Karl Friedrich Meyer (1884-1974): His ambitions, approach and achievements.

Karl Meyer was one of the outstanding scientists in the areas of medical and veterinary microbiology, infectious diseases, pathology, epidemiology, ecology, academic education and public health during the first half of the 20th century. He was an exceptional scientist with an enormous drive to deepen knowledge and understanding, in the interest of the people, to improve diagnosis and treatment of many zoonoses including prevention and improvement in health laws. This paper presents a survey of the extraordinarily wide-ranging achievements of Meyer and his systems approach.

Gastrointestinal effects of the addition of ascorbic acid to aspirin.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin, have been associated with the damage to the gastrointestinal tract. One proposed mechanism of injury to the gastrointestinal mucosa by NSAIDs is oxygen radical-dependent microvascular injury. There is reasonable evidence to support the benefit of the addition of ascorbic acid, an ingredient with antioxidant properties, to moderate the adverse gastrointestinal (GI) effects of aspirin.

Absence of excretion of the active moiety of bisacodyl and sodium picosulfate into human breast milk: an open-label, parallel-group, multiple-dose study in healthy lactating women.

The aim of this study was to determine whether administration of the prodrugs bisacodyl (Bisa) and sodium picosulfate (SPS) leads to excretion of their common active metabolite, bis-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-pyridyl-2-methane (BHPM), in breast milk. Two groups of 8 healthy lactating women who had stopped breast feeding received multiple doses of Bisa or SPS. Plasma, urine, and breast milk were collected and concentrations of free and total BHPM were determined using validated liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry methods.

Oral bisacodyl is effective and well-tolerated in patients with chronic constipation.

Background & Aims: Although stimulant laxatives have been used for many years to treat patients with constipation, their clinical value has been questioned, and there have been few high-quality trials to assess their efficacy. We tested the efficacy and safety of 4 weeks of treatment with oral bisacodyl tablets in patients with chronic constipation, defined by Rome III criteria.

Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study was conducted in 27 centers in the United Kingdom.

[Acetylsalicylic acid in self-medication of migraine. A pharmacy-based observational study].

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of acetylsalicylic acid in the treatment of acute migraine attacks by self-medication under daily life conditions when bought in a pharmacy and also the ability of patients to self-diagnose correctly.

Methods: A total of 296 patients were recruited from 156 pharmacies and recorded up to 3 migraine attacks. Following an advisory discussion the pharmacists gave a questionnaire to persons who had purchased acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin Migraine) in the pharmacy to treat migraine.

Effect of vitamin C-releasing acetylsalicylic acid on gastric mucosal damage before and after Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy.

The interaction between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as acetylsalicylic acid is still controversial. This study was designed to compare the effect of acetylsalicylic acid and vitamin C-releasing acetylsalicylic acid on the gastric mucosal damage and microbleeding before and after eradication of H.

Effects of acetylsalicylic acid on ascorbic acid concentrations in plasma, gastric mucosa, gastric juice and urine--a double-blind study in healthy subjects.

Objective: This study investigated concentrations of ascorbic acid (ASC) in gastric mucosa, gastric juice, urine and plasma in healthy subjects under steady state and fasted conditions with and without concomitant administration of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA).

Material And Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study in healthy subjects. It has assessed the effects of a 6-day administration of 0.

Efficacy of 1,000 mg effervescent acetylsalicylic acid and sumatriptan in treating associated migraine symptoms.

Recently a new effervescent acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) tablet with high buffering capacity has been developed. In this double-blind, 3-arm, multicenter, parallel-group study, 433 patients were treated either with 1,000 mg effervescent ASA or 50 mg encapsulated sumatriptan or placebo. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients with complete remission of the 3 accompanying symptoms nausea, photophobia and phonophobia within 2 h after intake of the study drug.

Effects of buffered and plain acetylsalicylic acid formulations with and without ascorbic acid on gastric mucosa in healthy subjects.

Background: The most frequently reported adverse events associated with acetylsalicylic acid intake are minor gastrointestinal complaints. Galenic modifications, such as buffered formulations with or without ascorbic acid, may improve the benefit-risk ratio by decreasing the local mucosal side-effects of acetylsalicylic acid.

Aim: To assess endoscopically-proven gastrointestinal lesions and the amount of gastric microbleeding of four different buffered and plain acetylsalicylic acid formulations, one containing paracetamol.

