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Biomedical subjects

S J Bleicher

Publications and source records attributed to S J Bleicher.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Abnormalities of the cardiovascular response to cold pressor test in type 1 diabetes. Correlation with blood glucose control.

Left-ventricular (LV) function in type 1 diabetics without clinical heart disease was compared with that found in matched normal subjects. Although diabetics had a normal LV ejection fraction (66% +/- 6%), they showed a trend toward smaller left ventricles. Their cardiovascular response to a cold pressor test was abnormal and cardiac function after the cold pressor test correlated with hemoglobin A1c levels: Average hemoglobin A1c was inversely related to ejection fraction and early filling volume and directly related to the ratio of pre-ejection period to ejection time (PEP/LVET) after a cold pressor test. Hemoglobin A1c at the time of study correlated more closely with PEP/LVET after cold pressor test than did the six-month average hemoglobin A1c level, suggesting that cardiac function fluctuates with recent changes in blood glucose control. Thus, even when diabetics have a normal LV ejection fraction, an abnormal cardiovascular response to stress may still be present, and such abnormalities correlate with blood glucose control.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Impact of peer review in reduction of permanent pacemaker implantations.

Because of a sharp increase in the number of permanent pacemakers inserted at The Brooklyn Hospital between 1972 and 1976, a peer-review committee was established to monitor subsequent pacemaker implantation. Total initial implants declined from 48 to 22 per year in the two years that followed. The number of implantations for sinoatrial bradycardias declined from 50 to 27 and the number of implantations for intraventricular conduction defects declined from 32 to five in the two years after peer review, compared with the two years before. There was no change in the number of pacemakers implanted for complete or advanced heart block. Almost 10% of patients who received a pacemaker between 1972 and 1976 had other conditions that might have accounted for the events that precipitated the decision to implant a pacemaker. The symptoms for which the pacemaker was implanted persisted in 19% of patients, despite a normally functioning pacemaker system. Patients receiving a permanent pacemaker before peer review had a 17% one-year and a 43% three-year mortality. When a more critical patient selection process was instituted, a smaller percentage remained symptomatic (9% vs 19%) and three-year survival rate was improved (86% vs 57%). From 1977 through 1978, when permanent pacemaker implantations declined, the number of hospital, medical service, and coronary care unit admissions increased. It is concluded that peer review can have substantial impact on permanent pacemaker implantations.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗
PubMed1976

Administration of aspartame in non-insulin-dependent diabetics.

A study was designed to determine the effect of the consumption of the nutritive sweetener aspartame on non-insulin-dependent diabetics. Forty-three adult diabetics between the ages of 21 and 70 completed a 90-day study; all were diabetics whose conditions were managed by diet and/or hypoglycemic agents. Participants in the blind study were instructed to continue their usual diet and to take two capsules of an assigned preparation three times daily with meals, either the aspartame or the placebo. The 1.8 g of aspartame administered is approximately three times the expected daily consumption of aspartame if used as a sweetener to replace sugar. Throughout the study subjects were examined for (1) symptoms of intolerance, (2) fasting plasma phenylalanine levels exceeding 4 mg/100 ml, and (3) deterioration of diabetic control. At the conclusion of the study subjects exhibited no symptoms that could be traced to the administration of aspartame or the placebo, and diabetic control was unaffected by the chronic administration of these substances. Aspartame seems to be well tolerated by non-insulin-dependent diabetics.

Adult↗