PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Vass

Publications and source records attributed to M Vass.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Medication for older people--aspects of rational therapy from the general practitioner's point of view.

This paper discusses GP perspectives on the principles underlying rational pharmacotherapy for older people. The rising use of prescription medicine forces the GP to balance the benefit of evidence group-based appropriate drug use against the problems arising when medication is given to older people and to consider different approaches when evaluating evidence of risk and benefit for the individual. Old people are facing a considerable risk of adverse drug reactions and recent initiatives, including the Continuous Medical Educational Efforts Programme, address issues of inappropriate prescribing practices. The authors recommend and present tools enabling the GP to focus on 'the core prescribing situation'. The logistics to optimise medication including compliance, the use of modern IT and better collaboration and communication between primary and secondary care are discussed. The authors state that a number of pharmacological regimens for older people are outperformed by non-pharmacological treatment alternatives involving competent individualised counselling and public provision of easy (transportation) possibilities for joining centres offering staff and equipment for physical and social activity (including basal aids for hearing and sight).

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Polypharmacy and older people--the GP perspective.

It is well known that problems with compliance rise exponentially when more that 4 drugs are prescribed. The rising use of prescription medicine forces the GP to balance the benefit of evidence group-based appropriate drug use against the problems arising when medication is given to older people and to consider different approaches when evaluating evidence of risk and benefit for the individual. Old people are facing a considerable risk of adverse drug reactions and recent initiatives, including the Continuous Medical Educational Efforts Programme, address issues of inappropriate prescribing practices. The authors recommend and present tools enabling the GP to focus on 'the core prescribing situation'. The logistics to optimise medication including compliance, the use of modern IT and better collaboration and communication between primary and secondary care are in focus. Since medication review is recommended at every encounter, and time consuming comprehensive follow-up will be demanded, 'polypharmacy consultations' surely will be built into GP contracts in the future. The authors state that a number of pharmacological regimens for older people are outperformed by non-pharmacological treatment alternatives involving competent individualised counselling and public provision of easy (transportation) possibilities for joining centres offering staff and equipment for physical and social activity (including basal aids for hearing and sight).

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Preventive home visits to elderly people in Denmark.

During the last 20 years several randomised controlled trials have been published about preventive home visits to old people, but the benefit of the visits is still controversial and under debate. Based on a state law from the Ministry of Social Affairs in 1998, the municipalities in Denmark are obliged to offer home visits twice a year to all citizens 75 years and older. After six years with this law, there is still variation of how the law is managed and implemented. About 60% of the elderly people accept and receive the visits. Less than 50% of the municipalities have made specific guidelines and quality assurance indicators. More than the half have systematically used the visits to collect information of community needs and older people' wishes to be used for administrative and political purposes. In a prospective, controlled, feasibility study conducted over a 3-year period we found that a brief, manageable and ongoing educational intervention towards professionals working with preventive home visits is feasible and improves older people's functional mobility.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Contamination of animal feed and food from animal origin with mineral oil hydrocarbons.

Oils and fats used for the production of animal feed can become contaminated with mineral oil material originating from gas oils (C18-C35) or synthetic oils (poly-alpha olefins, C25 to beyond C45). An important cause is assumed to be the discharge of waste oils, such as motor oil and hydraulic oils. Mineral oil material was analysed by on-line LC-GC-FID directly in the fat or in a raw extract from animal feed or foodstuffs. In Switzerland in summer/autumn 1999 concentrations in oils and fats for feed production were often found to be between 100 and 1000 mg/kg. In the feeds, the average concentration was around 100 mg/kg with values ranging up to a maximum of 1000 mg/kg; few samples were free of contamination. In animal body fat, the average concentration determined in summer 1999 was 25 mg/kg, with a maximum of 150 mg/kg, although in samples from December 1999, contamination was substantially lower. In the fat phase of eggs, the average concentration was 30 mg/kg, with a maximum of 80 mg/kg. Paraffin oil is used for feed production, which may account for part of the contamination problem (e.g. eggs).

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2000

[Rehabilitation of anoxic brain injured patients after reanimation].

