Rates of alcohol consumption and risk status among Australian university students vary by assessment questions

Introduction and Aims. Different self‐report methods tend to produce different estimates of alcohol consumption. The present study compares differences in rates and risk levels based on responses to a modified version of the Daily Drinking Questionnaire (m‐DDQ) and quantity‐frequency (QF) questions. Design and Methods. The sample comprised 2082 university students, 61% of whom were female and 39% male with a mean age of 23.5 years. An email containing an online link to a brief six‐question survey was emailed to students enrolled in participating faculties at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Current drinkers completed m‐DDQ and QF questions about alcohol consumption. Results. QF methods identified significantly lower estimates of consumption (Mean = 9.15, SD = 12.51) compared with m‐DDQ (Mean = 13.06, SD = 14.07). Allocation to risk categories based on the Australian Alcohol Guidelines were conducted for both the m‐DDQ and QF methods. Almost twice as many students were found to be drinking at levels considered risky using the m‐DDQ method compared with QF. In addition, the relative rank order of participants varied significantly between the two methods. Discussion and Conclusions. The m‐DDQ method identified higher rates of drinking and categorised almost twice as many individuals into risky categories of drinking compared with QF. Such variations have major implications for identification of risk groups in health promotion or prevention programs.[Utpala‐Kumar R, Deane FP. Rates of alcohol consumption and risk status among Australian university students vary by assessment questions. Drug Alcohol Rev 2009]     

Circulating filarial antigen in cats infected with Brugia pahangi is indicative of the presence of adult worms

Using counterimmunoelectrophoresis with rabbit antisera raised against soluble extracts of adult females of Brugia pahangi parasite antigen was detected in the serum of all cats repeatedly infected with B. pahangi. Antigen was never detected in uninfected cats. The antigen was associated with the presence of adult worms. Antigen was detected consistently in a cat that was amicrofilaraemic but at autopsy harboured only two or three adult worms. Conversely, some cats showed slowly declining numbers of microfilariae and, in these, circulating antigen declined before the number of microfilariae. Eventually no antigen was detectable in circulation whereas microfilariae, although in diminishing numbers, were still present. At autopsy no adult worms were found in these cats. Antigen also appeared in several cats before they became microfilaraemic.     

Fenestration and occlusion of the posterior semicircular canal for benign positional vertigo

Benign positional vertigo is a potentially disabling condition characterized by episodic vertigo following certain provocative head movements. In most patients it is self limiting; however, in a few it may prove intractable, causing considerable social morbidity. In these patients surgery may be considered. Surgery previously involved section of the vestibular or singular nerves, involving a significant risk to hearing and to the facial nerve. Ablation of the labyrinth may even be considered. The new surgical technique of occlusion of the posterior semicircular canal has proved to be curative in most patients with benign positional vertigo with little risk to hearing. This paper describes our experience of fenestration and occlusion of the posterior semicircular canal in four patients.     

Dermatomyositis in a patient with high grade papillary urothelial carcinoma of urinary bladder

Inflammatory myopathies like dermatomyositis are associated with increased incidence of malignancies. This association has been commonly reported with malignancies of ovaries, gastro‐intestinal tract, breast and non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas but occurrence of dermatomyositis with bladder cancer has been rarely reported. We report a patient with carcinoma bladder who developed dermatomyositis while being treated for the bladder cancer.     

Lung dose rate and interstitial pneumonitis in total body irradiation for bone marrow transplantation

The effect of dose rate to the lungs and development of interstitial pneumonitis (IP) was evaluated in 114 bone marrow transplant patients receiving fractionated total body irradiation (TBI) (1200 rads TD in 6 fractions twice daily over 3 days) as part of their pre-conditioning regimen. The tumour dose (TD) was calculated as the mean lung dose as previously described (1). A 6MV linear accelerator at a mid-line dose rate of 7.5 rads/minute was used between March 1981 and June 1985 and a Co-60 source at 5 rads/minute thereafter. This resulted in a range of dose rates to the lung of between 6.9 and 8.9 rads/minute and 2.9 and 6.5 rads/minute respectively. In the majority of patients the aetiology of IP was investigated by lung biopsy with histology and culture. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of IP over the two sets of dose rates. Our study suggests tat the incidence of IP using fractionated TBI is not influenced by dose rates below 8.9 rads per minute.     

