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Biomedical subjects

T J Charles

Publications and source records attributed to T J Charles.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Thiamine deficiency at a district general hospital: report of five cases.

Five biochemically severe cases of thiamine deficiency presented to one medical firm within an 11-month period at a district general hospital in Wales. In two patients the presenting feature was oliguric functional renal failure, with frank cardiovascular beri-beri. In one of these renal failure developed over a period of seven days, the cause being recognised after 20 days of continuous high-calorie intravenous feeding including daily vitamin supplements. Three further cases illustrate how early recognition and adequate treatment of the renal and cardiovascular components of thiamine deficiency may be life-saving.

Acute Kidney Injury

Asthma in the elderly: an epidemiological survey.

A random sample of one in eight people aged 70 and over living at home in a south Wales town was surveyed to establish the prevalence of asthma. Subjects attended a screening clinic, where spirometry before and after an inhalation of salbutamol, skin prick testing, blood count, and sputum examination were carried out and a questionnaire answered. Those in whom asthma seemed at all likely were subsequently examined in detail in a chest clinic. Out of 485 subjects eligible, 418 (86.2%) were screened. Twelve (2.9%) had current asthma, of whom three had not previously been diagnosed as asthmatic and four were being treated but were unaware of the diagnosis. A further 15 (3.6%) had mild asthma or a history of the disease, giving a total prevalence of any history of asthma of 6.5%. Only one of the subjects who did not attend the screening clinic was known to have asthma, suggesting that the overall prevalence did not differ greatly from this figure. It was found that the disease might start or remit at any age. Thus in the elderly current asthma is more prevalent in men than women (5.1% compared to 1.8%) and in terms of spirometry is more severe. Two underlying disease processes may perhaps exist that fulfil criteria for asthma in the elderly, one causing sputum eosinophilia and the other a form of chronic bronchitis with reversible airways obstruction.

Aged

Pulmonary telangiectasia.

Two patients with pulmonary telangiectasia are described. One of these is by far the oldest yet reported. The diagnosis and prognosis of this condition are discussed.

Child

Betamethasone valerate inhalation and exercise-induced asthma in adults.

The effect of regular inhalation of betamethasone valerate (800 microgram daily) on exercise-induced asthma has been studied in 18 adult patients. The active aerosol was compared with placebo in a double-blind cross-over study, each inhaler being used for four weeks. Exercise tests after each period of treatment were performed using a cycle ergometer, care being taken to match the oxygen uptake during exercise each time a patient was tested. Twelve patients experienced less exercise-induced fall in peak expiratory flow rate after the corticosteroid inhaler, while six did not. This effect appeared to be independent of any alteration in base-line lung function, suggesting that it was due primarily to diminution of bronchial hyperreactivity. It is suggested that this change may have been due to interference with the synthesis or release of mediator substances from mast cells.

Adolescent