PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R A CALDWELL

Publications and source records attributed to R A CALDWELL.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1962

Assessment of adrenal cortical function after death in cases of senile osteoporosis.

Adrenal cortical function was assessed after death by indirect methods in an unselected series of 31 cases dying in hospital, and comparison made between cases showing normal bone density and those showing unequivocal senile osteoporosis. The osteoporotic cases showed evidence of slightly greater cortical activity than did cases with normal bone density but this was considered to be largely due to the greater degree of stress suffered by the osteoporotic cases. There was no evidence to suggest adrenal involution, or ;adrenopause', in any of the cases, and no changes were present to suggest that the osteoporosis was the result of terminal excess of ;anti-anabolic' steroids. It is considered that the osteoporosis was more probably due to gonadal sex-hormone (oestrogen) deficiency.

Adrenal Cortex↗
PubMed1962

Observations on the incidence, aetiology, and pathology of senile osteoporosis.

Using previously described methods, lumbar vertebral body slabs were investigated radiologically and histologically from 300 unselected cases coming to necropsy. Calcium estimations were also made on the bones of the first 150 cases. High calcium values were mostly encountered in young adults and the calcium values tended to diminish with age, but a wide range of calcium values was still encountered in older subjects. Radiographic density of bone and calcium content tended to be higher in male than in female bone at all ages. The study showed that in subjects aged 50 years or more bone was osteoporotic in 22.5% of males and in 23.1% of females. This is a higher incidence than has been previously reported, and is the first accurate study to show equality of incidence in the two sexes. Although in the relationship between radiographic density and age there was a highly significant overall regression effect, no significant difference was demonstrated between the separate sexes. There was, however, an accelerated falling away in the bone density readings in the fifth and sixth decades which was more pronounced in females. This drop is considered to be connected more with oestrogen deficiency than with deficiency of dietary calcium. Vertebral biconcavity was measured in all cases but was found to be an unreliable sign of osteoporosis.

Adult↗