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Biomedical subjects

Y Luz

Publications and source records attributed to Y Luz.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1988

Blink reflex in stroke: follow-up and correlation with function and CT parameters.

Blink reflex (BR) was examined serially in patients 1, 2 and 3 months after unilateral hemispheric cerebrovascular accident and compared with functional state and CT findings of lesion extent and location. BR R2 components were depressed and correlated with lesion size. Initial walking ability was correlated with latency and amplitude of both direct and consensual R2 elicited by stimulation of the paretic side. No correlation was found between BR and arm function or the final ambulatory ability. A model suggesting a close association between BR projection-facilitating fibers and those mediating facial movements is presented.

Blinking↗
PubMed1986

Blood pressure in smokers and nonsmokers: epidemiologic findings.

Although cigarette smoking produces an acute rise in blood pressure (BP), results from epidemiologic studies have generally shown smokers to have lower BP than nonsmokers. This phenomenon has frequently been ascribed to a failure to account for other BP-associated differences between smokers and nonsmokers. Consequently, the role of cigarette smoking as a risk factor for hypertension remains unclear. In this article the results of a large epidemiologic study of smoking and BP in a working population are presented. The results show a pattern of higher BP among nonsmokers and ex-smokers than among smokers. These differences could not be explained by various potentially confounding factors, such as relative weight, ethnic origin, alcohol and coffee intake, and participation in leisure time sports. While the considerable adverse effects of smoking on health are well established, the role of smoking as a risk factor for hypertension is not supported by the epidemiologic evidence. Furthermore, the data are highly suggestive of lower BP among smokers compared with nonsmokers, whereas ex-smokers have BPs similar to those of nonsmokers.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Inconsistencies in the correlates of blood pressure and heart rate.

Various correlates of blood pressure (BP) and resting heart rate (HR) were compared in a study population of 1667 male and 520 female factory employees in Israel. The strong positive association between HR and both diastolic and systolic BP described in other epidemiologic studies was again evident. However, the correlates of HR and BP did not coincide. In multiple regression analyses age was found to be positively associated with BP in both sexes, whereas it was only moderately associated with HR in males and inversely associated with HR in females. Relative weight was positively associated with BP in both sexes but its association with HR was linear in young males and older females and U- or J-shaped in the other sub-groups. Cigarette smoking was inversely associated with diastolic BP in several subgroups but was positively associated with HR in most sub-groups. Ethnic-related variations in blood pressure, where found, did not parallel any differences in HR and in one group they were contradictory. The inconsistencies in the correlates of HR and blood pressure may reflect different mechanisms by which certain factors influence BP with varying effects on the HR.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Temporal changes in electrophysiological, clinical and radiological parameters in the hemiplegic's shoulder.

The relationship between electrophysiological, clinical and radiological parameters in the shoulder of hemiplegic patients was examined in a group of 24 subjects. Measurements and observations were made about the fourth month after CVA and again some eight months later. Total follow-up period extended to a maximum of 28 months. Electrophysiological tests included concentric needle EMG and conduction tests. In the shoulder X-ray four stages were described: normal, V-shaped space, initial subluxation and advanced subluxation. The presence of pain, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, atrophy and return of movement were registered. The most striking findings, consistent with lower motor neuron lesion, were those of parallel changes in axillary nerve latencies (obtained through stimulation from Erb's point) and shoulder X-ray stage. Age and time lapse between examinations turned out to be significantly related to such changes: younger patients did better and changes were registered even after one year from the first examination. An anatomical explanation linking the axillary nerve with humeral head disposition on the hemiplegic side is offered.

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMed1985

Criteria for referral of CVA patients for rehabilitation.

A multi-stage follow-up project is in progress at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital. In the first stage, a group of 153 patients was examined while in the acute phase of CVA (1 to 5 days from stroke), and again 6 months later, by a physician, a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist. Medical, demographical and functional profiles were determined. The most severe cases were admitted for rehabilitation and those with apparently good functioning ability were discharged to their homes. Six months later, the group referred for rehabilitation remained at a very low functional level (35% of them were still at the rehabilitation hospital); on the other hand, those sent home were lacking in general function (37%), in spite of their good ADL and hand performance. Most strikingly, 72% were not engaged in any meaningful activity. Age proved to be a strongly limiting factor. A more selective criterion for referral is required, while allowing patients with medium-grade cognitive and locomotor disturbances the chance of admission to rehabilitation.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1985

Type of aphasia: relationship to age, sex, previous risk factors, and outcome of rehabilitation.

