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Biomedical subjects

M W O'Halloran

Publications and source records attributed to M W O'Halloran.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1981

Biochemical and physiological changes in football players.

Twenty-three football players were studied before and after a match to assess if intermittent exertion produced the same biochemical and physiological changes noted in marathon runners. All players developed a significant fluid deficit and rise in body temperature despite ready access to water. However, the changes were less marked than those described in runners. They also showed acidosis, a rise in serum levels of creatinine, urate and urea and striking elevations in the levels of creatine kinase and other enzymes. Serum magnesium levels fell, as did those of potassium; this is not the case in runners, in whom hyperkalaemia is more frequently described.

Body Temperature↗
PubMed1981

Relationship of psychological factors to failure of antihypertensive drug treatment.

Personality traits and pretreatment symptoms of 69 hypertensive patients were documented with self-administered questionnaires. Thirteen patients (19%) dropped out during 12 months of treatment. Five of these were lost from follow up and eight failed to tolerate their allotted medication. In this series treatment failure did not seem dependent on the type of drug used, but was linked with a high suspiciousness level and a high pretreatment symptom score. Both measures varied independently of one another and a select group of 10 patients who scored highly on both, had a failure rate of 60%. Our results suggest that hypertensives with an increased predisposition to drug treatment failure can be identified at the pretreatment stage. Recognition of such individuals should assist in their routine clinical management and in the design of antihypertensive drug trials.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Enteric coated levo-dopa in clinical practice.

The results of a clinical trial of enteric coated Levo-dopa are described for nineteen patients with Parkinsonism. Twelve cases comprise the nuclear group and all were intolerant to therapeutic doses of standard Levo-dopa. Seven cases were receiving Levo-dopa for the first time. Treatment periods ranged from three to twelve months. Of the whole group, 84% have improved. Of the poor responders to standard Levo-dopa 58% have improved markedly and the remaining 42% have improved to a moderate degree using clinical criteria. The mean stabilization dose was 1.5 grams daily and using the Mann-Whitney U test the difference is highly significant when comparison is made with the stabilization dose of 3.0 grams for standard Levo-dopa (P less than .001). The method of stabilization is described; the commonest initial stabilization period is three weeks. Side-effects are dose-related. No side-effects have appeared in 60% of the patients and only mild or transient side-effects have appeared in 20%. A characteristic toxic reaction is described. This enteric-coated preparation of the drug appears to control the "on-off" phenomenon in at least 50% of cases with this problem. The preparation is suitable for routine use in outpatients but added care is required to ensure that vitamin tonics are rigorously avoided. Two deaths are recorded during the trial, but analysis shows them to be unrelated causally to the therapy. Enteric coated Levo-dopa is recommended as the primary treatment in all new cases where Levo-dopa therapy is indicated. No adverse interactions have occurred with other commonly used anti-Parkinsonian drugs.

Adult↗