tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Frequent use of chemical household products is associated with persistent wheezing in pre-school age children
Authors: A Sherriff
Journal: Thorax (2004)

<b>Background:</b> In the UK and other developed countries the prevalence of asthma symptoms has increased in recent years. This is likely to be the result of increased exposure to environmental factors. A study was undertaken to investigate the association between maternal use of chemical based products in the prenatal period and patterns of wheeze in early childhood. <b>Methods:</b> In the population based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), the frequency of use of 11 chemical based domestic products was determined from questionnaires completed by women during pregnancy and a total chemical burden (TCB) score was derived. Four mutually exclusive wheezing patterns were defined for the period from birth to 42 months based on parental questionnaire responses (never wheezed, transient early wheeze, persistent wheeze, and late onset wheeze). Multinomial logistic regression models were used to assess the relationship between these wheezing outcomes and TCB exposure while accounting for numerous potential confounding variables. Complete data for analysis was available for 7019 of 13 971 (50%) children. <b>Results:</b> The mean (SD) TCB score was 9.4 (4.1), range 0–30. Increased use of domestic chemical based products was associated with persistent wheezing during early childhood (adjusted odds ratio (OR) per unit increase of TCB 1.06 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03 to 1.09)) but not with transient early wheeze or late onset wheeze. Children whose mothers had high TCB scores (&gt;90th centile) were more than twice as likely to wheeze persistently throughout early childhood than children whose mothers had a low TCB score (&lt;10th centile) (adjusted OR 2.3 (95% CI 1.2 to 4.4)). <b>Conclusion:</b> These findings suggest that frequent use of chemical based products in the prenatal period is associated with persistent wheezing in young children. Follow up of this cohort is underway to determine whether TCB is associated with wheezing, asthma, and atopy at later stages in childhood.
A Critical Appraisal of “Chronic Lyme Disease”
Authors: Henry M. Feder, Barbara J.B. Johnson, Susan O'Connell, Eugene D. Shapiro, Allen C. Steere, Gary P. Wormser
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (2007)

"Chronic Lyme disease" is often used to explain persistent pain, fatigue, and neurocognitive symptoms in patients without any evidence of previous acute Lyme disease. Once this diagnosis is given, prolonged treatment with multiple antimicrobial agents may follow. This review examines the scientific evidence for chronic borrelia infection and explains the approach to clinical evaluation and management in patients with a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease.
The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease in chronic unexplained cough
Authors: Byung-Jae Lee, Jin-Young Lee, Mi-Jung Oh, Dong-Chull Choi
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2013)

Background: The common co-existence of cough and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is well established. Several respiratory guidelines for the management of chronic unexplained cough in adults advocate empirical treatment of GERD. In contrast, guidelines from some gastroenterological societies conclude that cough is unlikely to be related to GERD in the absence of heartburn or acid regurgitation. This study was performed to assess the prevalence of GERD in adults with chronic unknown cough. Methods: Adult patients with unexplained cough more than 8 weeks were prospectively enrolled from January 2007 to December 2011 and underwent 24-hour impedance-pH monitoring of esophagus. Results: The prevalence of GERD in chronic unexplained cough, as evidenced by an abnormal impedance or pH profile, was 46.3% (68 of 147 patients). Among 49 patients who were given anti-reflux medication for at least 3 months, 39 patients (79.6%) achieved total or near-total elimination of cough. Conclusion: GERD, which is readily detected by 24-hour impedance-pH monitoring, is a common cause of chronic unexplained cough and can be successfully managed with anti-reflux therapy.
Is a Priming Dose of Insulin Necessary in a Low-Dose Insulin Protocol for the Treatment of Diabetic Ketoacidosis?
Authors: Abbas E. Kitabchi, Mary Beth Murphy, Judy Spencer, Robert Matteri, Jim Karas
Journal: Diabetes Care (2008)

