Dietary Tryptophan Reverses Alcohol-induced Impairment of Facial Recognition But Not Verbal Recall

The present study demonstrates that alcohol-induced memory impairment can be attenuated by pretreatment with an oral tryptophan supplementation. These results provide support for the role of a brain serotonin deficit in this impairment and highlight the impact a dietary manipulation can have on a complex behavioral process.     

Patients with prosthetic joints: Are they at risk when receiving invasive dental procedures?

Most prosthetic joint infections (PJI) are due to wound contamination at the time of surgery. Some infections occur due to the hematogenous spread of bacteria from distant sites of infection. A review of the literature fails to associate PJI with transient bacteremias from invasive dental procedures. Several authors have described conditions which, they believe, render patients with prosthetic joints more at risk for infection. Prosthetic joint patients with these "high risk" conditions have the same types of infecting organisms as other patients with PJI. This indicates that the infecting bacteria are from wound contamination or distant sites of infection and not related to dental procedure bacteremias. Based on this review, antibiotic prophylaxis is not indicated for patients with prosthetic joints when receiving invasive dental procedures, since there is no proven benefit and there are known risks involved with the use of antibiotics. However, the American Dental Association (ADA) and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), in an advisory statement, suggest prophylaxis for "high risk" patients. The ADA and AAOS recommend a single dose of amoxicillin, cephradine, or clindamycin when prophylaxis is selected. The dentist is ultimately responsible for making treatment recommendations for his or her patients.     

A Decade of Change in Obesity Surgery

Background: The International (formerly National) Bariatric Surgery Registry began collecting data in January 1986. The aim of this study was to examine changes in the practice of surgical treatment of severe obesity that occurred during the decade of 1986 through 1995, as observed in the IBSR data. Methods: All data submitted to the IBSR during the decade were transferred to the IBM mainframe computer for analysis. Characteristics of operative type populations were compared over time using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for age, body mass index (BMI), operative weight and Chi-square (χ²) test for gender. Results: There has been a steady increase over the decade in mean patient weight. The operations used have changed from predominantly ‘simple’ operations to more frequent use of ‘complex’ operations. Within the categories of ‘simple’ and ‘complex’, an increase in the variety of operations occurred. As a group, patients with ‘simple’ operations have been heavier, more often male and public pay patients than those who have undergone ‘complex’ operations. One year weight loss was greater for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RGB) than vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG), but follow-up rates were too low to study the relative merits of the operations used. The reported incidence of operative mortality and serious complications (leak with peritonitis, abscess and pulmonary embolism) remained low. Conclusions: These observations and their implications can be summarized in three statements which relate to action for improved patient care in the beginning of the new century: (1) increasing weight of candidates for surgical treatment during this decade indicates the need for earlier use of operative treatment before irreversible complications of obesity can develop; (2) low risk of obesity surgery, decreasing postoperative hospital stay, and early weight control support the continued and increased use of surgical treatment; (3) continued widespread use of both ‘simple’ and ‘complex’ operations with increased modifications of standard RGB and VBG procedures emphasizes the need for standardized long-term data and analyses regarding both weight control and postoperative side-effects.     

Facilitating Perinatal Grieving Between the Mother and the Father

Society often expects mothers and fathers to share equally in the perinatal grief process because the child was a common bond between them. Unfortunately, in perinatal grief, this is not always the case. The mother and the father can experience incongruent grieving and use discordant coping mechanisms. It is important to evaluate these differences to facilitate communication between the distraught parents. Improved communication can in turn facilitate the grieving process.     

Cervical cytology in a community laboratory

A retrospective analysis of the results of 27,801 cervical smears from one year in a community laboratory was undertaken. This represented 23,820 individual patients. Abnormalities were seen in 9.3% of patients. Three point seven percent of patients had benign abnormalities, 5.5% had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and 0.1% had major abnormalities. The incidence of cervical epithelial abnormality was highest in the 15-34 age group but major abnormalities were seen most often in the 55+ age group. Human papillomavirus was more commonly seen in the youngest age group. The presence of inflammation was reported in 65% of the smears. Thirty percent of smears had no endocervical cells and 0.6% were grossly inadequate. Fifteen percent of patients had repeat smears and 3% of total smears were judged unnecessary. Forty two point six percent of patients less than 55 years of age in the laboratory population base had a smear but only 7.9% of those over 55.     

The effect of some tricyclic antidepressants on the inhibition of mouse brain monoamine oxidase in-vivo by phenelzine

Four tricyclic antidepressants, amitriptyline, imipramine, desipramine and iprindole have been shown to partially protect mouse brain monoamine oxidase in-vivo from the irreversible enzyme inhibition produced by subsequent injection of phenelzine. Levels of protection were similar when the enzyme was assayed with selective substrates (5-hydroxytryptamine and phenethylamine) for both the A and B forms of the enzyme. Although other explanations cannot at this stage be ruled out, these observations are consistent with the tricyclic antidepressants acting as reversible inhibitors of brain monoamine oxidase in-vivo.