Are ADDH and ADHD the same or different?

To assess the relationship between the DSM-III criteria for attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) and the DSM-III-R criteria for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), children from an inner city parochial school were evaluated using a 30-item teacher questionnaire consisting of the DMS-III and DSM-III-R criteria for these disorders, the revised Conners Parent and Teacher Questionnaires, and a continuous performance test. Diagnostic groups were established based on teacher ratings of the DSM items and evaluated in relation to the rating scale data and continuous performance test. While children who were identified by teachers as having ADDH almost always satisfied the criteria for ADHD, a new group of children who were hyperactive and impulsive but less clearly inattentive also met the criteria for ADHD. Implications of the change in diagnostic criteria are discussed.     

Nonspecific mitochondrial disease with epilepsy in children: diagnostic approaches and epileptic phenotypes

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to characterize epileptic phenotypes in children with nonspecific mitochondrial disease (MD) and to evaluate MD diagnostic approaches. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the medical, electroencephalogram, and laboratory records of 142 patients with epilepsy was performed. The patients were evaluated for MD, and 124 patients were included in the final cohort. The MD criteria used included an oral glucose lactate stimulation test (OGLST) and urine organic acid/plasma amino acid (UOA/PAA) assays as metabolic indicators of modified Walker criteria, as suggested by Bernier et al. (Neurology 59:1406-1411, 2002). RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were classified as having definite MD (9), probable MD (5), possible MD (6), or pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) deficiency (3), including one patient which showed a respiratory chain (RC) defect and PDH deficiency. Seven out of eight patients in whom significant RC defects were observed showed complex I defects. In 14 patients, epileptic seizures start at infantile ages. Of 17 patients who substantially presented generalized seizures, 4 patients started with partial seizures. Five patients consistently presented only partial seizures. The OGLST and UOA/PAA assays were useful for a more precise diagnosis of MD, although low positive predictive value of the OGLST was regrettable. No patient was classified as definite MD by Walker's original criteria, but the use of our revised MD criteria resulted in the classification of nine additional patients as definite MD. CONCLUSIONS: MD manifested considerable diverse epileptic phenotypes and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of epilepsy in children with unexplained encephalomyopathy and progressive and fluctuating clinical courses.     

Neurochemical studies on the mesolimbic circuitry of antinociception

Previous studies using the technique of microinjection into brain nuclei indicated that the periaqueductal gray (PAG), nucleus accumbens, habenula and amygdala play an essential role in pain modulation and that these nuclei possibly act through a ‘mesolimbic neural loop‘ to exert an analgesic effect, in which Met-enkephalin (MEK) and β-endorphin (β-EP) have been implicated as the two major opioid peptides involved in antinociception. In the present study performed in rabbits, intracranial microinjection was supplemented with push-pull perfusion and radioimmunoassay to determine whether the release of enkephalins (ENK) and β-EP was increased in these nuclei when the putative neural circuit was activated by morphine administered into one of the nuclei. The results showed: (1) microinjection of morphine into the PAG increased the release of ENK and β-EP in the N. accumbens, and vice versa; (2) microinjection of morphine into the N. accumbens increased the release of ENK and β-EP in the amygdala, and vice versa; (3) morphine microinjected into the PAG caused an increase in the release of ENK and β-EP in the amygdala and vice versa, although the release of ENK in PAG was statistically not significant. These results indicate that PAG, N. accumbens and amygdala are connected in a network served by a positive feedback circuitry.     

Effects of risperidone on dopamine receptor subtypes in developing rat brain.

The atypical antipsychotic risperidone is often prescribed to pediatric patients with neuropsychiatric disorders, though its effects on the developing brain remain unclear. Accordingly, we studied the effects of repeated treatment of risperidone on dopamine receptors in brain regions of juvenile rat. Levels of dopamine receptors (D(1), D(2), D(3), D(4)) in forebrain regions of juvenile rats were quantified after 3 weeks of treatment with three different doses of risperidone (0.3, 1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg) and compared findings to those in adult rats treated with risperidone (3.0 mg/kg/day) previously. Risperidone (at 1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg/day) increased levels of D(1) receptors in nucleus accumbens and caudate-putamen of juvenile, but not adult rats. Conversely, all three doses of risperidone dose-dependently increased D(2) labeling in medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and D(4) receptor in nucleus accumbens, caudate-putamen and hippocampus of juvenile animals as well as in adults. Only the high dose of risperidone (3.0 mg/kg) increased D(2) receptors in caudate-putamen in both juvenile and adult brain. D(3) receptors were not altered by risperidone in any brain region at any dose or age. The findings indicate dose-dependent effects of risperidone on dopamine receptors in developing animals, and that juvenile animals are more sensitive than adults to the cerebral effects of risperidone.     

食管癌患者血缘亲属及不同性别食管癌患病风险比较研究

目的 对比分析食管癌病例组与对照组血缘亲属食管癌患病风险,并了解食管癌家族中危险亲属人群患病的新线索.方法 采用病例对照研究方法 ,对食管癌病例组及对照组各720例进行逐层分析,以比较两组各血缘亲属父系、母系食管癌患病危险度(OR)的大小及差异.结果 (1)病例组Ⅰ级亲属食管癌患病危险度(1.34%～2.24%)显著高于对照组(0.78%～1.21%)(P＜0.01);Ⅰ级亲属中病例组父母亲食管癌患病危险度为6.11%,显著高于对照组父母亲食管癌患病危险度2.97%(P＜0O01).(2)以血缘亲属中父系和母系亲属逐层分析可见,病例组父系食管癌患病危险度(0.87%～1.01%)与母系患病危险度(0.50%～0.79%)均显著高于对照组父系食管癌患病危险度(0.53%～0.65%)与母系患病危险度(0.38%～0.47%)(P＜0.05).进一步分析显示,病例组父系中男性亲属与母系中女性亲属,即父系中祖父、父亲、叔伯食管癌患病危险度为2.68%与母系中外祖母、母亲、姨的食管癌患病危险度1.91%均显著高于对照组父系中男性亲属食管癌患病危险度1.50%与母系中女性亲属食管癌患病危险度0.92%(P＜0.01).结论 山西省食管癌患者血缘亲属发病危险主要是父亲及其兄弟、母亲及其姐妹,其下代患食管癌风险要大.     

试析陆懋修从阳明论治温病之特色

陆懋修（1818-1886），又名免研，字九芝，号江左下工，又号林屋山人，江苏元和（今江苏吴县）人，为清代后期著名的医学家。陆氏出身于官宦之家，儒医兼通，陆氏秉承家学，对先人的医学成就颇为敬重。他曾三十余年坚持潜心研究《内经》、《伤寒》等医学经典著作，终于贯通医理而成为一代名医。陆氏一生博览群书之余，著述不断，     

Obesity and pronated foot type may increase the risk of chronic plantar heel pain: a matched case-control study

Background  

Chronic plantar heel pain (CPHP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders of the foot, yet its aetiology is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between CPHP and a number of commonly hypothesised causative factors.