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of an insulin priming dose with a continuous insulin infusion versus two continuous infusions without a priming dose. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—This prospective randomized protocol used three insulin therapy methods: 1) load group using a priming dose of 0.07 units of regular insulin per kg body weight followed by a dose of 0.07 unit · kg−1 · h−1 i.v. in 12 patients with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA); 2) no load group using an infusion of regular insulin of 0.07 unit · kg body weight−1 · h−1 without a loading dose in 12 patients with DKA, and 3) twice no load group using an infusion of regular insulin of 0.14 · kg−1 · h−1 without a loading dose in 13 patients with DKA. Outcome was based on the effects of insulin therapy on biochemical and hormonal changes during treatment and recovery of DKA. RESULTS—The load group reached a peak in free insulin value (460 μU/ml) within 5 min and plateaued at 88 μU/ml in 60 min. The twice no load group reached a peak (200 μU/ml) at 45 min. The no load group reached a peak (60 μU/ml) in 60–120 min. Five patients in the no load group required supplemental insulin doses to decrease initial glucose levels by 10%; patients in the twice no load and load groups did not. Except for these differences, times to reach glucose ≤250 mg/dl, pH ≥7.3, and HCO3− ≥15 mEq/l did not differ significantly among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS—A priming dose in low-dose insulin therapy in patients with DKA is unnecessary if an adequate dose of regular insulin of 0.14 unit · kg body weight−1 · h−1 (about 10 units/h in a 70-kg patient) is given.
Randomised placebo-controlled crossover trial on effect of inactivated influenza vaccine on pulmonary function in asthma
Authors: Karl G Nicholson, Jonathan S Nguyen-Van-Tam, Ala'eldin H Ahmed, Martin J Wiselka, Jane Leese, Jon Ayres, James H Campbell, Philip Ebden, Noemi M Eiser, Bruce J Hutchcroft, James CG Pearson, Richard F Willey, Roger J Wolstenholme, Mark A Woodhead
Journal: The Lancet (1998)
Personality disorder - who needs protecting?
Authors: D Gordon
Journal: BMJ (1994)

I have been diagnosed as having a personality disorder. No, I'm not a psychopath, nor do I have Munchausen syndrome by proxy. My symptoms don't even fit nicely into one of the official diagnostic categories, but nevertheless are classed by my psychiatrist as being “severe.”

To the general public who have read the tabloid press the term severe personality disorder is likely to conjure up pictures of axe wielding maniacs and child murderers or at the very least people who need to be kept away from society in high security special hospitals or locked wards; people from whom we need protecting.

To the medical and psychiatic profession and perhaps the more enlightened among us the term severe personality disorder will evoke images of manipulative, superficially charming, persistent liars who have few (if any) friends, cannot form close lasting relationships, and are unable to deal appropriately with their intense feelings of anger and rage. For many years the diagnosis of personality disorder has been fraught with difficulties and has produced much disagreement among those who have attempted to describe, categorise, and treat it. There now seems to …
“Natural History” of Pulmonary Hypertension in a Series of 131 Patients with Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease
Authors: ROMAIN KESSLER, MICHÈLE FALLER, EMMANUEL WEITZENBLUM, ARI CHAOUAT, ATTILA AYKUT, ALAIN DUCOLONÉ, MAY EHRHART, MONIQUE OSWALD-MAMMOSSER
Journal: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2001)

