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Biomedical subjects

M N Lowenthal

Publications and source records attributed to M N Lowenthal.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Demographic aspects of Paget's disease of bone in the Negev of southern Israel.

In a mainly retrospective but partly prospective survey of the period 1968-1993 in southern Israel, 61 cases of Paget's disease of bone were identified. Fifty six percent were of non-Afro-Asian origin and 44% originated from Afro-Asia, which is approximately the inverse of the ratio in the local general population. The largest single groups from non-Afro-Asia and Afro-Asia originated, from Romania and Tunisia, respectively, and Australia and Argentina were also disproportionately prominent as countries of origin. Israel itself was the origin of few patients. All the patients were Jews except for one Bedouin Arab, which is far different from the distribution of Bedouins and Jews in both the surveyed area and the hospital population. The differences between these groups numerically and against the background local population may well have been statistically significant had the circumstances enabled greater randomness in the collection of the data analyzed. It is surmised that in southern Israel the prevalence of Paget's disease of bone is about 1%, similar to that in southern Europe.

Africa↗
PubMed1994

Osteomalacia in Bedouin women of the Negev.

In a retrospective survey of hospital admissions over the years 1980-89, primary nutritional osteomalacia was diagnosed in 20 patients, all of whom were Bedouin Arab women. Every patient suffered from bone pain and proximal muscle weakness, and fixed skeletal deformities were common. Mean serum alkaline phosphatase levels were mean +/- SE 492 +/- 72 (reference range 30-125 IU/ml). Mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (in 12 cases) were 4.05 +/- 0.66 ng/ml (Bedouin and Jewish female reference levels 15.1 +/- 2.6 and 32.3 +/- 3.3) respectively); in 9 of these 12 cases 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels were 1.54 +/- 0.51 ng/ml (Bedouin and Jewish reference levels 0.66 +/- 0.1 and 2.44 +/- 0.29 respectively); and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels were 49.3 +/- 10.04 pg/ml (Bedouin and Jewish reference levels 83.6 +/- 11.3 and 98.6 +/- 12.3 respectively). This investigation shows that primary nutritional osteomalacia, a preventable disease, still occurs, causes severe morbidity and may be a manifestation of endemic subclinical vitamin D malnutrition in the Bedouin community in the Negev.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Resolution of hypertensive retinopathy despite persistent high diastolic pressure.

Four patients with exudative retinopathy due to hypertension were observed for periods ranging from 12 to 35 months. Despite multiple drug therapy in high dosage and some clinic attendance, blood pressure was not controlled and remained severely elevated. Even though severe hypertension persisted, however, exudative phenomena disappeared and renal function remained stable during the follow-up period. Neither the pathogenesis nor the natural course of hypertensive retinopathy is yet fully understood. It is accepted that antihypertensive therapy causes gradual regression of the retinal changes of hypertensive retinopathy. There are no data concerning the natural course and progress of hypertensive retinopathy in patients with severe untreated hypertension. It is unclear why the patients in our study had complete regression of hypertensive retinopathy.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Calcitonin in Ghanaians and Israelis.

Calcitonin (CT) in serum was measured in a group of (black) Ghanaian traumatic fracture patients (GFP) and in two healthy control groups, (black) Ghanaian (GMS) and (white) Israeli (IMS) medical students. CT (mean +/- SD) in GFP, GMS and IMS was, respectively, 17.2 +/- 6.4, 15.5 +/- 2.8 and 7.6 +/- 3.3 pmol/l. The mean difference between the GFP and GMS was not significant, but that between the Ghanaian groups combined and IMS was 8.8 pmol/l, 95% CI 4.1-13.7, P less than 0.001. Observations elsewhere that CT levels in adult blacks in the tropics are higher than those in whites are confirmed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Acromegaly and proximal femoral fracture in an aged person: bone histomorphometry, vitamin D metabolites and parathormone.

Osteoporosis and fractures are rare in acromegaly. An 84-year-old acromegalic woman sustained a fractured neck of femur in a fall. Histomorphometric analysis of an iliac crest biopsy showed marked osteoporosis and augmented resorption parameters. Cortical plates were very thin and bone volume was 8.5%; 12.5% is the reference value for women at this age. The total resorption surfaces were 23.7% compared with the reference value of 8%. We conjecture that postmenopausal and involutional osteoporosis were far advanced before the development of acromegaly, explaining the coexistence of the two conditions. Parathormone (65 pmol/l) and 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1.34 ng/ml) levels were within normal limits, but those of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (5.6 ng/ml) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (15 pg/ml) were markedly decreased.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1988

Vitamin D-deficiency in the elderly: treatment with ergocalciferol and hydroxylated analogues of vitamin D3.

The purpose of the present work was to study the effect of vitamin D and its metabolites in correcting hypovitaminosis D in the elderly. Thirty elderly people (mean age 78.4 years) participated in this study. They all had low serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D), of 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [24,25(OH)2D] and of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D]. These low levels did not increase in nine subjects after oral administration of vitamin D2 (3,000 IU/day for 12 weeks). However, administration of 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 (1 alpha-OH-D3) to 12 other subjects (0.5 micrograms/day for 8 weeks) led to a significant increase in the serum levels of 1,25(OH)2D. The other vitamin D metabolite levels remained unchanged. A significant increase in the levels of all three main vitamin D metabolites was obtained following administration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OH-D3) to a third group of nine subjects (25 micrograms/day for 1 week). These results suggest that vitamin D nutrition in elderly people insufficently exposed to the sun could be maintained by regular administration of 25-OH-D, whereas the administration of native vitamin D (ergocalciferol) in the doses used was inadequate for vitamin D nutrition.

24,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D 3↗
PubMed1983

Cardiomegaly in Northern Zambia: clinico-pathological observations.

Massive cardiomegaly (heart weight above 400 g in females and 450 g in males) was studied in 26 Zambians examined post mortem. The aetiologies found were: hypertensive heart disease alone in six cases; hypertensive and alcoholic heart disease in two cases; alcoholic heart disease alone in five; alcoholic and pulmonary heart disease in one; alcohol with possible hypertensive heart disease in one. Eleven cases were classified as being idiopathic mainly due to lack of data and in five of these hypertension was suspected as being the cause. The series qualitatively represented the spectrum of non-rheumatic heart disease seen in patients admitted to the Central Hospital, Ndola, Zambia. Hypertension had a central role in the causation of massive cardiomegaly. Follow-up of several patients enabled observations on the cardiac effects of hypertension and alcoholism operating simultaneously and on the relationship between hypertension and congestive cardiomyopathy.

Adult↗