Prevalence of Precursors of Ischemic Heart Disease in the Northeast Thailand.

 The study was conducted among northeast Thai male population aged 35-64 years in Phondistrict of Khon Kaen.  Sampled population was selected by cluster ampling by levels of development of villages.  Data collected were including, demographic data, cigarrette smoking, socioeconomic status, blood pressure, body weight, height and total serum cholesterol.  There were 209 men from 8 villages with the average age of 47.6 years.  About three quarters of them were farmers.  The prevalence of systolic hypertension (\> = 160 mmHg), diastolic hypertension (\> = 95 mmHg) were 1.4% and 2.4% respectively.  Means (SD) of systolic, diastolic blood pressures and total serum cholesterol were 115.6 (15.3) mmHg, 75.7 (9.6) mmHg and 147.7 (35.3) mg% respectively.  Smoking rate was 75%, Overweight (BMI \> 25 kg/m2) was only 17% of the population.  Both mean systolic and mean diastolic blood pressures had significant correlation with both total cholesterol level and body mass index, as well as the level of development of the villages.

Measurement of Serum Free Thyroxine by RIA in Normal Populations and During Pregnancy

Serum Free thyroxine (FT4) concentrations have been variously reported as either constant or falling in pregnancy. In this study , 177 serum samples from apparently normal preggnancies were used to derive trimester related euthyroid ranges throughout pregnancy for free T4 measured by Diagnostic Products and Amersham kits. Serum free T4 concentrations as determined by Amersham kits were shown to be significantly reduced in the second and third trimester (P\>0.05) . The free T4  concentrations measured by Diagnostic Products Kits fell with increasing gestational age especically in the third trimester, but the range of values were not significantly reduced from normal non-pregnant women. The observation that serum FT4 concentrations may fall as gestation progressed , as demonstrated by both the Amersham and Diagnostic Products radioimmunoassay technique, suggests that diagnosis and management thyroid disorders in pregnancy, tricester related reference ranges for FT4 must be used in pregnancy if the test is to correctly interpreted.