tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Hepatitis B goes globe: Telbivudine as a new treatment option
Authors: Frank Tacke, Christian Trautwein
Journal: Hepatology (2008)

Background: Reducing hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication to minimal levels is emerging as a key therapeutic goal for chronic hepatitis B. Methods: In this double-blind, phase 3 trial, 1370 patients with chronic hepatitis B were randomly assigned to receive 600 mg of telbivudine or 100 mg of lamivudine once daily. The primary efficacy end point was noninferiority of telbivudine to lamivudine for therapeutic response (i.e., a reduction in serum HBV DNA levels to fewer than 5 log10 copies per milliliter, along with loss of hepatitis B e antigen [HBeAg] or normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels). Secondary efficacy measures included histologic response, changes in serum HBV DNA levels, and HbeAg responses. Results: At week 52, a significantly higher proportion of HBeAg-positive patients receiving telbivudine than of those receiving lamivudine had a therapeutic response (75.3% vs. 67.0%, P=0.005) or a histologic response (64.7% vs. 56.3%, P=0.01); telbivudine also was not inferior to lamivudine for these end points in HBeAg-negative patients. In HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative patients, telbivudine was superior to lamivudine with respect to the mean reduction in the number of copies of HBV DNA from baseline, the proportion of patients with a reduction in HBV DNA to levels undetectable by polymerase-chain-reaction assay, and development of resistance to the drug. Elevated creatine kinase levels were more common in patients who received telbivudine, whereas elevated alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels were more common in those who received lamivudine. Conclusions: Among patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B, the rates of therapeutic and histologic response at 1 year were significantly higher in patients treated with telbivudine than in patients treated with lamivudine. In both the HBeAg-negative and the HBeAg-positive groups, telbivudine demonstrated greater HBV DNA suppression with less resistance than did lamivudine. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00057265 [ClinicalTrials.gov].)
Youngest institute addresses aging problems
Authors: Marsha F. Goldsmith
Journal: JAMA (1984)

The youngest member of the NIH—established just ten years ago this month—is concerned with the oldest members of this country's population. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has responsibility for "biomedical, social, and behavioral research and training related to the aging process and diseases and other special problems and needs of the aged." According to NIA Director T. Franklin Williams, MD, an energetic 62-year-old who came to the institute in July 1983 from the University of Rochester (NY) Medical Center, where he was codirector of the Center on Aging, there are more people alive today over age 65 than ever before. There were 26 million people in this category in 1980. In the next 15 years, the number of Americans over age 85 is expected to double, resulting in approximately 5.4 million persons by the year 2000 who, says Williams, "will need some form of help because they are subject
Proposals for UK body to investigate research fraud "lack teeth"
Authors: S. Mayor
Journal: BMJ (2002)

Proposals for a national panel to monitor and investigate research misconduct in the United Kingdom were criticised at a recent meeting of journal editors and ethicists as lacking the authority to deal adequately with the problem.

The proposals were presented at a meeting of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)—an organisation designed to offer a forum for editors to manage cases of possible research and publication misconduct—by Professor Peter Lachmann, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

The academy had been asked to take a lead in developing a framework for a national panel to coordinate a national …
Getting the Public's Ear on Arteriosclerosis
Authors: THOMAS N. LYNN
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1972)

Editorial Notes1 August 1972Getting the Public's Ear on ArteriosclerosisTHOMAS N. LYNN, M.D.THOMAS N. LYNN, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-77-2-317 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptThe National Heart and Lung Institute Task Force on Arteriosclerosis has advocated (1) creation of a national program to prevent and control arteriosclerosis and specifically recommended the establishment of national centers for prevention of arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular disease prevention clinics, lipid research clinics, and an Office of Health Education in the National Heart and Lung Institute. It has called for clinical trials to test risk factor hypotheses for coronary disease; it has called for specific programs aimed at increased understanding of the effects on the arteriosclerotic process and associated diseases of cigarette smoking, hypertension, exercise, and antithrombotic agents. It has recommended...Reference1. : Arteriosclerosis. Washington, D.C., Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Publication no. (NIH) 72-137, June 1971 Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Department of Community Health University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, Okla. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics 1 August 1972Volume 77, Issue 2Page: 317-317KeywordsCardiovascular diseasesCardiovascular therapyClinical trialsExerciseHypertensionLipidsLungsMedical risk factorsStable coronary artery disease Issue Published: 1 August 1972 PDF downloadLoading ...
Health and safety at work
Authors: H G E Wilson, R M Agius
Journal: BMJ (1994)

