Breathing pattern disorder in chronic rhinosinusitis with severe asthma: nasal obstruction and polyps do not increase prevalence.

Objectives: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with severe asthma are associated with breathing pattern disorder (BPD). Mouth breathing is a sign of breathing pattern disorder, and nose breathing a fundamental part of breathing pattern retraining for BPD. The prevalence of BPD in relation to CRS subtypes and the relationship of nasal obstruction to BPD in CRS and associated severe asthma is unknown.

Effective management of adult patients with asthma.

Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition that can affect people of all ages. Globally, asthma is one of the most common non-communicable diseases and is associated with significant personal, financial and societal costs. In some cases, asthma can be fatal, although many fatalities would have been preventable with appropriate management.

Omalizumab treats chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and asthma together-a real life study.

Introduction: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and asthma often coexist and thus treating both with one intervention is an attractive strategy.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate whether treatment with the monoclonal antibody against IgE Omalizumab for severe allergic asthma also effectively treats co-existent CRSwNP.

Methods: SNOT-22 and the ACQ-7 scores were recorded at 4 and 16 weeks of treatment in a cohort of patients with both CRSwNP and severe refractory allergic asthma treated with Omalizumab (n=13) according to UK guidelines for their severe asthma.

A modification of the thiobarbituric acid reaction.

A simple modification of the thiobarbituric acid reaction, which removes nonspecific chromogenic reaction products, involves incubation at room temperature for 16-20 hr and a column chromatographic step. The chromogen-concentrating capacity of the latter step is useful for determination of low concentrations of thiobarbituric acid-reactive materials in biological preparations.

Perfect pitch.

Thirty-five subjects with perfect pitch, representing 19 families, were studied with a Perfect Pitch Questionnaire, which provided information on note-recognition capacity and musical exposure and training, as well as demographic characteristics. Perfect pitch was found to predominate in females and was detected at a very early age. The significant family incidence of the trait suggests the operation of genetic mechanisms concerning which speculations are presented.

Clorazepate use may prevent alcohol withdrawal convulsions.

Clorazepate dipotassium was administered orally for the five-day prophylactic treatment of potential, incipient and overt withdrawal signs and symptoms in 226 patients on admission to an inpatient alcohol treatment unit. Conservative estimates based on these patients' histories and on literature reports predicted that between 7 and 40 (3% to 18%) of these persons would be expected to have a withdrawal convulsion. No patients experienced convulsions.

L-tryptophan as a hypnotic in special patients.

The authors briefly review prevalence and current treatment trends of sleep disorders in the elderly, underlining the need for the development of a more suitable hypnotic for this population. The use of L-tryptophan (LT) as a physiologic hypnotic in aged responders is considered and the hypnotic effect of 1- to 4-g bedtime doses on ten male inpatients and outpatients aged 30 to 72 years is evaluated. Results suggest a dramatic and sustained relief of insomnia for 3 weeks in 30 per cent of the patients and the absence of side effects in 90 per cent of those who took the agent.

Successful treatment of endogenous depression with alprazolam in a patient with recent cardiac disease: case report.

Alprazolam, a triazolobenzodiazepine, was successfully used to treat a patient with recent cardiac disease who presented with DST-positive endogenous depression. The relative absence of cardiotoxic effects warrants the consideration of this medication in cardiac patients with concurrent anxiety and/or depression.

Malondialdehyde production by erythrocytes from alcoholic and non-alcoholic subjects.

A survey of the capacity of erythrocyte suspensions to handle a standard hydrogen peroxide oxidative load was made in a population of white male hospitalized alcoholics and non-hospitalized, non-alcoholic subjects. As measured by malondialdehyde (MDA) production, the capacity to handle this oxidation load was decreased in a significant percentage of individuals with a positive family history of alcoholism and who have experienced problems with alcohol sufficient to produce cytopathological changes and to require hospitalization.

Identification of harman in the rat arcuate nucleus.

This communication describes the presence of 1-methyl-beta-carboline (harman) in the hypophysiotropic area of the hypothalamus which incorporates the arcuate nucleus. Diethyl ether extracts of borate-buffered arcuate homogenates were subjected to silica column chromatography and thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Identification of the beta-carboline was accomplished by use of fluorescent spectrometry, gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrometry (MS) and combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).