Which is a better treatment for hypertensive patients with diabetes: a combination of losartan and hydrochlorothiazide or a maximum dose of losartan?

Background: This 12-month study compared the effects of a combination of losartan 50 mg and hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg with a maximum dose of losartan (100 mg) in hypertensive patients with diabetes.

Methods: This was a multicenter randomized open-label study.

[Diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis].

In type 2 diabetes, macroangiopathy manifests as atherosclerosis like in nondiabetic patients, characterized by formation of plaques that follows in stages but with an accelerated course due to the several risk factors. Atherosclerosis in diabetes begins earlier, is more markedly pronounced and progresses more rapidly. It is still a debated question whether antidiabetic therapy to target normal glycated hemoglobin levels would reduce cardiovascular events in patients with advanced type 2 diabetes.

Central pontine and extrapontine myelinolysis associated with type 2 diabetic patient with hypokalemia.

Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) is a demyelinating disease of the pons often associated with the demyelination of extrapontine areas of the central nervous system. Although the etiology and pathogenesis are unclear, CPM is usually associated with hyponatremia or its rapid correction, and chronic alcoholism is also a common underlying condition. We observed a 43-year-old man with diabetes mellitus who developed central pontine and extrapontine myelinolysis with no apparent evidence of hyponatremia, serum hyperosmolality or associated rapid correction, or history of alcohol abuse.

Clinical usefulness of macrophage colony-stimulating factor for ovarian cancers: Long-term prognosis after five years.

We performed a randomized double blind study between 1992 and 1995 in which 214 patients with FIGO stage I to III ovarian cancers received administration of 10(6) units (low dose group) or 8x10(6) units (high dose group) of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) after cyclophosphamide/adriamycin/cisplatin (CAP) therapy. The period required to finish a set of intensive chemotherapy, which was the primary endpoint, was significantly shortened (p=0.0004), and the incidence of febrile neutropenia significantly decreased (p=0.

Ghrelin expression in islet cell tumors: augmented expression of ghrelin in a case of glucagonoma with multiple endocrine neoplasm type I.

Ghrelin is a 28-amino acid peptide that regulates GH release together with GHRH and somatostatin. The expression of ghrelin has been detected in the stomach, small intestine, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, kidney, placenta, and testis. Recently it was reported that ghrelin is present in pancreatic alpha-cells and that it stimulates insulin secretion.