EDITOR, - We share many of the concerns expressed by Andrew Watterson with regard to the dual threats of deregulation and underfunding of the Health and Safety Executive.1 Although Britain has made important strides in health and safety in the workplace - for example, in the control of substances hazardous to health2 - this seems to be changing. For example, work sponsored by the Health and Safety Executive showed that the incidence of occupational respiratory sensitisation was …
Why Are Physicians Not Prescribing Diuretics More Frequently in the Management of Hypertension?
Authors: Marvin Moser
Journal: JAMA (1998)

Diuretics have again been recommended by the Sixth Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC VI) as one of the first-choice medications in the management of hypertension. This recommendation is based on the results of numerous randomized, diuretic-based, long-term controlled clinical trials that have demonstrated a reduction in both cerebrovascular and cardiovascular morbidity. Despite this and other national recommendations, the use of diuretics has steadily decreased over the past 15 years. Reasons include heavy promotion of other medications and the perception that diuretics produce adverse metabolic effects and do not reduce coronary heart disease events. Data, however, indicate that (1) changes in glucose and cholesterol metabolism are minor, especially with the smaller doses now being used; (2) cardiovascular morbidity and mortality have been reduced in hypertensive patients, even in those with hyperlipidemia or diabetes, when diuretics are used; and (3) concerns about hypokalemia-induced arrhythmias have been overstated. While special indications exist for other medications in the treatment of hypertension, for example, use of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (usually in addition to a diuretic) for a patient with heart failure or diabetic nephropathy, most patients, including those with hyperlipidemia or glucose intolerance, can be effectively treated with a diuretic as initial therapy or as part of a combination regimen. Diuretics should be used more not less frequently; use of diuretics would reduce the number of resistant hypertensive patients.
Geriatric syndromes continue to be poorly managed and recognised
Authors: D. Oliver
Journal: BMJ (2008)

There is much common ground between the protagonists in this slightly phoney war.1 2 What the argument advanced by Denaro and Mudge lacks is a pragmatic appreciation of how things are rather than how they might ideally like them to be.

Purely age related admission criteria are rare these days, with geriatricians selecting those with frailty, …
The 2011 Duty-Hour Requirements — A Survey of Residency Program Directors
Authors: Brian C. Drolet, Mamoona T. Khokhar, Staci A. Fischer
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2013)

Unlike residents, many residency-program directors approve of the new ACGME duty-hour and supervision requirements. But less than half support restricting senior residents' shifts to 24 hours, and a large majority disapprove of the 16-hour shift limit for interns.
The Design of Future Pediatric Mechanical Ventilation Trials for Acute Lung Injury
Authors: Robinder G. Khemani, Christopher J. L. Newth
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2010)

Pediatric practitioners face unique challenges when attempting to translate or adapt adult-derived evidence regarding ventilation practices for acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome into pediatric practice. Fortunately or unfortunately, there appears to be selective adoption of adult practices for pediatric mechanical ventilation, many of which pose considerable challenges or uncertainty when translated to pediatrics. These differences, combined with heterogeneous management strategies within pediatric critical care, can complicate clinical practice and make designing robust clinical trials in pediatric acute respiratory failure particularly difficult. These issues surround the lack of explicit ventilator protocols in pediatrics, either computer or paper based; differences in modes of conventional ventilation and perceived marked differences in the approach to high-frequency oscillatory ventilation; challenges with patient recruitment; the shortcomings of the definition of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome; the more reliable yet still somewhat unpredictable relationship between lung injury severity and outcome; and the reliance on potentially biased surrogate outcome measures, such as ventilator-free days, for all pediatric trials. The purpose of this review is to highlight these challenges, discuss pertinent work that has begun to address them, and propose potential solutions or future investigations that may help facilitate comprehensive trials on pediatric mechanical ventilation and define clinical practice standards.
Drug company campaign adds to pressure on Dutch doctors to vaccinate against HPV
Authors: Tony Sheldon
Journal: BMJ (2007)

Dutch GPs are being urged to exercise restraint in the face of increasing demand to vaccinate young girls against human papillomavirus—seen as the main cause of cervical cancer.

The Dutch Health Council, which advises the Dutch government on public health issues, is due to report by the end of the year on whether to include the vaccine in the national vaccination programme.

But Sanofi Pasteur MSD, which manufactures the new vaccine Gardasil, has launched an information campaign highlighting the dangers of human papillomavirus. This includes radio spots featuring a media personality and websites, including www.beschermjedochter.nl (“Protect your daughter”). Complaints …
1012-129 Dual angiotensin-II suppression with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and irbesartan improves submaximal exercise time without changes in exercise-induced neurohumoral response in patients with congestive heart failure
Authors: Martine Blanchet, Richard Sheppard, Daniel Curnier, Jacques de Champlain, Pierre Sirois, Hélène Créo, André Roof, Lucette Whittom, Jean-Claude Tardif, Anique Ducharme, Normand Racine, Michel White
Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2004)
Research in support of tobacco control
Authors: J. M Samet, C. E Taylor, K. M Becker, D. Yach
Journal: BMJ (1998)

Enough evidence exists already for all countries to implement a strong package of measures to control tobacco consumption and its harmful effects. These include banning advertising, restricting smoking in public, taxing tobacco, and establishing both governmental and non-governmental agencies to work against smoking. Yet more research still needs to be done to make tobacco control more effective. Many countries lack a research and data gathering infrastructure, and world wide there is an almost complete absence of funds for research directed at the global control of tobacco.

