Serum levels of C-reactive protein in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Prospective measurements were made of serum C-reactive protein levels and erythrocyte sedimentation rate in sixty-four patients with Crohn's disease and fifty with ulcerative colitis. The results were related to clinical assessment of disease activity. C-reactive protein levels were raised in both groups but were significantly higher in Crohn's disease than ulcerative colitis for all categories of disease severity: with mild disease the median and range of C-reactive protein concentration were 4, 0-65 mg/l in Crohn's disease v.

Exploratory electromyography in the study of vibration-induced white finger in rock drillers.

Electrophysiological observations made in the hands of a group of 16 rock-drillers were compared with 15 controls. Motor and sensory conduction velocities in the median and ulnar nerves together with the latency, duration, and amplitude of the evoked action potentials were measured. The differences between the groups were statistically significant mainly in latency, duration, and amplitude, especially of the sensory action potentials.

Effect of orciprenaline on hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in dogs.

The effect of orciprenaline on hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) was studied in 8 dogs by measuring the redistribution of blood flow in response to unilateral alveolar hypoxia. The distribution of blood flow was recorded continuously by measuring the radioactivity of the mixed expired gas from each lung during the continuous intravenous infusion of xenon-133. The hypoxic vasoconstrictor response was significantly depressed by an infusion of 1.

Comment on "augmentation-reduction and pain experience" by Elton, et al.

Some of the troubling aspects in the work of Elton, et al. (1978) are detailed. Included are matters related to the measurement of pain tolerance, as well as that of reduction and augmentation.

Plasma clearance and renal excretion of erythrocyte cryoprotectant hydroxyethylated amylopectin.

The value of low molecular weight-hydroxyethylated amylopectin (cryo-HES) as an extracellular cryoprotectant has been demonstrated in vitro. It is important that details of the intravascular persistence and urinary excretion be determined to compare with data already available as other grades of HES and with data on transfusion of cryo-HES cryoprotected blood. Following a single 400 ml (14% solution) infusion in man, the intravascular clearance of cryo-HES was well described mathematically by the equation: y = 3.

Changes in ionized calcium and other plasma constituents associated with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Plasma concentrations of calcium fractions, proteins, phosphate and magnesium were measured before, during and after cardiopulmonary bypass in 15 patients undergoing cardiac surgery. When calcium chloride was added to a pump priming solution which contained little or no blood, the concentrations of all calcium fractions were significantly greater after bypass than before, with a mean ionized calcium concentration of 1.52 mmol litre-1 plasma water, 30 min after completion of bypass.

Prevalence of vibration-induced white finger in fluorspar mines in Weardale.

A combined epidemiological and clinical study of vibration-induced white finger (VWF) was carried out involving 115 men in four fluorspar mines. The overall prevalence of VWF was found to be 50% among 42 vibration-exposed subjects, while that of constitutional white finger (CWF) was 5-6% in all men studied. The VWF latent interval was 1-19 years with a mean of 5-6 years.

Comparative clinical study of protein SAP (amyloid P component) and C-reactive protein in serum.

The serum concentration of protein SAP (amyloid P component) has been measured for the first time in a substantial series of normal individuals and patients with various diseases, and the results contrasted with the levels of the related protein C-reactive protein (CRP). The mean +/- s.d.

Analysis of possible factors influencing PaO2 and (PaO2--PaO2) in patients awaiting operation.

Data on arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) and alveolar-arterial PO2 difference (PAO2--PaO2) have been obtained from 337 patients awaiting elective surgery. Statistical analysis of these data has assessed both the individual and the combined influence of various factors on PaO2 and (PAO2-PaO2). The factors of importance in relation to PaO2 include age, smoking habits, body build and PAO2.

Immunological studies in inflammatory bowel disease.