Authors report rehabilitation outcomes of anoxic brain injured patients, following reanimation. In the past 12 years (1988-1999) they treated 54 patients. The patients were selected from other hospitals after successful reanimation, but sustained diffuse anoxic brain injury. The CT and MR examination was generally negative, but small hypodensities were shown rarely (18/54). At the time of admission 21 patients were quadriparetic, 5 patients were hemiparetic, 2 were paraparetic and there were no any paresis in 26 cases. The mean age of the patients was 32 years (7-61). At the time of admission 31 patients were dependent in basic activities of daily living, the mean Barthel Index score was 15 (0-100) but at the time of discharge it was 45 (0-100). 41 patients were discharged into their home and 13 patients had to be transmitted to another hospital for further treating, but later 5 of them died. At the time of discharge only 7 patients had score 100 of the Barthel Index, but they were not able for independent living. Family support, mainly guidance was necessary. Memory deficits, apraxia, attention disturbance, ataxia were the main problems during the rehabilitation process.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1996

[Is the new LAE 355 certificate useful for extended sick leave benefits?].

In Storstrøm county an investigation was carried out concerning certificates in connection with sickness benefit during a period of two months, and the general practitioners and the social-workers were asked about their opinion of and attitude to sickness-certificates. A total of 420 sickness benefit certificates were collected consecutively, and all the social-workers and 85% of the general practitioners participated. About half of the certificates were not completely filled out and only one fifth supplied constructive supplementary information. Forty-five percent of the social-workers and 33% of the general practitioners regarded the certificates as useless when dealing with social medical cases. A systematic followup of patients with long-term sickness is an important task in primary health care, and should be carried out in co-operation with other health- and social-workers.

Certification↗
PubMed1994

Expression of liver functions in immortalised rat hepatocyte cell lines.

The differentiated hepatic function of two rat liver cell lines, P9 and SV40RH1, immortalised by transfection with SV40 DNA has been investigated in terms of the glutathione synthesis, and the activities of gamma-glutamyltransferase, glutathione-S-transferase and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase. SV40RH1 is a highly differentiated cell line at early passage, but the expression of some aspects of its differentiated phenotype is unstable and some functions are lost by passage 12-13. P9 is a less-well differentiated cell line, with relatively stable expression of functions between passages 4 and 13. In terms of differentiated function both cell lines represent a marked improvement over primary cultures of rat hepatocytes which de-differentiate rapidly within 24-48 h in culture. This retention of liver function in proliferating cell lines offers the opportunity to use such cells in in vitro toxicological studies.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

[Development of use of subsidized prescription drugs. A comparison of drug consumption requiring subsidy in the county of Storstrøm during the periods 1 January--30 April 1991 and 1 January--30 April 1992].

In all counties in Denmark, the consumption of subsidized prescribed drugs is registered. The drugs are listed in accordance with the international anatomical-therapeutical-chemical classification system and the consumption is listed in defined daily doses and prices. Comparing the first four months of 1991 with the first four months of 1992 in a Danish county (Storstrøms Amt) shows a general increase in the amount of prescribed drugs (mean 11.0%). Ulcer-drugs, antihypertensiva, antibiotics and analgetics have increased more than 20%. The increase in prices has been 3.8%. It is concluded that these sort of statistics justify the debate on drug prescriptions and act as a tool for monitoring drug prescriptions in general practice for wanted groups of drugs. Further refinements of the statistics can be made. The increase in county grants in "running prices" has been nearly constant over the last ten years, except for 1990 due to the introduction of a special law.

Denmark↗
PubMed1993

[Late post-tracheostomy airway complications in patients with central nervous system injuries].

At decannulation or often weeks later some of the patients undergone long-term mechanical ventilation through tracheostoma reveal symptoms of airway stenosis. Posttracheostomy airway complications detected during the rehabilitation of 34 patients with central nervous system injury are presented. Endoscopic examinations (total 130) were performed with Olympus BF B3 and OES 20-type fiberscopes and Friedel-type rigid bronchoscopes under local or general anaesthesia. Stridor (20 cases) and possible decannulation (10 cases) were the main indications of the first endoscopic examinations. Stridor was caused by tracheal (12 cases) and laryngeal (8 cases) stenosis. With six patients decannulation was possible after the first endoscopy. Removal of granulomas and sutures was successful in 8 cases. Rigid bronchoscopic dilatations were temporarily successful in 7 cases, but in five of them it had to be repeated on emergency. Further therapeutic interventions were: recannulation (3 cases), retracheostomy (4 cases), implantation of silicon T-endoprothesis (5 cases), tracheal resection (4 cases). Three patients are discussed in details. Eliminating airway complications largely contributed to rehabilitation of the nervous and musculoskeletal system, improved the quality of life, and in acute cases it was a life-saving measure. In order to prevent the development of late airway complications or detect them in time, it is recommended to have an endoscopic protocol following every tracheostomy: 1. at the time of decannulation 2. at closing the trachea and 3. 2-3 months after decannulation.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1992

Immortalization of murine primary spleen cells by v-myc, v-ras, and v-raf.