Last year's 10th world conference on tobacco or health, held in Beijing in August, took place at a time when the multinational tobacco corporations were increasing their marketing activities world wide.1 Lacking skills in tobacco control, many …
Harry Kaye Rose
Authors: M. R. B. H. T. Mansi
Journal: BMJ (2014)

Harry Kaye Rose was born in Glasgow, one of four children born to Rebecca and Louis Rosenheim. His father was a successful tailor in Glasgow, and had been educated at the same school as Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame. The young Harry had a passion for studying and gained many awards—he excelled at studying Hebrew and was destined to become a rabbi, but instead decided to study medicine and gained a place at Glasgow University.

He was an outstanding student who gained many awards and prizes during his time at university, including two gold medals. However, he always felt hard done by as, because there was a metal shortage during the war, he had to have both medals struck as one.

Harry did his national service as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, mostly …
FURTHER STUDIES ON THE γG-HEAVY CHAIN GENE COMPLEXES, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE GENETIC MARKERS Gm(g) AND Gm(n)
Authors: J. B. Natvig, H. G. Kunkel, W. J. Yount, J. C. Nielsen
Journal: The Journal of Experimental Medicine (1968)

The recently described Gm (g) and Gm (n) genetic markers of the gammaG3- and gammaG2-subgroups of gamma-globulin were characterized in detail primarily through studies of myeloma proteins, their polypeptide chains and fragments. Antisera derived from rabbits, non-human primates and rheumatoid arthritis patients gave identical results. This contrasted with the Gm (b) system where the rabbit antisera react with a different genetic determinant (b(0)) than the sera from rheumatoid arthritis patients (b). The Gm (g) and Gm (n) antigens were detected both by precipitin analysis and by hemagglutination inhibition. The Gm (g) antigen was not associated with any of the other genetic antigens of the gammaG3-proteins which all belonged in the Gm (b) class. The genes for the latter were always allelic to the gene coding for Gm (g), with that for Gm (b(0)) constantly present when that for Gm (g) was absent. The Gm (g) and Gm (n) markers were of particular value in tracing the various gene complexes made up of the closely linked subgroup genes. Further support was gained for the concept that the different gene complexes of various population groups arose primarily through crossing-over. The Gm(g) and Gm(b) genes for the gammaG3-subgroup were extremely closely linked to those for the gammaG1-subgroup. However the Gm (n) marker indicated that the gammaG2-subgroup genes were probably further separated on the chromosome. Additional evidence was obtained for the gammaG2-gammaG3-gammaG1-order of the subgroup cistrons. Among the wide range of gene complexes a new type (gammaG2,-,gamma/G1) was described. This complex appeared to have a deletion of the gammaG3-cistron. Lower levels of gammaG3-globulin were found in the sera of the individuals with this gene in the heterozygous state. The possibility that this unusual complex arose through an unequal nonhomologous crossing-over is discussed.
Managed Care in Transition
Authors: R. Adams Dudley, Harold S. Luft
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2001)

Managed care now dominates health care in the United States. By 1999, only 8 percent of persons with employer-sponsored health insurance coverage had traditional indemnity insurance.1 This reflects a sea change in the past two decades — not just in the financing of health insurance but also in the way medicine is practiced.The rapid growth of managed care is not primarily due to enthusiasm for this approach on the part of patients or providers. Patients have had mixed reactions to managed care; they like the low copayments and reduced paperwork but view some managed-care practices as emphasizing cost control . . .
As Better Training and Machines Improve Safety, Speed Becomes Focus of Newest Anesthetic Drugs
Authors: Marsha F. Goldsmith
Journal: JAMA (1992)

TELEVISION, which has been held to account for so many ills of modern society, has at least one undeniable good to its credit. According to Ellison C. Pierce, Jr, MD, chair of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation of the ASA, it was an ABC-TV "20/20" program in 1982 that set in motion "the present decade of real interest and work on patient safety." The program "detailed in a significant manner some pretty bad anesthetic deaths across the country," says Pierce, sparking a call for practice reform. Shortly after viewing that documentary, he became president of the ASA and established a committee on patient safety and risk management that has been very active ever since. <h3>More to Story</h3> Success in making safe a procedure with all the inherent risks of anesthesia has been ascribed by many to recent technological advances—but not by Pierce, who has been in practice for 35 years.
Abstract 4420: ABI-013: A novel nanoparticle <i>albumin-</i>bound (<i>nab</i>) docetaxel analog with superior antitumor activity over docetaxel
Authors: Osmond D'Cruz, Marit Piacente, Vuong Trieu, Chunlin Tao, Neil Desai
Journal: Cancer Research (2010)

