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P Bhattacharjee

Publications and source records attributed to P Bhattacharjee.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

A comparative study on the physical characteristics and cooking quality parameters of commercial brands of Basmati rice.

Randomly selected samples of three popular commercial brands of Basmati rice (designated as A, B and C) available in Mumbai city were studied with respect to their proximate composition and differences in their quality evaluated in terms of length by breadth and elongation ratio, differential length by breadth ratio, water uptake, loss of solids in cooking water, swelling index and volume expansion ratio. The l/b ratio and elongation ratio varied between 4.47 to 4.81 and 1.45 to 1.59 respectively. The differential length by breadth ratio showed a wide variation from 5.88 to 9.48 among the three brands studied. Brand A recorded the highest length by breadth and elongation ratio whereas brand C recorded the highest differential length by breadth ratio. The water uptake values and the loss of solids in the cooking gruel varied between 172 to 262 and 0.87 to 2.70 (g/100 g of rice) respectively, among the three commercial brands. The swelling index and the volume expansion ratio did not show much variation among the three brands ranging between 28 to 31 for the former and 2.00 to 2.21 for the latter. Based on the differential length by breadth ratio, water uptake and swelling index values, which are the most reliable quality indices; brand C was found to be the best followed by brands A and B. The study of the texture of the cooked rice grains indicated that brand C had the softest grains, which was in conformity with the findings in cooking quality characteristics.

Cooking↗

Bromocriptine in the treatment of hypertension.

The efficacy of bromocriptine in the treatment of hypertension was assessed in a double-blind placebo controlled cross-over study preceded by a dose titration phase. A diuretic and/or a beta-blocker were administered concomitantly in constant dosage to 11 of the 20 patients who received bromocriptine. A wide range of doses of bromocriptine was tolerated. Side-effects of vomiting and postural hypertension did not occur, possibly due to the gradual increase in the administered doses. Plasma prolactin was not raised in this population of hypertensives. In the dose titration phase (n = 20), a small fall in diastolic but not in systolic blood pressure occurred with bromocriptine, but only with the patient standing and after exercise. In the double-blind phase (n = 9), there was no significant difference in blood pressure between the bromocriptine and placebo treatments. It is concluded that bromocriptine was not effective in lowering blood pressure in the present patients with essential hypertension.

Adult↗

The beta-adrenergic blockade withdrawal phenomenon.

Early trials of beta-blocking drugs in angina indicated an increase in symptoms above pretreatment levels when placebo was substituted for active drug. This was followed by some reports of sudden death after beta-blockade withdrawal. There is evidence of increased beta-receptor sensitivity as suggested by increased responsiveness to isoprenaline after propranolol withdrawal. This may be due to an increased beta-receptor population. Other factors may be a reversal of the reduced free triiodothyroxine, of the rightward shift of the oxyhaemaglobin dissociation curve, and of reduced platelet aggregation, when the beta-blocking drug is stopped. Finally, progression of the disease process may take place during treatment, which is unmasked when treatment is withdrawn. beta-Blocking agents may differ; we have observed that in normal volunteers, withdrawal of pindolol, which has partial agonist properties, was not associated with postblockade increase in response to isoprenaline. The beta-blocker withdrawal syndrome is a real phenomenon, although overall the incidence is low. Besides stopping the beta-blocker, exertion may be a frequent prerequisite for the development of significant clinical sequelae, so exertion should be restricted when stopping a beta-blocking drug. Also the dose should be reduced gradually, particularly the final decrements.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

The beta-adrenergic blockade withdrawal phenomenon.

Early trials of beta-blocking drugs in angina indicated an increase in symptoms above pretreatment levels when placebo was substituted for active drug. In addition there were reports of sudden death after beta-blockade withdrawal. There is evidence of increased beta-receptor sensitivity as demonstrated by increased responsiveness to isoprenaline after propranolol withdrawal. This may be due to increased beta-receptor population. Other factors may be a reversal of the reduced free triiodothyronine levels or of the favourable rightward shift of oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve, or increased platelet aggregation when the beta-blocking drug is stopped. Also, progression of the disease process may have taken place during treatment which is unmasked on withdrawal. Studying different beta-blocking agents we have observed that in normal volunteers withdrawal of pindolol, which has partial agonist properties, was not associated with post blockade increase in response to isoprenaline. The beta-blocker withdrawal syndrome is a real phenomenon, although overall the incidence is probably not high. Exertion may be a prerequisite for the development of significant clinical sequelae, therefore exercise should be restricted on withdrawal of beta-blocking drugs. The dosage should be reduced gradually, particularly the final decrement.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

The effect of intrinsic sympathomimetic activity on beta-receptor responsiveness after beta-adrenoceptor blockade withdrawal.

1 Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) changes supine, at 60 degrees tilt and in response to increasing exercise loads, and HR responses to Valsalva's manoeuvre and to isoprenaline bolus injections were studied in 19 healthy volunteers to assess the response to abrupt withdrawal of atenolol n = 6, propranolol n = 6 and pindolol n = 7. 2 The dosage of each drug administered double-blind was gradually increased over a period of 2 weeks and the dose to produce maximum inhibition of exercise-induced tachycardia was continued for one further week. 3 Plasma renin activity, plasma noradrenaline and serum free thyroid hormones were measured during control periods, maximum dosage and withdrawal periods. 4 An increased sensitivity to isoprenaline injections was seen on Day 5 after withdrawal in the atenolol treated group whereas the pindolol treated group showed decreasing hyposensitivity to isoprenaline for the 13 days of observation after withdrawal and propranolol showed an intermediate effect. 5 There was no overshoot in HR or BP measurements at rest or in response to tilting, Valsalva's manoeuvre or exercise with atenolol or propranolol and with pindolol the HR response to tilt only was significantly higher on the third day post-drug. 6 Plasma noradrenaline and serum free T3 were reduced on drug treatment and further reduced in the early withdrawal period but there were no consistent changes in plasma renin activity.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