Growth factor-independent cell lines, including four lines characterized as macrophages, were isolated by infection of BALB/c mouse primary spleen cells with combinations of three retroviruses encoding v-myc, v-ras, and v-myc/v-raf. Proliferating cell lines were isolated only rarely, and after long crisis periods, following the introduction of myc and raf by infection with J2 virus, or of myc and ras by coinfection with myc309 and raszip6 viruses. However, sequential infections with all three viruses--myc plus ras cells reinfected with J2, or J2 followed by myc plus ras coinfection--resulted in rapid outgrowth of cell lines which grew at high growth rates to high densities. When cells were treated with anti-IgG F(ab')2/IL-4/IL-5 to specifically stimulate B cells, cell lines were isolated readily by infection with myc plus ras alone, J2 alone, or all three viruses. These cell lines arose after shorter crisis times and all grew at high growth rates and to high densities. Analysis of cell surface markers and immunoglobulin gene arrangement revealed no lymphoid characteristics in any of the lines. Four cell lines express all three macrophage markers analyzed (F4/80, Mac1, FcR), and many others are Mac1+ and/or FcR+. Out of 20 immortalized cell lines tested, 13 show clonal growth in soft agar, and 3/6 of these produced tumors in BALB/c mice, indicating that fully transformed cells may be isolated by these procedures. In at least one of the cell lines, integration of all three infecting viruses has occurred.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Employee dependents: the future focus of worksite health promotion programs and the potential role of the allied health professional.

The prevalence of health promotion activities has increased in worksites over the last five years. Many companies that have offered health promotion programs in the past have done so primarily for their employees. In the last several years, programs have extended to employee dependents by opening current employee programs to dependents. However, employee health promotion programs may not be relevant or accessible to employee dependents, particularly when children or elderly parents are taken into consideration. This paper outlines several reasons for expanding health promotion benefits to include dependents, suggests a working construct for dependent programs, and discusses the possible roles of allied health professionals in these programs.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed1989

The effect of some tricyclic antidepressants on the inhibition of mouse brain monoamine oxidase in-vivo by phenelzine.

Four tricyclic antidepressants, amitriptyline, imipramine, desipramine and iprindole have been shown to partially protect mouse brain monoamine oxidase in-vivo from the irreversible enzyme inhibition produced by subsequent injection of phenelzine. Levels of protection were similar when the enzyme was assayed with selective substrates (5-hydroxytryptamine and phenethylamine) for both the A and B forms of the enzyme. Although other explanations cannot at this stage be ruled out, these observations are consistent with the tricyclic antidepressants acting as reversible inhibitors of brain monoamine oxidase in-vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Polytenosynovitis caused by Toxoplasma gondii.

Two cases are reported of polytenosynovitis involving the wrists and ankles and caused by toxoplasmosis, together with the investigations that led to the diagnosis. Medical and surgical treatment of the first patient and medical treatment only of the second patient gave satisfactory results.

Female↗
PubMed1975

Nucleic acid metabolism of cells of the luminal epithelium and stroma of the rat uterus during early pregnancy.

The uptake of [5-3H]uridine into RNA and DNA of the cells of the uterine luminal epithelium, stroma and myometrium of the rat has been studied in early pregnancy using a technique for separation of the cell fractions before quantitative analysis. Comparisons of the metabolism between the pregnant and pseudopregnant horn of the unilaterally ovariectomized rat has shown that RNA and DNA synthesis are markedly increased by 04.00 hours on the morning of Day 5 in the pregnant horn. This increased metabolism occurs in all cell fractions and before the zona pellucida is shed. The results are discussed in relation to the onset of the decidual response.

Animals↗