The prognostic value and the evolution of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with markedly hypoxemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), treated or not with long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), has been extensively investigated. However, little is known in patients with mildly or moderately hypoxemic COPD not requiring LTOT. Therefore, we assessed the evolution of pulmonary hemodynamics in 131 patients with stable COPD by performing two right heart catheterizations at a mean (+/- SD) time interval of 6.8 +/- 2.9 yr. At inclusion (T0), no patient had PH (i.e., the mean pulmonary artery pressure [Ppa] at rest was < 20 mm Hg). Group 1 included 55 patients without exercising PH and group 2 included 76 patients with exercising PH, defined by a pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa) > 30 mm Hg during a steady-state 40-W exercise. Group 2 patients compared with group 1 patients had a significantly higher resting Ppa (16 +/- 3 mm Hg versus 14 +/- 2 mm Hg, p = 0.001). At the second catheterization, 33 (25%) patients (9 of 55 in group 1, 24 of 76 in group 2, p = 0.048) showed a resting Ppa > 20 mm Hg, but PH was generally mild, ranging from 20 to 42.5 mm Hg. The mean Ppa at second evaluation was 16 +/- 5 mm Hg in group 1 and 19 +/- 7 mm Hg in group 2 (p = 0.01). The patients who developed resting PH at the second catheterization (T1) had higher resting and exercising Ppa (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively), and significantly lower resting and exercising Pa(O(2)) (p = 0.005 and p = 0.012, respectively) at T0. Logistic regression analysis showed that resting and exercising Ppa were independent predictors (at T0) for the subsequent development of PH (p = 0.029 and p = 0.027, respectively). The patients who developed resting PH (T1) had a significantly worsening of Pa(O(2)) (from 63.5 mm Hg at T0 to 60 mm Hg at T1, p = 0.047), whereas the Pa(O(2)) as a mean was stable in the remainder (69.5 mm Hg at T0 and T1). These results show the following. The progression of Ppa over time in patients with COPD with mild to moderate hypoxemia is rather slow, the average change for the group as a whole being of + 0.4 mm Hg/yr. Only about 25% of patients with COPD with mild to moderate hypoxemia and without resting PH at the onset will develop PH during a 6-yr follow-up. The patients with exercising PH at the onset have a significantly increased risk of developing PH over time. Only resting and exercising Ppa at the onset are independently related to the subsequent development of PH. However, in individual cases, the models of linear or logistic regression do not allow a pertinent prediction of the level of Ppa or the presence of PH at the second right heart catheterization.
Economic and Health Consequences of Selling a Kidney in India
Authors: Madhav Goyal
Journal: JAMA (2002)

Many countries have a shortage of kidneys available for transplantation. Paying people to donate kidneys is often proposed or justified as a way to benefit recipients by increasing the supply of organs and to benefit donors by improving their economic status. However, whether individuals who sell their kidneys actually benefit from the sale is controversial.To determine the economic and health effects of selling a kidney.Cross-sectional survey conducted in February 2001 among 305 individuals who had sold a kidney in Chennai, India, an average of 6 years before the survey.Reasons for selling kidney, amount received from sale, how money was spent, change in economic status, change in health status, advice for others contemplating selling a kidney.Ninety-six percent of participants sold their kidneys to pay off debts. The average amount received was 1070 US dollars. Most of the money received was spent on debts, food, and clothing. Average family income declined by one third after nephrectomy (P<.001), and the number of participants living below the poverty line increased. Three fourths of participants were still in debt at the time of the survey. About 86% of participants reported a deterioration in their health status after nephrectomy. Seventy-nine percent would not recommend that others sell a kidney.Among paid donors in India, selling a kidney does not lead to a long-term economic benefit and may be associated with a decline in health. Physicians and policy makers should reexamine the value of using financial incentives to increase the supply of organs for transplantation.
Thyroid dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis: a controlled prospective survey.
Authors: J B Shiroky, M Cohen, M L Ballachey, C Neville
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (1993)

OBJECTIVES--To determine whether thyroid dysfunction is found with increased frequency in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS--A controlled prospective survey was conducted on a cohort of patients with RA derived from a hospital clinic and a private surburban rheumatology practice. A control group with similar demographic features was generated from the same sources and included subjects with either osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia. Consecutive patients were evaluated over a six month period. The evaluation included a complete history and physical examination, and determination of serum thyroxine, free thyroxine, triiodothyronine, thyroid stimulating hormone (IRMA), antinuclear antibodies, and rheumatoid factor. RESULTS--Of the 91 women with RA evaluated, 29 (30%) had evidence of thyroid dysfunction compared with 10 (11%) of 93 controls. The excess thyroid dysfunction is due to either hypothyroidism or Hashimoto9s thyroiditis and was independent of age, increasing duration of disease, rheumatoid factor, and antinuclear antibodies. CONCLUSIONS--Thyroid dysfunction is seen at least three times more often in women with RA than in women with similar demographic features with non-inflammatory rheumatic diseases such as osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia.
Survival predictors in a cohort of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis biopsy-proven
Authors: Mauricio Salinas, Matias Florenzano, Gabriel Cavada, Alvaro Undurraga
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2012)

