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Biomedical subjects

W Michener

Publications and source records attributed to W Michener.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

The role of low progesterone and tension as triggers of perimenstrual chocolate and sweets craving: some negative experimental evidence.

Approximately half of the 40-50% of North American women who crave chocolate or sweets do so principally in the perimenstrum, the part of the menstrual cycle surrounding the onset of menstruation. We test two hypotheses about the events that trigger these cravings: 1) the premenstrual drop in progesterone levels; or 2) dysphoria or tension in the perimenstruum. Chocolate craving, sweets craving, and other perimenstrual symptoms were rated daily for six menstrual cycles by a sample of women with severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Forty-four women satisfied criteria for cyclicity in chocolate craving, and 44 for sweet craving, determined during the first two cycles. Thirty-four subjects satisfied criteria for craving of both chocolate and sweets. After placebo treatments during the third cycle, subjects were randomly assigned, double blind, to administration of placebo, oral micronized progesterone, or alprazolam (a tranquillizer). Treatments were administered from the beginning of the third week to the second day postonset of menstruation during the fourth to sixth months of study. Neither progesterone nor alprazolam decreased chocolate or sweets craving.

Adult↗

Pharmacological versus sensory factors in the satiation of chocolate craving.

This is the first experimental study directed at differentiating between physiological or sensory accounts of the satiation of nondrug cravings, using chocolate craving, the most common craving in North America. At the onset of craving, chocolate cravers consumed a chocolate bar, the caloric equivalent in "white chocolate" (containing none of the pharmacological components of chocolate), the pharmacological equivalent in cocoa capsules, placebo, and no treatment conditions had virtually no effect. White chocolate produced partial abatement, unchanged by the addition of all the pharmacological factors in cocoa. This result indicates no role for pharmacological effects in the satisfaction of chocolate craving. It also suggests a role for aroma independent of sweetness, texture, and calories.

Adult↗

Marketing issues in continuing medical education.

Marketing is an important component of continuing medical education (CME). However, marketing is more than the identification of methods to recover costs of delivering programming. It focuses on meeting the needs and desires of physician participants, identifying an appropriate location, satisfying the goals of a sponsoring institution, and making an effect on the quality of care given by receivers and deliverers of CME. This paper discusses these issues as well as describes results of a survey designed to gather opinions on CME activities from alumni of training programs of a large, referral-based, multispecialty group practice. The data suggest that CME programs should be targeted to certain specialty groups as determined by field of training rather than practice specialty. Physicians' preferences for CME activities held at resort settings should be considered. Finally, participation in CME may itself be a marketing tool for a sponsoring institution to increase referrals.

Consumer Behavior↗

A peer review process to assess the quality of graduate medical education.

Accreditation standards for graduate medical education require the internal evaluation of programs. In this paper, the authors describe a system of peer review instituted to meet these requirements and report on the supporting administrative structure and outcome of the peer review process. Although time-consuming and in some cases causing apprehension among staff members and residents, the experience of a peer review process was useful for staff members, residents, and administrators. Peer review was found to be effective in identifying program strengths and weaknesses and in increasing communication among staff members and between administrators and staff members about the teaching programs.

Internship and Residency↗

Dumping syndrome in children.

Dumping syndrome developed in seven children after gastric surgery, (Nissen fundoplication in six, Whipple procedure in one). The patients ranged from age 10 months to 13 years, and four of the seven were neurologically impaired. The diagnosis was made by demonstrating an abnormal response to an orally administered glucose challenge. The pediatric literature records only eight cases, but we believe that dumping syndrome is more common in children than once believed. Dietary management can often dramatically diminish the associated symptoms.

Child↗

Associated ulcerative colitis, sclerosing cholangitis, and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

We report two young men with clinical and laboratory evidence of macroscopic ulcerative colitis, sclerosing cholangitis, and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The first patient presented at age 15 with vomiting, abdominal pain, weight loss, and abnormal liver function test results. Liver biopsy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) demonstrated sclerosing cholangitis. Colonoscopy with biopsy revealed ulcerative colitis which responded to sulfasalazine. Diabetes occurred at age 18 and insulin therapy was begun. The second patient was 19 at presentation with diarrhea, hematochezia, and weight loss. Proctosigmoidoscopy revealed ulcerative colitis, and sulfasalazine led to clinical remission. Three months later he developed diabetes requiring insulin therapy. At age 28, he developed elevated alkaline phosphatase, and ERCP revealed sclerosing cholangitis. At age 37 he expired from adenocarcinoma that metastasized to the liver. Literature review revealed only one possible case report of this association with microscopic asymptomatic ulcerative colitis in that patient. Statistical analysis suggests that this association is real rather than a chance occurrence. An autoimmune process may be involved and a specific histocompatibility locus antigen (HLA) type may exert a regulatory influence.

Adolescent↗