Vertigo and dizziness--a clinical approach.

Dizziness is a term which is used to describe a variety of sensations. It is possible to group these complaints into four types: a rotational sensation (Type I dizziness), impending faint (Type II dizziness), dysequilibrium (Type III dizziness) and vague lightheadness (Type IV dizziness). Type I dizziness or vertigo is due to disease of the vestibular system--peripheral or central, and is characterized by a feeling of movement relative to one's surrounding.

Friedreich's ataxia--yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The present review traces the origin of Friedreich's Ataxia (FA) from the time of Nikolaus Friedreich in the mid-nineteenth century. The early hesitation on the part of the neurological community in accepting FA as a distinct entity, rather than a variant form of tabes dorsalis and multiple sclerosis, has been highlighted. Research within the last 6-7 years, has firmly established FA as a trinucleotide repeat disorder, the location of the offending gene, and the disease-related gene product, frataxin.

Why women do not get micturition syncope?--a hypothesis.

In the present communication, the author hypothesises on the rarity of Indian women to suffer from micturition syncope while this is fairly common amongst men of all ages. Most Indian women adopt a squatting posture during micturition in contrast to men who prefer to stand. Squatting induced increased adrenergic drive and the resultant rise of blood pressure seems to negate the parasympathetic overactivity that results from bladder evacuation causing micturition syncope.

The activity of superoxide dismutase in hydroxyurea-treated E beta thalassemia.

Aim: To study the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the level of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) in hydroxyurea (HU)-treated E beta thalassaemia.

Methods: We have measured SOD level, HbF, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), packed cell volume (PCV) and hemoglobin (Hb) of E beta thalassaemia treated with HU (dose 30 mg/kg/day) for consecutive 90 days.

Result: The increase of HbF synthesis without increase of Hb was observed in HU-treated patients.

Lipid peroxidation and spectrin of RBC membrane in hydroxyurea treated Eβ thalassaemia.

The aim of the present work is to understand the effect of low dose of hydroxyurea (HU) therapy on oxidative damage of RBC membrane in non-transfused Eβ thalassaemia. HU was administered at a dose of 30 mg/kg/day for 90 consecutive days. The percentage of spectrin and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), fetal hemoglobin (HbF), hemoglobin (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV) were measured.

A study of spectrin and lipid peroxidation of red blood cell membrane in thalassaemia carrier.

The aim of the present work is to understand the lipid peroxidation of RBC membrane and the spectrin protein content of RBC membrane cytoskeleton of thalassaemic carrier state (trait) of β and hemoglobin E variant (HbE). We have measured the hemoglobin (Hb), malondialdehyde (MDA) and spectrin content of RBC membrane of thalassaemic carrier. The spectrin content (α and β band) of both β and HbE carrier was not changed than normal individuals.

O-acetyl sialic acid binding lectin as a probe for detection of subtle change on cell surface induced during acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and its clinical application.

A novel probe, a 9-O-acetylated sialic acid binding lectin, namely achatininH (ATNH) has been used for the detection of changes on the cell surface during acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). ATNH does not agglutinate normal human erythrocytes, however it is capable of agglutinating erythrocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients suffering from ALL. The differential expression of a key receptor, 9-O-acetylated sialo glyco conjugate (9-O-AcSG), on PBMC was observed using a simple lymphoproliferative assay (LA).