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a bad prognosis disease with heterogeneous progression. Only few studies, including relative small sample size, have searched for bad prognosis factors. The aim of this study was to analyze survival predictors in a retrospective cohort.  The study was conducted at the National Thorax Institute in Santiago, Chile. Registers of patients in the period between 1991 and 2008 with clinical, radiological and surgical biopsy concordant with IPF were analyzed. We performed survival analysis with mixed models and proportional Weibull hazard models.  A total of 142 patients were analyzed. The average age was 58 years and 41.5% were males.  The mean survival was 80 months. In univariate analysis were predictors of mortality: diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) less of forty percent and desaturation during six minute walk test (6MWT) at baseline. The rate of decline of forced vital capacity (FVC) was mortality predictor.  The rate of decline of FVC is a strong mortality predictor in this study and allows distinguishing bad prognosis groups.
Electrocardiographic Studies in Homologous Canine Heart Transplantations
Authors: NICHOLAS P. DEPASQUALE, GEORGE E. BURCH, EDGAR PENA, KEITH REEMTSMA
Journal: Circulation Research (1965)

1) In a series of ten dogs subjected to heart transplantation, serial electrocardiograms were recorded from the transplanted and the recipient hearts. 2) Approximately one week following transplantation, changes appeared in the S-T segment and the T wave of the electrocardiogram of the recipient heart without significant alteration of the QRS complexes. These findings resembled those associated with myocarditis and/or pericarditis. 3) Electrocardiographic changes did not appear in animals treated with drugs alone or in animals subjected to kidney transplantation. These findings suggest the possibility of release from transplanted hearts of an organ-specific substance or substances which affected the hearts of the recipients.
Stem Cell–Mediated Transfer of a Human Artificial Chromosome Ameliorates Muscular Dystrophy
Authors: Francesco Saverio Tedesco, Hidetoshi Hoshiya, Giuseppe D’Antona, Mattia F. M. Gerli, Graziella Messina, Stefania Antonini, Rossana Tonlorenzi, Sara Benedetti, Libera Berghella, Yvan Torrente, Yasuhiro Kazuki, Roberto Bottinelli, Mitsuo Oshimura, Giulio Cossu
Journal: Science Translational Medicine (2011)

Combining gene delivery using a human artificial chromosome with stem cell transplantation ameliorates muscular dystrophy in a mouse model.
Inhibition of Levarterenol by Intra-Arterial Phenoxybenzamine in Man
Authors: JEAN GINSBURG, ROBERT S. DUFF
Journal: Circulation Research (1958)

The infusion of 1.2 mg. phenoxybenzamine into the brachial artery of healthy adults was followed by a marked reduction in constrictor responses in the corresponding hands to infused levarterenol and to sympathetic stimuli.
Therapeutics Development for Cystic Fibrosis: A Successful Model for a Multisystem Genetic Disease
Authors: Melissa A. Ashlock, Eric R. Olson
Journal: Annual Review of Medicine (2010)

