Current shock models and clinical correlations

No useful purpose is served by developing therapeutic interventions that are applicable only in nonexistent patient populations. The history of laboratory hemorrhagic shock research may be a case in point because although many interventions have been proposed on the basis of animal experimentation, few if any have found a place in the treatment of human beings. For a laboratory shock model to have clinical relevance, it must replicate important aspects of shock as seen in human beings during or following massive blood loss. The difficulty in developing an animal model that incorporates these human aspects--hypothermia, hypoxia, hypotension, acidosis, coagulopathy, etc--must not be underestimated. Four methodological factors to consider are animal species, anesthesia, tissue trauma, and nociceptive effects. The development of an animal shock model will require several compromises and the results, whether dealing with mechanisms or therapeutic outcomes, must be considered suspect until confirmatory data are obtained from human studies.     

The role of radiology in extracorporeal shock wave therapy

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy was used for the treatment of 1,252 kidneys and ureters with calculi during a 10-month period at the authors' medical center. Before lithotripsy was performed, excretory urography, radiography, renography, computed tomography, and ultrasound studies were done, when necessary, to locate the calculi. Nine calculi in five kidneys could not be fragmented with lithotripsy. Of 895 patients with calculi less than 2.5 cm in diameter, only 13 (1.5%) required interventional procedures to clear the calculi, whereas of 161 patients with calculi greater than or equal to 2.5 cm, 36 (22.4%) required nephrostomies. A column of calculous debris in the mid and distal portions of the ureter (steinstrasse) was seen in 171 instances (13.6%) after lithotripsy; 62% required interventions. The most common intervention required for successful lithotripsy was retrograde ureteral catheterization. Evaluation and treatment of patients with urolithiasis were largely dependent on radiography and excretory urography.     

The concentration of lipopolysaccharide on individual root surfaces at varying times following in vivo root planing

Material with endotoxin activity has been detected in extracts prepared from pooled, periodontally involved teeth, and it has been shown that root planing in vivo reduces the level of such material. However, questions concerning the concentration of endotoxin on the diseased surfaces of individual teeth and questions concerning how rapidly individual root planed tooth surfaces retoxify in vivo have not been addressed previously. Citric acid extracts were prepared from individual, periodontally diseased teeth that had been extracted either from the oral cavity without prior root planing or at varying times up to 12 weeks following root planing. Using a chromogenic Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) assay, we were able to quantitate the amount of endotoxin associated with diseased root surfaces of individual teeth. We concluded that the extracted material contained endotoxin since it activated LAL and since the LAL-activation was heat-stable, acid-stable and neutralizeable by polymyxin B. The levels of endotoxin found on the root surfaces of these individual, periodontally involved teeth at varying times following in vivo root planing support the following conclusions: the concentration of endotoxin present on diseased root surfaces is markedly reduced, but not eliminated, by in vivo root planing, significant retoxification of root planed surfaces occurs within a relatively short time period after root planing and biological responses to such toxification conceivably may lead to subsequent phases having reduced levels of endotoxin.     

Reactive airway dysfunction syndrome in Ireland

Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -) -     

Imagery Rehearsal in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Nightmares in Australian Veterans with Chronic Combat-Related PTSD: 12-Month Follow-Up Data

Nightmares are often a distressing symptom for veterans with chronic combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A psychological treatment that has recently shown considerable promise is Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT). In a pilot study by the current authors, IRT was demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of posttraumatic nightmares in a group of combat veterans up to 3-month posttreatment. This study reports the 12-month follow-up data of the pilot study, examining the longer term outcome of the IRT treatment. Twelve Australian Vietnam veterans with chronic combat-related PTSD were treated with 6 once weekly sessions of imagery rehearsal and assessed using standardised measures of nightmare frequency and intensity, PTSD, depression, anxiety and broader symptomatology at intake, posttreatment, and 3-and 12-month follow-up. Significant improvements in targeted nightmare frequency and intensity were evident to 12-month posttreatment. Similarly, improvements in overall PTSD, depression, anxiety, and broader based symptomatology were also maintained to 12 months. This study provides preliminary evidence that the positive treatment effects of IRT on posttraumatic nightmares, PTSD, and broader symptomatology in males with chronic combat-related PTSD are maintained in the longer term.     

Comorbidity as a predictor of symptom change after treatment in combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a difficult condition to treat, and existing studies show considerable variability in outcome. Investigations of factors that influence outcome have the potential to inform alternate treatment approaches to maximize benefits gained from interventions for the disorder. Because PTSD is commonly associated with comorbidity, it is important to investigate the influence of comorbidity on symptom change after treatment. This article examines pretreatment and 9-month follow-up data for 134 Australian Vietnam veterans who attended a treatment program for combat-related PTSD. A series of analyses were conducted to investigate the influence of the comorbid factors of anxiety, depression, anger, and alcohol use on PTSD symptom change after treatment. Analyses identified anger, alcohol, and depression as significant predictors of symptom change over time, independent of the effect of initial PTSD severity. Further analyses indicated that anger at intake was the most potent predictor of symptom change. Further investigations of anger as an influence on symptom change after treatment of combat-related PTSD is recommended.     

Cigarette smoking,health status,socio-economic status and access to health care in diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional survey

Background  

In diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and microvascular complications. We evaluated cigarette smoking in people with diabetes mellitus in a socio-economically deprived area.