Pilot evaluation of black cohosh for the treatment of hot flashes in women.

Background: Hot flashes cause significant morbidity in postmenopausal women, including women with breast cancer. We undertook a pilot study to estimate the effectiveness of black cohosh to reduce hot flashes.

Methods: Women who reported significant hot flashes (> or = 14 per week) were enrolled.

Compliance with CPAP in elderly patients with OSA.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common in the general population and especially in the geriatric age group. Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a highly effective treatment but can be difficult for some patients to use.Objective: We investigated the question if older patients were less compliant with CPAP therapy than younger patients and may not realize its benefits.

Assessing sleep in psychiatric inpatients: nurse and patient reports versus wrist actigraphy.

This study was designed to evaluate the conventional techniques of assessing sleep, nursing and patient report, of inpatients on a clinical psychiatric unit. Nurses assessed sleep/wake status at hourly checks and patients completed a sleep diary. For three nights patients wore a wrist actigraph, a portable instrument which provides objective data about sleep/wake activity.

Pergolide in the management of restless legs syndrome: an extended study.

Twenty patients with problematic restless legs syndrome (RLS) were treated with pergolide. Efficacy, dosage, side effects, and tolerance were analyzed. Fifteen patients continued treatment for a median study time of 2 years.

Effects of 24-hr nicotine replacement on sleep and daytime activity during smoking cessation.

Background: This study uses wrist actigrapy to assess the effects of 24-hr transdermal nicotine replacement on the sleep and daytime activity of smokers during smoking cessation.

Methods: Seventy-one subjects grouped as light (n = 23), moderate (n = 24), or heavy (n = 24) smokers were randomly assigned to placebo or 11, 22, or 44 mg/day doses of transdermal nicotine for 1 week of intensive inpatient treatment of nicotine dependence. Outpatient patch therapy continued for 7 weeks following the inpatient stay.

Seasonal variation in human illumination exposure at two different latitudes.

The authors measured ambient illumination exposure in healthy volunteers in San Diego, California (latitude 32 degrees 43' N, n = 30), and Rochester, Minnesota (latitude 44 degrees 1' N, n = 24), during each of the four quarters of the year, which were centered on the solstices and equinoxes. Subjects wore photosensors on their wrists and lapels (or foreheads while in bed) 24 h per day for an average of 5-6 days per quarter. The maximum of the two illumination readings was stored each minute.

Wrist actigraphy in insomnia.

To assess the use of actigraphy in evaluating insomnia, 36 patients with a serious complaint of insomnia slept 3 nights each in the laboratory, where the usual polysomnograms (PSGs) were obtained as well as actigraphic assessments of their sleep. Patients also wore actigraphs for 7 days at home, were extensively interviewed and filled out psychometric tests. Based on all this information, the patients were then diagnosed according to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders.

Natural history of breast pain.

258 patients with breast pain were restudied 2 to 7 years after initial assessment in a special mastalgia clinic. Pain persisted at follow-up in 65% of patients. Mastalgia was cyclical in two-thirds.

Controlled trial of the antigonadotropin danazol in painful nodular benign breast disease.

In a double-blind crossover study of the effects of the antigonadotropin danazol on pain and nodularity in 28 women with cyclical mastalgia danazol was given at doses of 200 mg/day and 400 mg/day, and the responses were assessed both subjectively and objectively. Danazol caused a significant and progressive decrease in breast pain and nodularity when compared with placebo. Symptoms responded more quickly with the 400 mg/day dose of danazol than with the 200 mg dose, but the larger dose also caused greater side-effects.

The use of danazol in the treatment of painful benign breast disease: preliminary results.

The preliminary results of a double-blind randomized cross-over trial of danazol versus placebo in patients with severe cyclical breast pain are reported. Though numbers are small at present, the results are encouraging.