Three aspects of immunological function were studied in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (inflammatory bowel disease): atopic status and serum IgE levels; serum concentration of C-reactive protein; and C3 activation. The incidence of atopy, assessed by prick testing with common allergens, did not differ in patients with inflammatory bowel disease from healthy controls. 12 of 39 patients with Crohn's disease and 5 of 20 with ulcerative colitis, among whom were some non-atopic subjects, had elevated serum levels of IgE.

Comparison of levodopa with carbidopa or benserazide in parkinsonism.

The therapeutic efficacy and side-effects of two preparations of levodopa with extracerebral decarboxylase inhibitors have been compared in 19 patients with idiopathic parkinsonism in a blind randomised crossover trial. The mean daily dose of levodopa was 658 +/- 64 mg/day (mean +/- S.E.

The cardiovascular effects of bromocriptine in Parkinsonism.

The cardiovascular effects of bromocriptine, a dopamine receptor agonist, were investigated in twenty-eight Parkinsonian patients. Bromocriptine caused a significant impairment of postural compensation with a fall in systolic pressure and an absence of the rise in diastolic pressure after standing for 1 min when patients taking active drug were compared to the same patients on placebo. The hypotensive effect persisted for at least 6 weeks of treatment.

A method for performing a calcium balance study in man and the interpretation of results.

Methods for the measurement of calcium in the diet, urine and faeces for the performance of a calcium balance study was described, along with experiments on analytical procedures including recovery values. A means of calculating the inherent "technical error" in such a balance is given, and a method for determining the significance of any change in a patient's balance is described. These are illustrated by worked examples of data from a patient suffering from Paget's disease and one with osteoporosis before and after treatment with calcitonin.

Pain during continuous nitrous oxide administration.

The continuous administration of nitrous oxide, in subjects who remain conscious, caused only a relatively small increase in the threshold of appreciation of pain, induced experimentally by tibial pressure and a hot wire applied to the thenar eminence. The threshold reached a maximum at 10 min. A concentration of 50% nitrous oxide caused only a marginally greater effect than 33%.

Deterioration of glucose tolerance in hypertensive patients on prolonged diuretic treatment.

Glucose tolerance was investigated in 51 hypertensive patients before and after 1 and 6 years of treatment with oral diuretics. Glucose tolerance was unchanged after 1 year but had deteriorated significantly after 6 years' therapy. In a comparable group of 16 patients tested at similar intervals in which diuretic therapy had been given only for 3 of the 6 years there was no change in glucose tolerance, suggesting that prolonged oral treatment with thiazide diuretics is diabetogenic.

Idiopathic parkinsonism treated with bromocriptine.

The efficacy and toxicity of bromocriptine, a drug which simulates dopamine, have been studied in twenty-eight patients with idiopathic parkinsonism. A double-blind, within-patient comparison between maximum tolerated doses of bromocriptine (mean 46-9 mg daily) and placebo revealed a substantial and statistically significant therapeutic response to the active drug. Adverse reactions were dose dependent, reversible, and similar to those encountered with levodopa.

Clinical experience with use of ultrasound sphygmomanometer.

The performance of an ultrasound sphygmomanometer (Arteriosonde 1217) has been compared with that of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Hawksley sphygmomanometers. The Arteriosonde gave closely similar values of systolic blood pressure of the other instruments but diastolic blood pressure lay midway between phase 4 and phase 5 of the Korotkoff sounds. Observers using the Arteriosonde showed a significant preference for even terminal digits.

Tardive dyskinesia treated with pimozide.

We have investigated the action of pimozide in tardive dyskinesia induced by prolonged administration of phenothiazines. Improvement was recorded in a double blind study of 18 patients treated with maximum tolerated dosage (mean 18.8 mg/day) for 6 weeks.

Arterial blood pressure in patients with Parkinson's disease.

The casual arterial blood pressure of 411 patients with Parkinson's disease was compared with that of a representative sample of the general population. The patients were also divided into various sub-groups, and comparisons of blood pressure were made between them. The results provided no support for the widely held belief that blood pressure tends to be low in patients with Parkinson's disease.