing haplotype of this region, HLA-A3-B7-DR2-Dw2, also tend to be present at higher frequency in MS patients. HLA Class I and II antigen frequencies and associations in controls and MS patients from Sicily and Malta were studied to discover whether they might account for the difference in MS prevalence. In Sicilian MS patients, DR2 is increased in frequency compared with controls and four out of five DR2-positive patients also type as Dw2. In the Maltese population, DR2 is present at high frequency but approximately half of the DR2 positive individuals do not type as Dw2 so that DR2 is probably most commonly present as part of Class II haplotypes other than those commonly associated with MS. Additional differences in HLA profile of the Sicilian and Maltese populations were found when HLA-A, -B, and B-DR antigen associations were examined. Therefore, some of the difference in MS prevalence might be explained by genetic factors.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗
PubMed1986

A further study on the prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Sicily: Caltanissetta city.

The prevalence of probable multiple sclerosis (MS) in Caltanissetta city, Sicily, is at least 51 per 100,000. If possible multiple sclerosis patients are included, it is 54 per 100,000. This value is similar to that found in other cities in Sicily: Enna, Monreale and Agrigento. The high prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Caltanissetta confirms the previous data on Sicily and emphasises the importance of small population studies in the epidemiology of MS.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

To tell or not to tell the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

167 patients disabled by multiple sclerosis were interviewed to ascertain their views about being told the name of the disease causing their disability. 30 were ignorant of the nature of their disease. 83% favoured knowing the diagnosis, 13% were indifferent, and less than 4% preferred not to know the diagnosis. Almost a quarter of the patients had discovered the diagnosis for themselves. All the respondents thought that the consultant was the person who should convey the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1985

Metrizamide and the EEG: three case reports and a review.

Three patients are described who developed cerebral complications and an EEG abnormality for several days after metrizamide myelography. Clinically, the patients showed a fluctuating confusional state with dysphasia and retrograde amnesia, while their EEGs were dominated by runs of slow wave activity interspersed with frequent spikes. The runs appeared either continuously or in paroxysmal bursts. The clinical symptoms and the EEG are compatible with complex partial status epilepticus and are similar to the symptomatology of ten patients described in the literature. This rare clinical entity should be distinguished from a more common complication of metrizamide--non-specific slow wave abnormality of variable degree in the EEG with or without clinical signs. Clinical manifestations may include transient aphasia and weakness of the limbs with pyramidal signs.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Multiple sclerosis in research workers studying swayback in lambs: an updated report.

Four out of seven research workers into swayback disease, a neurological disease of lambs, developed symptoms and signs of multiple sclerosis, and were reported in 1947. A further worker later joined the group. All of the original seven have died and two at necropsy had multiple areas of demyelination in the brain and spinal cord. The chance of four or more out of a random group of eight men developing multiple sclerosis is about one in a thousand million. Multiple sclerosis has not occurred in other workers on swayback disease elsewhere.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Multiple sclerosis in southern Europe. II: Prevalence in Malta in 1978.

After an intensive survey only 14 patients have been found with a diagnosis of probable multiple sclerosis (MS) in the islands of Malta. This is a low prevalence of 4.2 per 100 000. The low prevalence of MS is confirmed by the small number of deaths certified as due to MS--six in 11 years--and by the absence of Maltese MS patients resident in England among the MS patients admitted to hospital in Greater London and the West Midlands (1960-72). The low prevalence of MS found in Malta can be contrasted with the high prevalence found in Enna city in central Sicily. The genetic and environmental reasons for this difference in MS prevalence between the neighbouring islands of Sicily and Malta require further study.

England↗
PubMed1975

Late effects of brain biopsy.

303 patients underwent brain biopsy; 20 patients were available for a follow-up EEG examination, up to 16 years after the biopsy. 4 patients (20%) had focal fits starting within 6 months after the intervention. In the EEG of 15 patients (75%) 2 varieties of focal abnormalities appeared: "trepanation activity" which, for reasons discussed below should be regarded as an abnormality; and other focal features, including spikes, more often seen in patients with epilepsy. It is concluded that irritative brain lesions appear in a considerable number of patients after brain biopsy. The decision of performing this diagnostic procedure should be made after taking in consideration that: by enhancing the possibility of a correct diagnosis we may induce focal seizures in every fifth patient and irritative phenomena in three fourths of their EEG'S.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Herpes simplex encephalitis. Prognosis and long-term follow-up.

Electroencephalograms (73) of 11 patients with confirmed herpes simplex encephalitis were recorded. Based on serial recordings it was seen that the repetitive complexes could be recorded at any time of the illness; they were associated with a fatal outcome. The repetitive complexes were absent in all patients who survived. Long-term follow-up of the surviving patients shows spike discharges, which were transitory and not associated with clinical signs in three of them, with a return to normal rhythmic activity. It is proposed that the EEG may be used as a prognostic sign in herpes simplex encephalitis.

Adolescent↗