Internet support groups for depression: a 1-year prospective cohort study.

Objective: This study described the characteristics of users of Internet-based depression support groups and assessed whether use predicts change in depression symptoms and social support.

Method: Users (N=103) of these groups were recruited into the study cohort and followed prospectively. Demographic characteristics, support group use, depression care, score on the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey, and score on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D Scale) were assessed by Internet survey at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months.

Use of lidocaine-prilocaine patch to decrease intramuscular injection pain does not adversely affect the antibody response to diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-inactivated poliovirus-Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate and hepatitis B vaccines in infants from birth to six months of age.

Background: Topical lidocaine-prilocaine (EMLA) effectively decreases the pain associated with minor procedures including immunization, although the effect on the antibody response to diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-inactivated poliovirus-Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate (DTaP-IPV-Hib) and hepatitis B vaccines has not been assessed.

Objective: To measure the antibody response to DTaP-IPV-Hib and hepatitis B vaccines; to measure pain reduction associated with the use of the lidocaine-prilocaine (EMLA) patch; and to assess safety by comparing adverse reactions.

Participants And Setting: One hundred nine healthy 6-month-old infants (Part A of study) and 56 healthy infants birth to 2 months of age (Part B of study) undergoing primary immunization with DTaP-IPV-Hib and hepatitis B vaccines in an ambulatory setting.

Boronic acid receptors for alpha-hydroxycarboxylates: high affinity of Shinkai's glucose receptor for tartrate.

The glucose receptor 1 developed by Shinkai was synthesized by known methods and with modifications involving the final synthetic step, installation of the phenylboronic acid moieties. Binding of the bis(alpha-hydroxycarbolxylate), tartrate, was assessed and compared to the corresponding bis(diol), erythritol, as well as the corresponding mono(alpha-hydoxycarboxylate), malate. These results suggest that bisboronate/bis(alpha-hydoxycarboxylate) interactions are stronger than the corresponding bisboronate/bis(diol) interactions.

Sports ability in young men and the incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Purpose: For physical activity to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, it must be sustained throughout life. We sought to determine the relation between the ability of young adults in different sports and their continued physical activity in midlife, and subsequent cardiovascular disease.

Subjects And Methods: Baseline self-reported ability in tennis, golf, football, baseball, and basketball was assessed in a cohort study involving 1019 male medical students (median age, 22 years).

Erythroblast iron metabolism and serum soluble transferrin receptor values in the anemia of rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: We have investigated in vitro erythroblast iron metabolism in the anemia of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We also have examined the results in relation to bone marrow iron status in an attempt to explain the reported difference between serum soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) values in anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in patients with RA.

Methods: Bone marrow was examined in 29 anemic patients with RA, 9 healthy volunteers, and 6 patients with simple IDA.

Consumer health informatics: a consensus description and commentary from American Medical Informatics Association members.

Background: Although interest in Consumer Health Informatics (CHI) has increased, a consensus definition of CHI does not yet exist.

Purpose: To conduct a hypothesis-generating survey of AMIA members regarding definition and research agenda for CHI.

Methods: We solicited participation among AMIA members in an Internet-based survey focusing on issues related to a definition of CHI.

In vitro activity of a novel antimycobacterial compound, N-octanesulfonylacetamide, and its effects on lipid and mycolic acid synthesis.

beta-Sulfonyl carboxamides have been proposed to serve as transition-state analogues of the beta-ketoacyl synthase reaction involved in fatty acid elongation. We tested the efficacy of N-octanesulfonylacetamide (OSA) as an inhibitor of fatty acid and mycolic acid biosynthesis in mycobacteria. Using the BACTEC radiometric growth system, we observed that OSA inhibits the growth of several species of slow-growing mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H37Rv and clinical isolates), the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), Mycobacterium bovis BCG, Mycobacterium kansasii, and others.

Screening the public for depression through the Internet.

Objective: Despite increased public screening, many individuals with depression remain undetected or untreated. This study explored the performance of an Internet-based program in screening for depression.

Methods: The Centers for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale was adapted as an online screening test.

The potential of consumer health informatics.

Objectives: To describe the rapidly evolving field of consumer health informatics (CHI), which is empowering the patient and the public.

Data Sources: Published articles, research studies, and government reports pertaining to interactive health communication and CHI.

