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Biomedical subjects

W B SPAULDING

Publications and source records attributed to W B SPAULDING.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1964

PULMONARY MANIFESTATIONS OF PARASITIC INFESTATIONS.

Parasitic infestations in man may cause transient or permanent pulmonary lesions. The lesions occur during migration and evolution of the parasites, during parasitemia, or during the final habitat. These manifestations, though infrequent in Canadian medical practice, present difficulties in diagnosis. Life cycles, mode of entry, and migration of parasites in the human body are described and illustrative case histories presented. In this series, transient pulmonary changes were associated with Ascaris lumbricoides, Ankylostoma duodenale, filariasis, Giardia lamblia and Trichinella spiralis; permanent lesions were produced by Entameba histolytica and Tenia echinococcus. Other parasites which may produce pulmonary changes are Strongyloides stercoralis and several types of Filaria (transient); Schistosoma, Paragonimus westermani (permanent). A case of amebiasis is presented illustrating the latent stage of infestation which lasted several decades before the organism spread from bowel to para-aortic nodes, to the lumen of the inferior cava, thence to the radicles of the portal vein and lung.

Amebiasis↗
PubMed1964

PROLONGED VITAMIN D INTOXICATION IN A PATIENT WITH HYPOPARATHYROIDISM.

Pitfalls in the management of hypoparathyroidism are illustrated by the case of a patient who developed hypervitaminosis D while receiving doses of calciferol and of calcium in amounts commonly recommended for treatment. Either the patient was very slow to obtain maximum vitamin D effect or else her sensitivity to vitamin D increased, because she did not become hypercalcemic until two years after treatment was started. The dose of vitamin D was halved to 50,000 units per day and the dose of calcium was lowered to 0.26 g. daily. She failed to remain under medical supervision for the next four years and presented with hypercalcemia and evidence of renal impairment. After vitamin D was discontinued she remained hypercalcemic for nine months.These findings are discussed in the light of current knowledge concerning the actions of parathyroid hormone and vitamin D. The influence of adrenocortical hormones on calcium metabolism is considered. The need to follow up hypoparathyroid patients closely, and to check the level of calcium in the serum, is emphasized.

Calcium↗
PubMed1963

The increased incidence of thyrotoxicosis in immigrants.

Evidence is presented that, in Toronto, hyperthyroidism is significantly more prevalent in immigrants than in native-born patients. In a series of 4000 outpatients only eight of 1854 native-born patients were thyrotoxic, whereas 33 of 2146 immigrants proved to be so (p < 0.001). There is little likelihood that a genetic or nutritional predisposition accounted for the findings, because the immigrants came from widely scattered parts of the world. Possibly, the immigrants were reluctant to seek medical attention for minor illnesses, thereby giving rise to an apparent but not real increase of thyrotoxicosis in the foreignborn. There was less mental illness diagnosed in the immigrants than in the nativeborn patients, a point against relating the thyroid overactivity to emotional stress. It is suggested that the adjustment of settling in a strange country may be physiologically disturbing in some unknown way and may give rise to an increased incidence of thyrotoxicosis in immigrants.

Emigrants and Immigrants↗
PubMed1962

Dangers in the use of some potent drugs.

The chief dangers reported with some common drugs are reviewed. Hazards of antibiotic therapy include: the increasing incidence of sensitization to penicillin with occasional anaphylactic reactions; aplastic anemia with chloramphenicol, and the poor tolerance of infants for chloramphenicol; staphylococcal enterocolitis; unnecessary "prophylactic" use of antibiotics. Thiazide diuretics may precipitate potassium depletion, skin reactions, pancreatitis, blood dyscrasias, gout, diabetes mellitus and hepatic coma. Reserpine can increase gastric acidity, induce mental depression, and when used with digitalis lead to ventricular premature beats. Hydralazine may aggravate angina pectoris, cause tachycardia, and bring about a syndrome resembling disseminated lupus erythematosus. Guanethidine may result in loose stools, impotence, and postural hypotension. Hazards of phenothiazines include jaundice, parkinsonian states and tremors, convulsions, hypotension, and blood dyscrasias. The butanediols have numerous side effects including gastrointestinal, cutaneous and hypotensive reactions. Prolonged corticosteroid therapy introduces a new danger in surgical treatment. The progesterone-like drugs may induce masculinization of the female fetus.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