A Worksite Program for Overweight Middle-Aged Men Achieves Lesser Weight Loss With Exercise Than With Dietary Change

Objective To compare changes in total and regional body composition using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) after subjects lost weight through change in diet or exercise.Design A 12-month, randomized, controlled study of two weight-loss interventions — low-fat diet ad libitum or moderate, unsupervised exercise — in free-living, middle-aged men. Compliance was determined at monthly measurement sessions through food records and activity logs; DEXA scans were performed every 3 months.Subjects/setting Fifty-eight overweight men (mean body mass INDEX=29.0±2.6; mean AGE=43.4±5.7 years) recruited from a national corporation were assigned randomly to diet, exercise, or control groups.Interventions One group reduced dietary fat to 26.4% of energy intake but kept activity unchanged; another group self-selected aerobic exercise (three sessions per week at 65% to 75% maximum heart rate) but kept diet unchanged. A control group maintained weight.Main outcome measures At 12 months, measurements of weight, total and regional fat mass and lean mass, energy intake, and percentage dietary fat; physical activity indexes. Statistical analyses Results were analyzed using paired t tests and analysis of variance.Results Mean weight loss was 6.4±3.3 kg in dieters and 2.6+3.0 kg in exercisers; control subjects maintained weight. DEXA scans revealed that 40% of dieters’ weight loss was lean tissue; more than 80% of weight lost by exercisers was fat. Exercisers maintained limb lean tissue and lost fat mass.Conclusions Greater total weight and lean tissue loss occurred when subjects lost weight through a low-fat diet consumed ad libitum than when subjects participated in unsupervised aerobic exercise. Use of DEXA enabled identification of progressive total and regional changes in fat and lean tissue. J Am Diet Assoc. 1997; 97:37–42.     

Survival of Patients with the Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator

Between May 1982 and May 1988, 37 patients (28 males and 9 females, mean age 57.6, range 16–76 years) of approximately 600 evaluated for sustained ventricular tachycardia and/or fibrillation (VT/VF) were treated with an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD). Twenty-eight of the patients had coronary artery disease, 7 had nonischemic cardiomyopathy, 1 had amyloid hear disease, and 1 had rheumatic heart disease. The mean ejection fraction was 32.2 ± 12.9% (range, 9–64%). Eleven patients have died at a mean of 16.7 months after implantation. The cumulative survival rate was 81% at 1 year, 77% at 2 years. 68% at 3 years, and 53% at 4, 5, and 6 years. Considering only sudden deaths, the survival was 97% at 1 and 2 years, 90% at 3 years, and 80% at 4, 5, and 6 years. Twenty-one of the 37 patients received spontaneous shocks. If the first shock marks the time to death in the absence of an AICD, the cumulative survival rate would have been 56% at 1 year, 42% at 2 years, 29% at 3 years, and 14% at 4, 5, and 6 years. The maximum amount of time to a first appropriate shock was 39.7 months. Thirty-nine devices have been explanted; 28 for battery depletion; 5 for infections; 3 for improper sensing; 2 for electronic failure; and 1 at the time of cardiac transplantation. The average time to failure of the 28 units removed for battery depletion was 19.8 ±6.9 months. We conclude that in this group of patients, short-term survival is increased by AICD implantation, hut long-term survival remains poor. Incidence of sudden death is reduced to 3% at 1 and 2 years, 10% at 3 years, and 20% after 4 years. Other patient selection criteria may be useful in selecting those patients whose survival will be improved by the AICD.     

PERCEPTIONS OF DRINKERS AND ABSTAINERS IN A SAMPLE OF SCOTTISH ADULTS

Following Davies and Stacey's investigation (1972, Teenagersand Alcohol, HMSO, London) into perceptions of drinking andabstaining among Scottish teenagers, this study extended theirgeneral method to an investigation of the perceptions of 239Scottish adults. Results showed that the stereotypes of theheavy drinker as ‘tough and rebellious’ and theabstainer as ‘weak and cissy’ persist into adulthood.Heavy drinkers were seen as low on ‘sociability’and ‘sexual attractiveness’ and abstainers wereseen as less ‘sociable’ than moderate drinkers.There was also some evidence of a ‘double standard’in perceptions of male and female drinking roles. Other findingsconcerning the effects on perceptions of subjects sex and drinkingbehaviour are compared to those reported in the earlier studyand implications for the treatment of alcohol problems are discussed.It is concluded that the dimensions described by Davies andStacey represent a relatively stable structure within futureresearch where fresh initiatives in alcohol education may belocated.     