Relationship of types of aphasia in hemiplegics to survival, outcome of rehabilitation, activities of daily living (ADL) and pre-existing risk factors, hypertension (HT), ischemic heart disease (IHD), diabetes mellitus (DM) were studied in a group of 257 patients. The control group was a large population of CVA cases previously documented. Four main categories were considered: expressive-receptive (global), predominantly expressive (Broca), predominantly receptive (Wernicke) and predominantly amnestic (anomia) aphasias. 40% of each category were female. No clear pattern emerged concerning relationship with risk factors; however, hypertension, the factor most frequently encountered, was significantly less prevalent among expressive ahphasics, and diabetes mellitus was rare among those with the receptive pattern. For all categories, the most frequent etiology was thrombosis, the second being embolia. The oldest groups were the expressive-receptive and the predominantly receptive aphasia groups: showed the poorest rehabilitation outcome in both ADL and locomotion, and lived less time after stroke (5.8 years). Amnestic and expressive patients were younger and fared better in all other parameters; an etiology of embolia was much more frequent among the former. It can be said that patients with the expressive-receptive kind of aphasia have the worst survival and rehabilitation prognoses.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1985

Ethnic differences in selected cardiovascular disease risk factors in Israeli workers.

Ethnic differences in the distribution of risk factors for coronary heart disease were investigated between 1979 and 1982 in 2,355 Jewish and Arab factory employees in Israel. Among both sexes, blood pressure (BP) was found to be significantly higher in those of European origin than in those of Asian or North African origin, mainly in the 20- to 39-year age-group. Ethnic differences in height and weight were generally more marked than those in Quetelet's index. Among older men, Western Europeans smoked the least. They had the highest prevalence of ECG abnormalities and of cardiovascular disease. Arab workers from the Gaza Strip had the highest smoking rates and the lowest prevalence of ECG abnormalities and awareness of cardiovascular disease. After adjusting for age, Quetelet's index, smoking and place of employment, ethnic differences in BP and heart rate were apparent in both sexes, but were more significant among men. The findings indicate that ethnic differences in BP noted in earlier studies are evident in the younger age-group, whereas smoking behavior and relative weight differ mainly at an older age.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The diagnostic value of three common primitive reflexes.

Systematic attempts were made to elicit the snout, palmomental and corneomandibular reflexes in 50 young patients with prolonged traumatic coma, 50 elderly hemiplegics soon after their first cerebrovascular accident and in 100 normal age-matched controls. None was found significantly more frequently alone in brain-damaged patients than in age-matched controls. Only combinations of two or three reflexes showed diagnostic value in distinguishing between neurologically damaged patients and normal age-matched controls. Only the combination of all three was completely absent in the normal controls; this combination was found in 13% of the brain-damaged subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

A comparison of the body height of the Israeli-born and immigrants to Israel.

This paper reports a study of body height in the adult Jewish population of Israel, comparing native-born with immigrant groups. The sample tested included 1,411 men and 961 women, all clinically healthy according to the results of multiphasic screening. The phenomenon observed in other immigration-absorbing countries also holds for Israel: native Israelis are significantly taller than their immigrant counterparts. The findings were verified over different age and working activity strata, and thus may be taken to reflect the influence of better socioeconomic and environmental conditions on the bodily development of those born in Israel.

Africa↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hemiplegics after a first stroke: late survival and risk factors.

Scanning 3000 cases admitted for rehabilitation after cerebrovascular accident over a 20 year period produced a sample of 1369 subjects, without age restrictions, admitted within six months of a first stroke of thrombotic etiology. In this sample, survival rates showed no significant difference between men and women. Age at onset, however, clearly influenced survival changes; the expected mean survival was 6 years at 40 and 2 at age 80; average loss of life was 14 years for the whole sample, meaning a vital prognosis two to three times worse than that of the general population. At least 86% of the sample presented one or more of five etiological antecedents to stroke: hypertensive heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation. In 87% of those, HHD and/or PVD were present. Presence of hypertension significantly lowered life expectancy and so did PVD; their influence is felt from the earliest stages. In contrast, diabetes mellitus, the next most common factor, has a late influence, starting about the fifth year after stroke. MI and AF were present in relatively fewer patients, but they contributed towards a considerable decrease in life expectancy, evident from the first stages, the more drastic reduction being observed in the AF group.

Adult↗