Conclusions: Application of CHI can provide information to patients and the public, promote self-care, enable informed decision-making, promote healthy behaviors, and promote peer information exchange and social support.

A new class of antituberculosis agents.

Long-chain lipid envelopes are characteristic of mycobacteria such as those that cause tuberculosis and leprosy. Inhibition of fatty acid synthesis or elongation is a strategy demonstrated to be clinically effective against M. tuberculosis.

Lidocaine-prilocaine patch decreases the pain associated with the subcutaneous administration of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine but does not adversely affect the antibody response.

Background: Topical lidocaine 2.5% and prilocaine 2.5% (EMLA) is effective in decreasing the pain associated with minor procedures including immunization, although the effect on the antibody response to vaccine constituents has not been assessed.

Reducing the addictiveness of cigarettes. Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of reducing tobacco-caused disease by gradually removing nicotine from cigarettes until they would not be effective causes of nicotine addiction.

Data Sources: Issues posed by such an approach, and potential solutions, were identified from analysis of literature published by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in its 1996 Tobacco Rule, comments of the tobacco industry and other institutions and individuals on the rule, review of the reference lists of relevant journal articles, other government publications, and presentations made at scientific conferences.

Data Synthesis: The role of nicotine in causing and sustaining tobacco use was evaluated to project the impact of a nicotine reduction strategy on initiation and maintenance of, and relapse to, tobacco use.

Gallium-67-citrate scanning of renal parenchymal malacoplakia.

Unlabelled: The purpose of this article is to review the potential role of nuclear medicine scanning, especially with 67Ga, in the presumptive diagnosis and clinical management of patients with renal parenchymal malacoplakia (RPMP), a rare disease associated with coliform bacterial infection of the kidney and characterized by chronic unresolving inflammatory infiltrates containing von Hansemann macrophages in the renal parenchyma.

Methods: Published cases of RPMP were collected from the archival literature by searching the MEDLINE database and by reviewing bibliographic references contained in articles on malacoplakia. Data on the clinical features and radiographic evaluation of patients with RPMP were extracted from the clinical case reports.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Second Edition. AMA Council on Scientific Affairs.

A resolution, introduced by the American College of Preventive Medicine at the 1996 American Medical Association (AMA) Annual Meeting, asked the AMA to recommend to physicians the use of the United States Preventive Services Task Force's Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Second Edition. In response to that resolution, the AMA's Council on Scientific Affairs has reviewed and evaluated this publication. The recommendations of the Council on Scientific Affairs on the use of the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Second Edition, by clinicians and medical educators are included in this report.

Nicotine dependency and adolescents: preventing and treating.

Teenage tobacco use is an increasingly prevalent health problem in this country. Three thousand teenagers become regular smokers each day. This article reviews adolescent tobacco use and its health dangers; a brief-office intervention for tobacco cessation in adolescents is described.

Transfer of preventive health programs to physicians' practices through medical organizations.

Background: Transferring new information to practicing physicians is a complex and often faulty process. Effective transfer is a challenging goal that requires a strategy for reaching large numbers of physicians throughout the country in a short time. However, methods for disseminating preventive health techniques such as smoking cessation have not been well organized.

Regulation of cellular iron metabolism by erythropoietin: activation of iron-regulatory protein and upregulation of transferrin receptor expression in erythroid cells.

Erythropoietin (Epo) is the central regulator of red blood cell production and acts primarily by inducing proliferation and differentiation of erythroid progenitor cells. Because a sufficient supply of iron is a prerequisite for erythroid proliferation and hemoglobin synthesis, we have investigated whether Epo can regulate cellular iron metabolism. We present here a novel biologic function of Epo, namely as a potential modulator of cellular iron homeostasis.

Determination of Exempt and Prohibited Compounds in Consumer Products by Headspace Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry.

Title 17, California Code of Regulations, Division 3, Chapter 1, Subchapter 8.5, Articles 1 and 2, Sections 94500-94517 specify limits for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a wide variety of consumer products. However, under these regulations, specific compounds that have been shown to contribute little to the formation of ozone in the lower atmosphere are exempt from the definition of VOC.

The Application of the Karl Fischer Oven for the Determination of Water in Consumer Products.

The direct Karl Fischer (KF) titration method has known interferences for measuring water content. In addition, in analyzing some paints, KF can fail to produce an accurate analysis. The California Air Resources Board (GARB) staff has developed a KF procedure that can be used to determine the water content of consumer products.