Preservation of All Chordae Tendineae and Papillary Muscle During Mitral Valve Replacement with a Tilting Disc Valve

Mitral valve replacement was performed in 21 patients using a surgical technique that preserves the entire papillary muscle and chordal apparatus. With this technique, the anterior mitral leaflet is split from the center of the free edge toward the annulus. Bilateral incisions are made from the proximal end of this split to the two mitral commissures, detaching the anterior leaflet from the annulus. These two halves of the leaflet, with all chordae intact (corresponding to the anterolateral and posteromedial papillary muscles), are judiciously trimmed to remove areas of leaflet untethered by chordae tendineae and (when necessary) fibrous thickening; then swung posteriorly and sutured to the posterior mitral annulus using mattress sutures with pledgets. This surgical technique is expected to favor the preservation of left ventricular function and avoid occurrence of irreversible left ventricular dilation/dysfunction, and has been used successfully for calcific and degenerative etiologies, using both tilting disc valves and porcine bioprostheses. It is especially useful in the implantation of tilting disc and bileaflet mechanical prostheses because anterior subvalvular chordae tissue may interfere with the disc excursion and relocated to the posterior leaflet annulus.     

Do Electrode and Lead Design Differences for Permanent Cardiac Pacing Translate into Clinically Demonstrable Differences? (Comparison of Sintered Platinum and Activated Vitreous and Porous Carbon Electrodes)

A randomized prospective study was undertaken to compare the electrical performances of three permanent, endocardial, tined pacing leads with different electrode designs--sintered platinum, vitreous carbon, and porous carbon. Ninety-nine patients received one of the leads (S80 31; 423S 32; S100 36). Acute R wave amplitude and ST elevation of the native endocardial electrogram, voltage threshold, impedance, and current flow at four pulse durations (0.25-1.0 msec) were measured. Voltage thresholds were measured noninvasively at each of four pulse durations at 2 days and 1, 3, and 6 months after implantation. No significant differences were found in sensing properties, or current flow at threshold at 0.5 msec pulse duration. The 423S lead had a significantly higher impedance at threshold and both a higher impedance and lower current flow at 5 V. No significant differences in threshold voltages were found between the three leads at any pulse duration, at any of the assessed times after implantation. Six-month thresholds for the S80, 423S, and S100 leads were 1.18 +/- 0.35, 1.17 +/- 0.29, and 1.06 +/- 0.38 V respectively at 0.5 msec pulse duration. Differences between 'high performance' pacing leads need to be of a greater order of magnitude before they can be exploited to give any real clinical advantage to patients.     

Symposium on glial interfaces in the nervous system: development and repair

This Anatomical Society symposium, held at University College, Cork in September 1995 was the first of its kind. The objective was to stimulate and facilitate constructive interaction between experts on topics relating to the various types of glial barrier which form partitions within the nervous system. Some of these barriers are transient and are found only during development, for example, those which define the limits of developing nuclei or fibre bundles. Others are permanent, such as those at the transitional zones which separate the CNS and PNS milieux at nerve root attachments to the neuraxis. Still others, such as glial scars, are seen only following injury when they tend to inhibit neurite regeneration. In experimental circumstances, for example following irradiation or chemical damage, glial barriers may be broken down and even relocated. This may be associated with Schwann cell invasion of the CNS and, experimentally, with Schwann cell and glial cell transplantation into demyelinated areas. Such transplantation studies are in turn related to remyelination and CNS axon regeneration and the factors which facilitate these. Twelve review lectures were given on these topics. Five articles based on these communications are reproduced here. The underlying theme was the relationship between advances in the understanding of fundamental nervous tissue biology, especially as related to glial cells, and potential developments aimed at treating CNS demyelinating diseases and achieving CNS regeneration.     

Establishment of a liaison service for pregnant opiate-dependent women

A pregnancy liaison and outreach service was developed as part of a community drug team to attract pregnant drug-dependent women into treatment. Women were provided with information on harm reduction, safer drug use and offered treatment for drug dependence. In total, 43 women (45 pregnancies) presented to the service over a 30-month period. Thirty-four women began out-patient treatment of opiate dependence. There was a significant reduction in maternal methadone dose by delivery. Of the 45 pregnancies, four women had therapeutic abortions, two first trimester and two second trimester spontaneous abortions and 34 live births (three women remained untraceable). All the pregnancies that continued to the third trimester proceeded uneventfully with a consequent live birth. Mean gestational age was 37.9 ±3.7 weeks, mean birth weight was 2863 ± 526 g, 10 of the babies were small for gestational age. Fifteen babies required medication for neonatal withdrawal symptoms; mothers whose babies exhibited withdrawal symptoms were using significantly higher doses of methadone at delivery than mothers whose babies did not withdraw. The importance of providing this type of service for women drug users in the 1990s is discussed.