Possibilities for the polyclinic cardiologist in treating hyperlipoproteinemias in men with risk factors for ischemic heart disease

A total of 158 males with coronary risk factors and excessive (4 to 55% above normal) body weight were treated by diet and exercise for hyperlipoproteinemia in an out-patient clinic for 18 months. Blood cholesterol decreased significantly, by 14.4% (p less than 0.001), in 10% of the males who had lost at least 10% of excessive weight. Blood triglycerides decreased by 23% in 22% of the patients, who had lost 5.5% and more of excessive body weight (p less than 0.01). A two-month course of treatment with essential forte in combination with diet and regular exercise reduced blood cholesterol by 15.1% in 62%, and blood triglycerides, by 44.5% in 61.9% (p less than 0.001).     

Surgical treatment of myasthenia gravis in children

Thymectomy was included in the complex of therapeutic measures in the management of generalized myasthenia in 41 children. Much attention was given to preoperative management in which plasmapheresis was applied along with the traditional methods. As a result, maximum compensation of the myasthenic disorders was achieved and spontaneous respiration was restored in 9 patients who were given artificial ventilation of the lungs before the operation. The authors describe the techniques of thymectomy and the changes found in the thymus during histological study. No complications occurred. All of the children were discharged from the clinic in an improved condition. The late-term results were studied in 38 children in follow-up periods of 6 months to 4 years. Marked stable improvement was recorded in 31 (77.5%) patients.     

Vegetative regulation of arterial pressure in patients with arterial hypertension and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM)

72 patients with NIDDM (duration 5.3 +/- 3.1 years) aged 41-60 years were examined. They had also mild or moderate hypertension (duration 12.1 +/- 4.5). Control groups consisted of 15 NIDDM patients free of hypertension, 15 hypertensive patients without diabetes, 15 healthy subjects. All the patients have undergone 24-h monitoring of arterial pressure (APM) and computed cardiointervalography (CIG). As shown by CIG, hypertensive patients with NIDDM had sympathotonia which resulted from hypofunction of parasympathetic and hyperfunction of the sympathetic nervous systems. APM demonstrated enhanced variability of arterial pressure and its inadequate fall at night in patients of this group and normotensive patients with diabetes.     

The methods of traditional medicine in outpatient polyclinic practice

Some 7950 patients have been treated at the traditional medicine department of the Consulting and Diagnostic Center N52, 2/3rds of them came after long and unsuccessful medicamental treatment. Psychotherapy, manual therapy and acupuncture-reflex methods were successful in 86-93% of cases. They are recommended for local clinics provided that the latter are properly equipped and stuffed.     

Genetic fitness and selection intensity in a population affected with high-incidence spinocerebellar ataxia type 1

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is the major and likely the only type of autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia in the Sakha (Yakut) people of Eastern Siberia. The prevalence rate of SCA1 has doubled over the past 21 years peaking at 46 cases per 100,000 rural population. The age at death correlates closely with the number of CAG triplet repeats in the mutant ATXN1 gene (r = ?0.81); most patients with low-medium (39–55) repeat numbers survived until the end of reproductive age. The number of CAG repeats expands in meiosis, particularly in paternal transmissions; the average total increase in intergenerational transmissions in our cohort was estimated at 1.6 CAG repeats. The fertility rates of heterozygous carriers of 39–55 CAG repeats in women were no different from those of the general Sakha population. Overall, the survival of mutation carriers through reproductive age, unaltered fertility rates, low childhood mortality in SCA1-affected families, and intergenerational transmission of increasing numbers of CAG repeats in the ATXN1 gene indicate that SCA1 in the Sakha population will be maintained at high prevalence levels. The low (0.19) Crow’s index of total selection intensity in our SCA1 cohort implies that this mutation is unlikely to be eliminated through natural selection alone.     

Investigation of the Initial Corrosion Destruction of a Metal Matrix around Different Non-Metallic Inclusions on Surfaces of Pipeline Steels

Typical non-metallic inclusions in two industrial low-carbon steels for oil pipelines were investigated as three-dimensional objects on film filters after electrolytic extraction and filtration of metal samples. A method of soft chemical extraction using a 10%AA electrolyte was used to study the initial corrosion process in the steel matrix surrounding various non-metallic inclusions. To determine and compare “corrosive” inclusions and their influence on the initial stages of corrosion of the adjacent layer of the steel matrix, quantitative parameters (such as the diameter of the corrosion crater (D_cr) and pit (D_pit), and the relative dissolution coefficient of the metal matrix (KD) around various inclusions) were determined after chemical extraction. It was found that CaO-Al₂O₃-MgO oxides and TiN inclusions did not cause an initial corrosion of the steel matrix surrounding these inclusions. However, tensile stresses in the steel matrix occurred around CaS inclusions (or complex inclusions containing a CaS phase), which contributed to the initiation of corrosion around these inclusions.     

Character and frequency of pathological changes in the solitary rat kidney after removal of the other kidney in old age

One kidney was removed from male rats weighing 500–850 g; the remaining kidney underwent compensatory hypertrophy and, after 1–2 months, it was larger (index of hypertrophy 70–92%) in rats weighing 700–850 g than in animals weighing 500–600 g (56–58%). Histological investigation showed that this marked hypertrophy of the solitary kidney in old rats was not the result of disease of the organ, for pathological changes such as are sometimes found in intact and hypertrophied kidneys were found in only 38 of 223 animals. The results suggest that the ability of the kidneys to undergo, compensation and regeneration is not reduced in old age.Laboratory of Growth and Development, Institute of Human Morphology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. P. Avtsyn.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 84, No. 9, pp. 362–366, September, 1977.