Economic analysis of terminal care for patients with malignant osteolytic bone disease and pain treated with pamidronate.

The goals of this study were the assessment (1) of all costs of terminal care of patients with osteolytic bone disease and pain and (2) of the economic consequences of the pamidronate treatment as observed in a prospective clinical trial on the effectiveness of pamidronate. A total of 70 patients were recruited, who were all suffering from advanced tumour diseases (60% breast cancer, 21% multiple myeloma, and 19% other tumours). In a single-institution study the patients were randomly assigned to receive, in a double-blinded setting, pamidronate 60 mg i.

[Socioeconomic aspects of the changed mortality rate of coronary disease in Switzerland 1988-1993].

Mortality from ischemic heart disease (ICD 410-414) is changing. Remarkable decreases have been observed in the age groups from 35-64 years, while overall mortality (all age groups) has remained approximately stable. In Switzerland this has meant a gain of some 4700 life years in the period 1988 to 1993 in the working population (35-64 years).

An economic analysis of ischaemic heart disease in Switzerland.

Aims: Direct and indirect costs of ischaemic heart disease were assessed in Switzerland, for the period 1988-1993, in order to evaluate the economic consequences of more intensive treatment of the disease and of the decreasing mortality from ischaemic heart disease in the working population.

Methods And Results: A societal perspective was taken for a prevalence-based assessment of the direct (total resources consumed by outpatients and inpatients) and indirect (due to morbidity, invalidity, and premature death, using the human capital approach) costs. The results showed the total costs were 21 million US dollars per 100000 population in the year 1993 (47% direct, 53% indirect costs).

[Cost-benefit analysis of screening for congenital toxoplasmosis].

A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of possible screening strategies for congenital toxoplasmosis is necessary as a basis for the decision whether or not screening is efficient and socially desirable. The total costs of the disease in Switzerland were calculated for the year 1990. Direct costs (all diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, including care of handicapped children) and indirect costs (partial and total work losses in the future) were taken into account.

Medical engineering in Switzerland.

The clinical engineering or medical engineering departments in the hospitals in Switzerland are in a phase of rapid development. In particular, staffing, as well as official recognition by hospital management, needs improvement in many of the hospitals, as is also found in other countries. An overview is given of the current state of affairs in medical engineering in Switzerland, and of the amount of annual investment in medical equipment in the public hospitals.

Long-term technology assessment. Mortality, hospitalization, and work loss due to peptic ulcer and gastritis/duodenitis in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Once the effects of short-term data analysis of new medical technology appear clear, additional or long-term analyses are infrequently performed on subsequent information. This often leads to incomplete understanding of the technology's full medical, social, and economic effects. Available data for the Federal Republic of Germany on mortality, hospitalization, and work loss due to gastric and duodenal ulcer and gastritis/duodenitis allowed long-term analysis of direct and indirect impacts on the population from 1975 through 1984.

Oscillating platelet counts in healthy individuals: experimental investigation and quantitative evaluation of thrombocytopoietic feedback control.

Peripheral platelet counts of 5 healthy women and 5 healthy men were studied over 54 to 100 d to assess whether statistically significant fluctuations could be detected. Low amplitude fluctuations were found in 7 of the 10 individuals with mean periods of 28.3 +/- 3.

Immunological changes following posttraumatic splenectomy.

In 31 splenectomized individuals blood lymphocytes and serum immunoglobulins were examined 1-11 years after splenectomy. The results demonstrate: 1. Increase of the surface immunoglobulin bearing lymphocytes.

The likelihood quotient line, a tool for the assessment of diagnostic validity of clinical chemical tests.

A detailed study of decision criteria for detection of Edema Proteinuria Hypertension (EPH) gestosis on the basis of uric acid concentration in serum has been recently described by Haeckel et al. (1981) J. Clin.

[Determination and analysis of cost and production measures in physicians' practices and hospitals for the objective evaluation of medical measures].

The complete data on 7200 practising physicians in Switzerland were analyzed in the first phase of the project. The 2600 GP's and the 4600 specialists (in 18 medical specialties) were categorized as to year of graduation and geographic regions (population centres). The distributions of the practising physician of the different specialties over the population centres (defined by 30-min.