Effect of alendronate treatment on bone mineral density in male patients with osteoporosis.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of alendronate therapy on bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine and hip in men with osteoporosis.

Methods: Medical records of male patients with osteoporosis, who had undergone follow-up in the Endocrinology Clinic at the National Naval Medical Center, were reviewed, and nine patients treated with alendronate for at least 1 year were identified. Patients were excluded from analysis if they had evidence of osteomalacia or if baseline and follow-up BMD results on the same dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) densitometer, at least 10 months apart, were not available.

Anemia: a cause of intolerance to thyroxine sodium.

Usual causes of intolerance to thyroxine sodium include coronary artery disease, advanced age, untreated adrenal insufficiency, and severe hypothyroidism. We describe 4 patients with iron deficiency anemia and primary hypothyroidism. After treatment with thyroxine sodium, these patients developed palpitations and feelings of restlessness, which necessitated discontinuation of the thyroid hormone.

Ferrous sulfate-induced increase in requirement for thyroxine in a patient with primary hypothyroidism.

Recent studies have shown that under experimental conditions ferrous sulfate may reduce the gastrointestinal absorption of orally administered levothyroxine sodium in patients with primary hypothyroidism. We describe a patient who became hypothyroid while taking ferrous sulfate. The hypothyroid status was corrected by increasing the dose of levothyroxine.

Nicotinic acid decreases serum thyroid hormone levels while maintaining a euthyroid state.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of nicotinic acid on serum thyroid hormone levels in the absence of systemic illness or hepatic dysfunction.

Design: We determined the effect of treatment with nicotinic acid on serum thyroid hormone levels in one female and four male patients (mean age, 44.4 years) with hyperlipidemia.

Cerebrospinal fluid and human immunodeficiency virus. Findings in healthy, asymptomatic, seropositive men.

Involvement of the central nervous system by human immunodeficiency virus is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. We have undertaken a longitudinal study of asymptomatic individuals found to be human immunodeficiency virus seropositive to identify and characterize cerebrospinal fluid abnormalities early in the disease process. Our findings in 25 individuals have been notable for a frequent incidence of cerebrospinal fluid abnormalities.