Health of retired workers: survival status and Medicare service use

Data from the Social Security Administration's 1982 New Beneficiary Survey and Master Beneficiary Record were matched with 1984 data from the Medicare Automated Data Retrieval System to study the effects of self-reported health on subsequent health service usage and survival. Proportionately, more new retired workers who reported poorer health in 1982 were decreased by December 1984. Functionally dependent beneficiaries as determined by the Functional Capacity Limitation Index had death rates four to five times greater than those who reported no limitations. The health status of retired workers who received Social Security benefits before age 65 was no better than beneficiaries 65 or over. Decedents were more likely than survivors to incur Medicare charges, and to have substantially higher median charges--$8,834 compared with $285.     

Childhood injuries due to falls from apartment balconies and windows

BACKGROUND: Falls from balconies and windows are an important cause of childhood injury. This study investigated the circumstances around such falls and attempted to identify possible measures for their prevention. POPULATION: Children <15 years living in Dallas County, Texas. METHODS: Each child treated because of a fall from a building in 1997-99 had information about the injury collected, and a parent was contacted to obtain further information. For apartment related falls, an attempt was made to visit the apartment to measure windows and balcony rails. RESULTS: Ninety eight children were injured in falls from buildings during the three year period; 39 (40%) were admitted to hospital. Seventy five of the falls (77%) involved apartments, and most occurred around noon or evening meal times. Among apartment falls, 39 (52%) fell from windows, 34 (45%) from balconies, and two (3%) from unknown sites. For more than two thirds of balcony related falls, the child fell from between the balcony rails, all of which were spaced more than 4 inches (10 cm) apart. On-site measurement showed the rails were an average of 7.5 inches (19 cm) apart; all of these apartments were built before 1984. For more than two thirds of window related falls, the window was situated within 2 feet (61 cm) of the floor. CONCLUSIONS: Two factors are important in falls from apartment windows and balconies: balcony rails more than 4 inches (10 cm) apart, and windows positioned low to the floor. Current building codes do not apply to older apartments, where most of these falls occurred. Nevertheless, these factors may be amenable to environmental modifications that may prevent most of these falls.     

升麻地上部分化学成分研究升麻地上部分化学成分研究

目的 为开发中药升麻(Cimicifuga foetida L.)的地上部分资源,从中寻找新的天然活性成分。方法 利用多种色谱技术进行分离纯化,根据理化性质和现代波谱技术并辅以化学方法进行结构鉴定。结果 从升麻地上部分80%乙醇提取物的乙酸乙酯部分分得5个9,19-环菠萝蜜烷型三萜皂苷和1个甾醇苷。分别鉴定为:西麻苷I(1),西麻苷II(2),升麻醇半乳糖苷(3),12β-羟基升麻醇木糖苷(4),12β-羟基升麻醇阿拉伯糖苷(5),胡萝卜苷(6)。结论 1和2为新化合物,4及5为首次从该植物中分得。     

端粒酶检测对良恶性腹腔积液鉴别诊断价值的探讨

目的 检测腹腔积液脱落细胞端粒酶活性，探讨端粒酶对良恶性腹腔积液的鉴别诊断价值。方法 运用半定量TRAP-银染法，检测38例恶性腹腔积液和20例良性腹腔积液(对照组)脱落细胞端粒酶活性。结果 肝硬化、结核性腹膜炎腹腔积液脱落细胞检测未发现端粒酶活性，而38例癌性腹腔积液36例(94．7％)端粒酶阳性。所有细胞学检查阳性的恶性腹腔积液端粒酶均为阳性，而3例恶性腹腔积液者，细胞学检查阴性但端粒酶阳性，当复查细胞学检查时，其中1例发现了癌细胞。结论 癌性腹腔积液端粒酶阳性。端粒酶活性的检测对良、恶性腹腔积液有重要鉴别诊断价值，尤其对细胞学检查阴性的病例。     

Health status and quality of life in patients with early-stage Hodgkin's disease treated on Southwest Oncology Group Study 9133.

PURPOSE: We describe the short and intermediate-term quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes in patients treated on a randomized clinical trial in early-stage Hodgkin's disease (Southwest Oncology Group [SWOG] 9133) comparing subtotal lymphoid irradiation (STLI) with combined-modality treatment (CMT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred forty-seven patients participated in the QOL study (SWOG 9208), completing several standardized instruments (Symptom Distress Scale; Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System - Short Form; Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey Vitality Scale; and a health perception item), as well as questions about work, marital status, and concerns about having children. This article reports on results from baseline before random assignment, at 6 months, and at 1 and 2 years after random assignment. RESULTS: Patients receiving CMT experienced significantly greater symptom distress (P <.0001), fatigue (P =.001), and poorer QOL (P =.015) at 6 months than the STLI patients, reflecting a shorter time since completion of therapy in the CMT arm. Importantly, patients in the two groups did not differ on any outcomes at the 1-and 2-year assessments. Both patient groups reported significantly more fatigue before treatment than healthy reference populations, and fatigue did not improve in either group after treatment. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that patients with early-stage Hodgkin's disease experience a short-term decrease in QOL and an increase in symptoms and fatigue with treatment, which is more severe with CMT; by 1 year, however, CMT and STLI patients report similar outcomes. Fatigue scores for both arms were lower at baseline than scores for the general population and did not return to normal levels 2 years after random assignment. The mechanisms responsible for this lingering problem warrant further investigation.     

