Antacids and laxatives for symptomatic relief in the elderly.

Guidelines for the safe, effective use of antacids and laxatives are presented, with emphasis on the special problems and considerations of their use in the elderly. Discussed are properties affecting drug selection, dosage, measures to ensure compliance, adverse reactions, and drug interactions. Physician--patient dialogs are recommended, as is patient education about the dangers of inappropriate or excessive use of these products, and the need to obtain medical care for unremitting symptoms.

Preceptors' views of community pharmacy clerkships: a national survey.

A survey was administered to a random sample of community pharmacy practitioners who participate as preceptors in clerkship programs for colleges of pharmacy throughout the country. The purpose of this survey was to determine (1) in what ways, if any, students have affected the preceptors' practices; (20 whether the students served as a sources of continuing education to the preceptors; (3) whether the preceptors identified areas of students' strengths/deficiencies; and (4) roles of colleges of pharmacy and pharmacy associations in providing continuing education programs for pharmacists. Results of this survey are discussed.

Depression diagnosis in a rehabilitation hospital.

Physical rehabilitation patients frequently have extreme emotional reactions which are appropriate to their physical disability but are misdiagnosed as clinical depression. Organic illness can produce signs and symptoms which mimic clinical depression (false positives). Less frequently, clinical depressions which present atypically are not diagnosed (false negatives).

Microprocessor system for tracking isodensity lines in film dosimetry.

Using a microprocessor a method for plotting isodensity lines in film dosimetry is described. The procedure moves the measuring spot directly along an isodensity line, using information obtained in preceding steps to determine the next step. For registration of the curves no X-Y pen recorder is needed.

The consultee-attended interview: an approach to liaison psychiatry.

The consultee-attended (C-A) interview, a format in which the liaison psychiatrist interviews the patient in the consultees' presence, is described. The background, strategy, concepts and methods, obstacles and resistances, and countertransference difficulties of C-A interview are discussed. The C-A interview is an experiential teaching instrument with which to facilitate consultees' "participant-observation," a clinical posture that complements other approaches to the care of sick people.

Effects of triamcinolone and of desoxycorticosterone on renal function in sheep.

Sheep were treated for 10 or 17 days with triamcinolone acetonide, 0.1 mg/kg body weight/day, or desoxycorticosterone acetate, 0.1 mg/kg body weight/day, and the results of renal function studies during hydropenia and mannitol diuresis were compared with respective control periods.