Symptomatic improvement of chronic fatigue with fluoxetine in ciguatera fish poisoning.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S L King.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is an effective therapy for sleep apnea. Little is known about long-term patient compliance and side effects with this therapeutic modality in the Chinese. In order to evaluate this, we collected 8 obstructive sleep apnea patients who received home nasal CPAP therapy between January 1990 and July 1991. Each received two sets of nap polysomnographic studies. The initial set was performed to diagnose and evaluate patient response to CPAP as well as defining the CPAP pressure the patient would be using at home. The second set of studies were conducted for follow up and re-evaluation. Seven of these patients reported using nasal CPAP during sleep at night, and one did not use it all. Nasal CPAP improved clinical symptoms, particularly daytime sleepiness, and 7 patients were generally satisfied with nasal CPAP. Initially the side effects were a dry throat and nose. After 5 to 15 months of CPAP treatment, the follow-up nap sleep studies showed no significant change in the apnea/hypopnea index, duration of apnea, or oxygen desaturation between the diagnostic and follow-up (without CPAP) studies. However the amount of nasal CPAP pressure setting declined in 4 of 7 patients. Our own experience indicates that long-term nasal CPAP is an important new means of treatment for sleep apnea and allows a normal daytime life. It was well-tolerated by most sleep apnea patients. However, it is necessary to further evaluate of morbidity and the amount of pressure setting relative to long-term home nasal CPAP.
In order to evaluate whether the lactic acidosis is developed during incremental exercise test in COPD. 12 untrained subjects with COPD performed incremental maximal cycle ergometer tests. Ventilation (VE); O2 uptake (VO2), CO2 output (VCO2); and end-tidal CO2 fraction (FETCO2) were measured. Arterial lactate concentration and blood gas analysis were measured at rest, maximal exercise and recovery of exercise from an indwelling arterial catheter. of the degree of airway obstruction. (2) T40 and BEecf correlated well with lactate change (r = 0.83; 0.84, P < 0.05). (3) The change of VE, and RQ correlated with the lactate change (r = 0.81; 0.83, 0.72, P < 0.05), but not the VE/VO2, VE/VCO2, nor FETCO2, (r = 0.24; 0.06; 0.46, P > 0.05). We concluded that the blood lactate increased markedly in patients of COPD during increment exercise, and it was well corrected with the change of VE, VCO2 and RQ. The increased lactate could be indicated by the concomitant change of T40 and BEecf.
Incentive spirometry is a feedback system to encourage patients to take a deep breath and produce a sustained maximal inspiration (SMI) for the primary purpose of opening and stabilizing atelectatic areas of the lung. However, currently available incentive devices are not reusable, expensive, and emphasize inspiratory effort only. We have designed a new device of incentive spirometer based on pursed-lip breathing technique. The device consists of a piece of paper hanging on a frame. The patient is instructed to take a deep and slow inspiration followed by holding the breath for 5 seconds. Then, using pursed-lip technique, the patient generates a flow to keep the paper attached to a bar as long as possible. The duration of paper blowing is recorded and is compared with vital capacity. In the present study 96 cases were recorded. Vital capacity was correlated well with paper blowing time (multiple regression test r = 0.87, p less than 0.0001). The advantages of our device include (1) reusibility and less cost, (2) equal emphasis of both inspiration and expiration, and (3) being especially helpful for patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD). This is a preliminary result and further clinical study is needed.
Expression of major histocompatibility complex antigens by epithelial cells may play a role in the aetiology of autoimmune disorders. We have studied the effect of gamma-interferon on SGHTL-34, a human thyroid cell line which constitutively expresses class I but not class II antigens. gamma-Interferon induced the expression of class II and increased the expression of class I molecules (assessed by flow cytofluorimetry) in a dose-dependent manner. Thyrotrophin or phytohaemagglutinin had no effect on either class I or class II expression. However, a supernatant from phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells, containing 6400 U gamma-interferon/ml, was an effective inducer of both class I and class II antigens. These data clarify earlier studies using primary thyroid cultures, which are contaminated with cells of the immune system.