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a progressive genetic disease primarily involving the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. Multiple therapies directed at CF symptoms and clinical management strategies have emerged from iterative cycles of therapeutics development, helping to change the face of CF from a fatal childhood affliction to a disease in which nearly 50% of U.S. patients are adults. However, as a consequence of therapeutic advances, the burden of CF care is high, and despite progress, most patients succumb to respiratory failure. Addressing the basic defect in CF with systemic small molecules is evolving as a promising approach. A successful collaboration between a voluntary health organization and a pharmaceutical company, complemented by academic investigators and patients, has led to the clinical development of investigational drugs that restore function to defective CFTR protein in various tissues in CF patients. Important activities, leverage points, and challenges in this exemplary collaboration are reviewed with hope that the CF and other genetic disease communities can benefit from the lessons learned in generating new therapeutic approaches in CF.
Oral clodronate for adjuvant treatment of operable breast cancer (National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project protocol B-34): a multicentre, placebo-controlled, randomised trial
Authors: Alexander HG Paterson, Stewart J Anderson, Barry C Lembersky, Louis Fehrenbacher, Carla I Falkson, Karen M King, Lorna M Weir, Adam M Brufsky, Shaker Dakhil, Thomas Lad, Luis Baez-Diaz, Julie R Gralow, André Robidoux, Edith A Perez, Ping Zheng, Charles E Geyer, Sandra M Swain, Joseph P Costantino, Eleftherios P Mamounas, Norman Wolmark
Journal: The Lancet Oncology (2012)
Potential Health Risks From Beverages Containing Fructose Found in Sugar or High-Fructose Corn Syrup
Authors: George A. Bray
Journal: Diabetes Care (2012)

Fructose is a sweet tasting sugar that is found naturally in fruits and some vegetables and has been part of the human diet—in modest amounts—for eons. The increasing consumption of sugar has dramatically increased our exposure to fructose (1). Sugar consumption has risen more than 40-fold since the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago, and more than 40% of the added sugars in our diet are in sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit drinks (2,3). Thus, the principal sources of fructose in our diet are now sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, each of which has about 50% fructose. The intake of soft drinks has risen fivefold since 1950 (4,5) (Fig.1) and with it the intake of fructose. The rise in the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages has paralleled the rise in the prevalence of obesity and the metabolic syndrome and is associated with the appearance of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (6–8). Although association does not prove causation, it has stimulated research to understand whether current levels of fructose intake in beverages pose a health risk.

Over the past decade fructose from either sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup has received growing attention as it has been associated with a widening group of health-related problems. Several meta-analyses have shown a relationship between the consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and obesity (9–11). The relation of these beverages to obesity can be attributed to the increased caloric intake and to the …
Card15 gene overexpression in mononuclear and epithelial cells of the inflamed Crohn's disease colon
Authors: D Berrebi
Journal: Gut (2003)

<b>Background:</b> Crohn's disease is one of the principal human chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. Although its aetiology is still unknown, its complex pathogenesis has environmental, immunological, and genetic determinants. <i>CARD15</i> is the first susceptibility gene implicated in the predisposition to Crohn's disease and is known to be expressed only in monocytes. However, its expression in situ has not yet been studied. <b>Aims:</b> To analyse the tissue distribution of CARD15 and identify cells producing CARD15 in samples of colon from patients with Crohn's disease and control subjects. <b>Patients and methods:</b> We analysed CARD15 gene expression in surgical specimens of colon from eight children with Crohn's disease and nine controls by immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridisation, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). <b>Results:</b> We showed that CARD15 was present only in the cytoplasm of macrophages in the normal colon. Increased CARD15 expression was detected in Crohn's disease lesions. There were more CARD15 positive cells in Crohn's disease lesions than in uninvolved areas. Both intestinal epithelial cells, macrophages, and their derivatives overproduced CARD15 in Crohn's disease. To further assess CARD15 expression by intestinal epithelial cells, we performed RT-PCR on freshly isolated intestinal epithelial cells, and showed that these cells isolated from Crohn's disease samples contained more CARD15 mRNA than intestinal epithelial cells from controls. <b>Conclusions:</b> We have demonstrated that colonic involvement in active Crohn's disease is associated with increased CARD15 gene expression in both macrophages and intestinal epithelial cells. Therefore, this deregulation can affect the host-environment interaction and thus contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease.
Flow cytometric analysis of conjunctival epithelium in ocular rosacea and keratoconjunctivitis sicca
Authors: Pierre-Jean Pisella, Françoise Brignole, Caroline Debbasch, Paul-Alexandre Lozato, Catherine Creuzot-Garcher, Jacques Bara, Philippe Saiag, Jean-Michel Warnet, Christophe Baudouin
Journal: Ophthalmology (2000)