端粒酶抑制剂对小鼠胃癌放疗的增敏作用研究

目的：探讨端粒酶抑制剂对动物在体肿瘤的治疗作用及对放射治疗的增敏价值。方法：将SGC-7901胃癌细胞接种BALB/c小鼠，采用端粒酶抑制剂AZT联合放疗治疗小鼠胃癌，观察其对肿瘤体积和肿瘤端粒酶活性的影响。结果：未治疗组小鼠肿瘤体积增加了2.5倍，而AZT组、放疗组及AZT联合放疗组肿瘤体积分别缩小了26.3%、36.8%及70.5%。肿瘤端粒酶活性检测，未治疗组、AZT、放疗均能使肿瘤体积缩小并降低前几天粒酶活性分别为100、55.2、24.5及12.1。结论：AZT放疗均能使肿瘤体积缩小并降低端粒酶活性，且AZT能增加肿瘤的放射敏感性。     

绞贞汤治疗放、化疗引起白细胞减少518例临床研究--附50例细胞形态学改变的分析

目的探讨自拟绞贞汤或绞贞冲剂治疗放、化疗引起白细胞减少的疗效,及其对白细胞形态学变化的影响.方法 618例放、化疗引起白细胞减少患者随机分为3组,即绞贞汤(治疗)组518例、焦三仙对照组50例和鲨肝醇、维生素B4西药组50例,观察3组临床疗效及白细胞回升情况;并对50例白细胞低于3.9×109/L末梢血涂片进行细胞形态学分析,对25例白细胞减少为(0.7～3..9)×109/L患者应用绞贞汤或绞贞冲剂治疗前后的细胞形态学改变进行观察.结果①绞贞汤组白细胞回升至4.0×109/L及以上者时间、例数及总有效率分别与西药组和对照组比较,均有显著性差异(P＜0.001);②50例白细胞减少患者细胞形态学分析主要为粒细胞绝对值减少、中性粒细胞有中毒性颗粒、单核细胞与淋巴细胞增多等;③绞贞汤或绞贞冲剂治疗白细胞减少为(0.7～3.9)×109/L 25例,白细胞均回升至(4.3～6.7)×109/L.结论绞贞汤或绞贞冲剂治疗放、化疗引起的白细胞减少疗效较好,且无任何副作用,便于临床推广应用.     

炎症因子与胰岛素抵抗和2型糖尿病大血管病变的相关性研究

目的探讨炎症因子C-反应蛋白（CRP）与胰岛素抵抗（IR）和2型糖尿病（T2DM）大血管病变的关系。方法用颗粒增强免疫沉淀法测定T2DM合并大血管病变（70例）、T2DM无大血管病变（60例）及正常对照组（90名）的血清超敏CRP（usCRP）水平变化；用HOMA—IR模型作为估计IR的指标；将CRP与HOMA—IR、空腹胰岛素（FINS）、同型半胱氨酸（Hcy）、空腹血糖（FBG）、体重指数（BMI）、腰臀比（WHR）、甘油三酯（TG）等作相关分析。结果T2DM合并大血管病变组血清usCRP水平明显高于T2DM无大血管病变组及正常对照组（P〈0．01），T2DM无大血管病变组高于正常对照组（P〈0．01）。当调整SBP、FBG、TG、WHR等因素的影响后，协方差结果显示usCRP在T2DM合并大血管病变组仍高于T2DM无大血管病变组及正常对照组（P〈0．05），T2DM无大血管病变组高于正常对照组（P〈0．05）。在T2DM合并大血管病变组，Person相关分析显示，usCRP与FINS、HOMA-IR、TG呈正相关（P值分别〈0．05、〈0．01和〈0．05），与Hcy等无关。逐步线性回归结果显示，TG、HOMA—IR是影响CRP的主要因素。结论CRP可能是T2DM和T2DM大血管病变的危险因子，CRP可能通过胰岛素抵抗参与了T2DM大血管病变的发生和发展。     

雷公藤属3种植物不同群体和个体中雷公藤甲素的研究

目的测定雷公藤属3种植物(雷公藤、昆明山海棠和黑蔓)不同群体和个体中雷公藤甲素(tripto lide),为评价雷公藤药材质量和寻找雷公藤的优质种质奠定基础。方法建立雷公藤甲素HPLC测定方法,并测定了全国主要分布区25个群体91个个体的木质部和韧皮部中的雷公藤甲素。结果黑蔓的雷公藤甲素质量分数很低;雷公藤和昆明山海棠种间的雷公藤甲素差异不明显,个体质量分数木质部为1.0×10-6~5.83×10-5;韧皮部为2.3×10-6~1.030×1-0 4。结论雷公藤和昆明山海棠不同个体雷公藤甲素质量分数最高值与最低值相差约50倍,不同居群雷公藤甲素质量分数最高值与最低值相差10多倍,不同来源的药材质量差异极大,严重影响用药的安全性;雷公藤甲素质量分数高的居群位于浙江西南部和中部、湖南新宁、贵州雷山和安徽黄山;湖南新宁、贵州雷山和浙江江山居群中有雷公藤甲素质量分数极高的个体,值得进一步研究,以寻找质量分数高的优良单株。