Hyperbaric oxygenation and blood lactate clearance: study in sixty male naval cadets.

The research was aimed to study the effects of a 30 minute exposure to 2.5 ATA with 100% O2-inhalation on lactate concentration after muscular fatigue from incremental exercise on a cycle ergometer The subjects were 60 male naval cadets aged 20-23 years whose physical fitness was equivalent to the average athletes. All volunteers participated in the first VO2 max exercise test to obtain their baseline data and randomly assigned into 3 groups of 20. The 3 groups were: Rest recovery group (RR), Oxygen recovery group (OR), and the Hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO2) recovery group (HR). The volunteers took the incremental exercise test (Ordinary Lamp Protocol) on a cycle ergometer to exhaustion, then rested according to the above assigned groups. Blood samples were taken from each volunteer before the experiment, at exhaustion and every 5-minute intervals after the exhaustion for 30 minutes and immediately assayed for lactate concentration. The results showed significant decrease of blood lactate concentration at 15, 20 and 25 minutes intervals after the exhaustion in the HR group compared to the others. It might be initially concluded that HBO2 enhanced the rate of lactate removal from peripheral blood vessels, therefore it shortened the recovery time.

King Chulalongkorn: biography and his activities in medicine and public health.

King Rama V, or Chulalongkorn, was the fifth monarch of the Chakri Dynasty. He was one of the most beloved of the Thai kings due to his many activities including abolishing slavery without bloodshed and especially his skillful diplomacy which succeeded in steering Siam out of the grips of the colonial powers. His activities also included reform of the administration of the kingdom according to the European model and in bringing Siam into the modern era with such exquisite skills that he is still vividly remembered today. His reign also saw many developments in medicine and public health. The King's role in these areas, however, were clouded by his more visible activities in politics and diplomacy. The result is that the Thai public learned rather little about his role in these areas. This article aims at collecting this and to show the King's very important role in modernizing medicine and public health in Siam.

Apoptotic activity in lymphocytes from radiation-treated cervical cancer patients.

PURPOSE: The per cent apoptotic activity in lymphocytes from pre-treated cervical cancer patients was cross-sectionally compared with post-treated patients at 1 month, 3 months, 1 year, and 5 years after completing the standard radiation therapeutic regimen. In addition, the differences in the per cent apoptotic activities among various stages of cervical cancer were simultaneously analyzed. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Blood samples were collected from five patients in each stage of cervical cancer before treatment, and at 1 month, 3 months, 1 year, and 5 years after completing the radiation therapy. The control samples were collected from healthy and aged-match female blood donors. The lymphocytes were separated and exposed to 0.5 Gy Co irradiation to induce apoptosis. The apoptotic cells were detected by in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT assay) and counted under a fluorescent microscope. Both the apoptotic index and per cent apoptotic activity were calculated. RESULTS: The per cent apoptotic activities in lymphocytes from all pre-treated patients with stage II and III cervical cancer were significantly lower than the controls (p = 0.001). The apoptotic activity in normal control, however, was not significantly different from the pre-treated stage I cervical cancer group. Following radiation therapy, the apoptotic activities at 1 month, 3 month and 1 year were increased in all stages. The per cent apoptotic activity, in all stages of cervical cancer at 5 years after treatment, was statistically higher than that of the pre-treated groups. CONCLUSION: There was a decrease of per cent apoptotic activity in lymphocytes from all pre-treated cervical cancer patients in the present study, the change of which was reversed to normal after treatment in non-recurrent cases.