Nitrobenzene poisoning and spurious pulse oximetry

The successful management of nitrobenzene poisoning in a 21-year-old patient is presented. We report our experience of ventilatory care with additional intravenous methylene blue and ascorbic acid therapy. Pulse oximeters available at present are not useful in patients treated with methylene blue and should be used cautiously in the presence of cyanosis of unknown aetiology.     

Hepatic Uptake and Metabolism of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzofuran

The pharmacokinetics of TCDD and related compounds is congener,dose, and species specific, with urinary and biliary excretionbeing dependent on the metabolism of these compounds. Isolatedhepatocytes and liver slices in suspension culture and hepaticmicrosomes were used as in vitro models to assess the hepaticuptake and metabolism of [³H]- and [¹⁴C]- TCDD and [³H]TCDF(0.01–1.0 µM) in control and induced (5 µgTCDD/kg, 3 days earlier) male Sprague-Dawley rats. TCDD pretreatment,with an increase in cytochromes P450 1A1 and 1A2 (CYP1 Al, CYP1A2),produced an increase in the hepatic uptake of TCDD, while noincrease in the hepatic uptake of TCDF was observed. The resultsare consistent with CYP1A2 serving as a hepatic binding proteinfor TCDD but not for TCDF. The rates of metabolism of TCDD andTCDF were directly proportional to their concentrations, indicatingthat the reaction follows first order kinetics at concentrationsfrom 0.01 to 1.0 µM. Very limited metabolism of TCDD andTCDF was observed in control rat liver (0.45 and 3.2 pmol/hr/ghepatocyte wet wt at 0.1 µm, respectively). TCDD inducedits own rate of metabolism about two- to fivefold at 1.0 µMbut no induction was observed at 0.01 and 0.1 µM. In contrast,TCDD markedly induced the rate of TCDF metabolism at all substrateconcentrations. While the results support the role of rat CYP1A1in TCDF metabolism, the data suggest that CYP1 Al or CYP1A2may not metabolize TCDD. These results also support the hypothesisthat the more rapid metabolism and excretion of TCDF accountsfor the relative resistance of the rat to the acute toxicityof TCDF. Comparative studies in rat and human liver microsomesfound that TCDF metabolism exhibited first order kinetics inboth species. Furthermore, the rate of TCDF metabo-lism in humanliver microsomes was similar to that of control rat liver microsomes.Together the results suggest that TCDF will be far more persistentin rats, and possibly humans, following exposure at low doseswhich do not significantly induce cytochrome P450 1A1 and/or1A2.     

SOMATIC NEUROPATHY IN DIABETES MELLITUS

One hundred patients of Diabetes Mellitus (70 with and 30 without clinical somatic neuropathy) were studied to correlate clinical severity with the magnitude of nerve conduction abnormalities. Age range was 10-79 years (mean 49) with equal number of males and females. Incidence of neuropathy was more in patients over 40 years of age (60 out of 70 patients) with duration of disease over two years (78.33%). The grades of severity were mild in 22 (31.33%), moderate in 25 (35.71%) and severe in 23 (32.86%) patients. Nerve conduction studies were carried out in 48 (27 with and 21 without clinical neuropathy) patients, using the apparatus Dantec (Cantata TM). The nerves (median, peroneal and sural) were stimulated at two points and the recording of latency; amplitude (micro V) and motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities (m/s) were done under identical environmental conditions. Sensory nerve conduction velocity was more affected than motor velocity. In the 21 patients without clinical neuropathy, 14 showed abnormalities indicating early involvement of peripheral nerves. Reduction of motor nerve conduction velocity was more in patients with moderate and severe grades. The reduction was more in lower than in upper limbs. Nerve conduction abnormality helps in diagnosis in diabetic neuropathy even in preclinical state and correlates with severity, in clinical neuropathy.KEY WORDS: Diabetic neuropathy, Nerve conduction abnormality, Peripheral neuropathy