Abstract Background: Docetaxel-based chemotherapy is currently used to treat patients with a variety of tumors. A critical challenge has been to improve its chemotherapeutic levels without systemic toxicity. We developed ABI-013, a novel analog of docetaxel (Taxotere®) as a solvent (polysorbate 80/ethanol)-free, nanoparticle albumin-bound 70-nm (nab) form with improved stability in vivo as a tumor-targeting chemotherapeutic agent. In this study, we evaluated the comparative antitumor activity of ABI-013 versus Taxotere® in human tumor xenografts. Methods: Subcutaneous human breast (MDA-MB-231), colon (HT29 and HCT-116), and lung (H358) tumors were grown in athymic nude mice and treated intravenously (IV) with ABI-013 (15, 30, 60, 90, 120 or 150 mg/kg) or Taxotere (MTD of 15 mg/kg) on a q4dx3 schedule. Evaluations of anti-tumor activity were based on the number of partial and complete regressions, the median number of days for tumors in each group to reach one tumor mass doubling (T-C) or the percentage tumor growth inhibition (%TGI). Results: Significant dose-dependent TGI was observed with complete or partial tumor regressions in all xenograft models treated with ABI-013. In the MDA-MB-231 breast tumor model, ABI-013 effectively delayed the tumor growth with T-C values of 83.1, 80.7, and &amp;gt;84.8 days at dosages of 120, 90, and 60 mg/kg, respectively, with &amp;gt;96% TGI compared to vehicle control (P &amp;lt; 0.0001 vs. saline). In contrast, Taxotere delayed the tumor growth with a T-C value of 49.5 days and decreased tumor growth by 88% (P &amp;lt; 0.0001 vs. saline). In the HT 29 colon tumor model, Taxotere revealed dose-limiting toxicity with a 27% body weight loss (BWL) despite 86 to 91% TGI (P &amp;lt; 0.01 vs. saline). In contrast, ABI-013 (90 mg/kg) caused complete tumor regression with a maximum BWL of 19% (P &amp;lt; 0.0001 vs. saline). Treatment with Taxotere delayed the growth of HCT-116 colon tumor with a T-C value of 14.9 days with a maximum BWL of 21%. In contrast, complete tumor regression was achieved in 40% of ABI-013-treated mice. In the H358 human non-small cell lung cancer model, unlike Taxotere, ABI-013 (60 mg/kg) caused partial tumor regression with minimal toxicity. Conclusion: ABI-013, a solvent-free nanoparticle albumin-bound 70-nm particle form of a novel docetaxel analog, had superior antitumor activity in human breast, colorectal, and lung cancer xenograft models compared with equitoxic doses of solvent-based formulation of docetaxel. The nab form of the novel docetaxel analog shows promise in cancer therapy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4420.
Plasma renin and sodium balance during development of moderate and severe renal hypertension in rats.
Authors: F H Leenen, W de Jong
Journal: Circulation Research (1975)

The changes in systolic blood pressure, plasma renin activity (PRA), and sodium balance were studied during the first 3 weeks of the development of renal hypertension in rats with an undisturbed contralateral kidney. Moderate hypertension (160 to 180 mm Hg) was reached after application of a 0.25-mm solid clip; severe hypertension (200 to 230 mm Hg) developed after application of a 0.20-mm solid clip. Basal levels of PRA in peripheral blood increased only in rats with a 0.20-mm clip, when blood pressure had already risen to 160 to 180 mm Hg. Elevated peripheral PRA, however, may have contributed to the initial increase of blood pressure in both groups of hypertensive rats, as indicated by higher late-afternoon PRA values at the peak of the normal diurnal rhythm of PRA. PRA in renal venous blood from the clipped kidney increased during the development of both moderate and severe hypertension at a rate quantitatively related to the rise in blood pressure. During the first 8 to 10 days after application of both sizes of clips, sodium retention per gram gain in body weight was significantly higher than in the sham-operated controls. Subsequently, sodium balance and blood pressure stabilized in animals with a 0.25-mm clip. In the rats with a 0.20-mm clip, sodium balance returned to control levels and became even lower than in the sham-operated group. Despite this negative sodium balance, blood pressure showed a further rise. These results suggest that in rats with an undisturbed contralateral kidney, a positive sodium balance has a role in the early phase of the development of renal hypertension. The enhanced plasma renin activity also probably contributes to the early phase, but appears to make a major contribution to the further development of severe hypertension.