THE INFLUENCE OF HABITUAL ALCOHOL INTAKE ON BREATH-ALCOHOL CONCENTRATIONS FOLLOWING PROLONGED DRINKING

Fifty-one healthy men aged 20–35 years kept daily drinkingdiaries for 4 weeks prior to a 90-mm drinking session of 1 mlof ethanol/kg body weight, taken as 4% alcohol by volume lager,at a constant rate, whilst fasting. This was followed by repeatbreath-alcohol measurements for 90 min. Habitually light drinkershad significantly lower breath-alcohol levels than heavier drinkersup to 10 min post-drinking. Variation m bream-alcohol levelwas independent of habitual intake 15–90 min post-drinking.However, habitually light drinkers still had significantly lowerblood-alcohol levels than heavy drinkers 30 min post-drinking.Group mean post-drinking breath-alcohol levels peaked at 20min in light and moderate drinkers, at 10 min in heavy drinkersand at 5 min in very heavy drinkers. Wide individual variationin peak and rate of decline of breath-alcohol levels occurredindependently of habitual intake and despite experimental controlfor factors influential on alcohol kinetics. Algorithms foralcohol intake and breath concentrations have limited applicationif drinking is prolonged. We suggest that pre-absorptive metabolismand/or delayed absorption of alcohol may contribute to lowerbreath-alcohol levels in habitually light drinkers for 10 minfollowing alcohol intake under the conditions of this study.     

Cutaneous vasculitis associated with long-term thiouracil therapy

Many rashes have been attributed to thiouracil therapy, but severe vasculitis is rare. A distinct pattern of cutaneous vasculitis affecting limbs, face and ears has been described with propylthiouracil, and is particularly associated with treatment of more than 18 months duration. A positive Antinuclear Antibody (ANA) in the absence of LE cells is often demonstrated. We describe the first such case due to methylthiouracil therapy, the bullous haemorrhagic rash having the histology of pyoderma gangrenosum, and we review the available literature regarding this pattern of vasculitis.     

Providing drug injectors with easier access to sterile injecting equipment: a description of a pharmacy based scheme

In this short paper we describe the operation of a pharmacy-based scheme operating in Glasgow to provide injecting drug users with sterile injecting equipment. The operation of the scheme is described under a number of headings: its physical location, the policy of selling injecting equipment, the return of previously used equipment, counseling and referral, and, the style of working of pharmacy staff. It is shown that while retail pharmacies may be an important point of contact with injecting drug users it should not be assumed that pharmacy staff already possess the requisite skills for working in this area. There is a need for pharmacists’and their staff to be able to draw upon the experience of colleagues working in this area in order to benefit from a pool of common experience. In addition there is a need to provide staff with access to appropriate back-up and support services.     

Acute and Chronic Clinical Performance Comparison of a Porous and a Solid Electrode Design

The long-term performance of porous and solid ring-tipped electrodes was compared in clinical use over a one-year period. Each of the two electrode designs was implanted in 22 patients in conjunction with an output-programmable pacemaker. Implant evaluation included impedance, height of sensed R wave, and a strength-duration curve. Threshold determination by pulse-width programming was performed at the time of implant and at one week, two weeks, two months, six months, and one year. There were no dislodgements with either electrode. No significant differences were noted in the acute parameters or in chronic thresholds.