Simple competitive inhibitors of the nuclear enzyme ADP-ribosyltransferase, such as 3-methoxybenzamide (3MB), are known to block mitogen-induced activation of lymphocytes by inhibiting an early event. We now report that 3MB affects neither the generation of inositol phosphates nor the increase in cytoplasmic calcium in human T lymphocytes stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), indicating that it acts on later or parallel events. The proliferative response to the phorbol ester 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) was much less sensitive to 3MB than was the response to PHA. Similarly, the TPA-induced increases in the expression of the c-myc proto-oncogene and of the Tac polypeptide of the interleukin-2 receptor were not affected by 3MB, whereas the same responses to either PHA or the calcium ionophore A23187 were inhibited by 3MB. The data suggest that 3MB affects the calcium-mediated signal for T-lymphocyte activation, acting after the increase in cytoplasmic calcium, and possibly also affects other signal transduction pathways distinct from the hydrolysis of polyphosphoinositides. There are some similarities between the actions of 3MB and cyclosporin.
A method to predict postoperative lung function following pneumonectomy has been used in 11 patients. Preoperative unilateral lung function can be predicted by combining the preoperative information on lung volumes obtained by spirometry with the distributional information obtained from ventilation and perfusion scintigrams in order to estimate lung function after pneumonectomy. There was a high degree of correlation between predicted and measured lung function for both FEV1 (r = 0.81, p less than 0.050, and FVC (r = 0.81, p less than 0.05). The postoperative FEV1 and FVC were within 200 ml of the predicted value in most of the patients. A more accurate and easy prediction of postoperative lung function is obtained using unilateral perfusion rather than ventilation scintigrams. We suggest that the combined the results of simple spirometric data and a quantitative right-vs-left perfusion lung scan using radioactive Tc-99m provides a simple non-invasive and accurate method for the pre-operative functional evaluation of the high risk patient.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Controversy exists over the function of polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We found no difference in the phagocytic and migratory ability of PMN from 45 patients with RA, when compared with PMN from 19 RA patients who had a history of recurrent infection, and 40 normal healthy age- and sex-matched controls. We conclude that the increased incidence of bacterial infection reported in RA is not the consequence of an intrinsic defect in PMN function.
In order to assess the quality of weight control information directed at women through popular magazines, 37 issues on newsstands in January, 1982, were examined. Issues selected included approximately equal numbers of the top sellers, diet and exercise magazines, and newly established women's magazines as well as a smaller number of 'teen' magazines. The 67 articles on weight control found were evaluated by three nutritionists using a semantic differential scale based on Allon's four areas of discrimination against obesity and a 14-item test for accuracy. The 'diet' magazines devoted the highest portion of pages to weight control information, followed by the teen, top-seller, and new woman magazines in that order. Almost one-third of the articles scored perfect on accuracy of the information included; 15 percent were judged uncertain or worse. The remainder were judged largely, but not completely accurate. Judges found the articles were slightly skewed toward the negative ends of the scales assessing bias. Only 11 percent of the articles were judged pessimistic regarding success in weight control. The accuracy of this optimism must be questioned. There were no differences in accuracy, bias, or optimism among the four types of magazines.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Limiting concentrations of beta-glycerophosphate were pulsed into chemostat cultures of Escherichia coli K-12 at intervals equal to the population doubling time. The resultant culture density fluctuations are interpreted in terms of inorganic phosphate uptake which, in this system, is a function of alkaline phosphatase activity. Information concerning in vivo alkaline phosphatase activity at suboptimal (acidic) pH with very low concentrations of substrate (beta-glycerophosphate) is obtained from kinetic analysis of uptake data.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Monozygotic female twins were concordant for tracheo-esophageal fistula (TEF); and one twin also manifested other anomalies in the VATER association, including agenesis of the female reproductive tract. Review of the literature discloses a familial tendency for recurrence of TEF and a high concordance rate in monozygotic twins, indicating a significant genetic influence for the isolated anomaly. In the case of the VATER association, the sporadic occurrence of affected individuals and discordance in twins implicates the effect of non-genetic factors.