Bio-field array: a dielectrophoretic electromagnetic toroidal excitation to restore and maintain the golden ratio in human erythrocytes.

Erythrocytes must maintain a biconcave discoid shape in order to efficiently deliver oxygen (O2 ) molecules and to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2 ) molecules. The erythrocyte is a small toroidal dielectrophoretic (DEP) electromagnetic field (EMF) driven cell that maintains its zeta potential (ζ) with a dielectric constant (ԑ) between a negatively charged plasma membrane surface and the positively charged adjacent Stern layer. Here, we propose that zeta potential is also driven by both ferroelectric influences (chloride ion) and ferromagnetic influences (serum iron driven). The Golden Ratio, a function of Phi φ, offers a geometrical mathematical measure within the distinct and desired curvature of the red blood cell that is governed by this zeta potential and is required for the efficient recycling of CO2 in our bodies. The Bio-Field Array (BFA) shows potential to both drive/fuel the zeta potential and restore the Golden Ratio in human erythrocytes thereby leading to more efficient recycling of CO2 . Live Blood Analyses and serum CO2 levels from twenty human subjects that participated in immersion therapy sessions with the BFA for 2 weeks (six sessions) were analyzed. Live Blood Analyses (LBA) and serum blood analyses performed before and after the BFA immersion therapy sessions in the BFA pilot study participants showed reversal of erythrocyte rheological alterations (per RBC metric; P = 0.00000075), a morphological return to the Golden Ratio and a significant decrease in serum CO2 (P = 0.017) in these participants. Immersion therapy sessions with the BFA show potential to modulate zeta potential, restore this newly defined Golden Ratio and reduce rheological alterations in human erythrocytes.

Thyroid function and 3,3'-diiodothyronine sulfate cross-reactive substance (compound W) in maternal hyperthyroidism with antithyroid treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether the serial measurement of maternal levels of compound W, a 3,3'-diiodothyronine sulfate cross-reactive substance, can serve as a potential indicator of fetal thyroid function in pregnant women receiving antithyroid medication. METHODS: Compound W was measured repeatedly in serum of pregnant women with hyperthyroidism treated with antithyroid medication. Free thyroxine levels of mothers and serum thyroid-stimulating hormone levels of 1-day-old neonates were analyzed by local clinical or state laboratories. RESULTS: Use of minimal antithyroid medication impaired the progressive increase of compound W seen in euthyroid mothers during pregnancy. At term, depressed compound W levels in maternal serum were found in 7 of 22 pregnancies; in 1 case, maternal compound W was suppressed and newborn thyroid-stimulating hormone was elevated. Seven mothers with treated hyperthyroidism failed to show an increase in serum levels of compound W after midterm. CONCLUSION: Normal progression of maternal serum compound W may be an index of normal fetal thyroid development in mothers with hyperthyroidism treated with necessary antithyroid medication.

Perinatal outcomes in pregnancies managed with antenatal insulin glargine.

We compared perinatal outcomes in pregnancies in which insulin glargine was used in the management of patients with pregnancies in which standard insulin therapy was used at a single institution. A retrospective analysis of 114 pregnant patients with diabetes (pregestational or gestational) managed at a single center between January 2004 and August 2006 was undertaken. Sixty-five patients managed with insulin glargine were compared with 49 patients managed with neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin. Both groups were also treated with short-acting insulin (either regular, lispro, or aspart insulin). Maternal age, parity, prepregnancy weight, body mass index, duration of diabetes, hemoglobin A (1C) (at entry and final recorded) and gestational age at entry were similar for each group (glargine and NPH). Thirty patients had gestational diabetes (18 glargine and 12 NPH); there were no differences in numbers of patients in higher-order White's classification between the two groups. Cesarean section for obstetric reasons included labor abnormalities, malpresentation, fetal distress, and suspected macrosomia. There were no differences in gestational age at delivery, birth weight, preeclampsia, or frequency of cesarean section (total or for obstetric reasons). The frequency of shoulder dystocia was higher in the NPH group. Regarding neonatal outcomes, gestational age at delivery, birth weight, Apgar scores, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, respiratory distress syndrome, hypoglycemia, and congenital anomalies were similar between the two groups. From this retrospective analysis, no adverse maternal or neonatal effects were seen from maternal administration of insulin glargine. A larger multicenter study is needed to confirm these findings. This preliminary report suggests that use of insulin glargine during pregnancy can be considered if maternal metabolic control is suboptimal using the standard split-mix regimen.

Hypertensive disease in pregnancies complicated by systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the percentage of hypertensive disease in pregnancies complicated by systemic lupus erythematosus at a single institution. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective analysis of medical records between 1992 and 2003 of 68 pregnancies that were complicated by systemic lupus erythematosus from 48 parturients. Patients were categorized into 3 groups: no chronic hypertension (n = 49 women), chronic hypertension-no medication (n = 6 women) and chronic hypertension-treated (n = 13 women). Analyses of variance (with Tukey-Kramer adjusted follow-up evaluation) and chi-squared/Fisher's exact tests were used for the analyses of continuous and categoric variables, respectively. Significance was defined by a probability value of < or = .05. RESULTS: Chronic hypertension complicated 28% of systemic lupus erythematosus pregnancies. Mean systolic blood pressures at intake were significantly different between the normotensive and no chronic hypertension groups and between the chronic hypertension-no medication and chronic hypertension-treated groups; the differences in diastolic pressures reached significance only between the no chronic hypertension and the chronic hypertension-treated groups. Maternal age, gestational age at delivery, birth weight, lowest platelet count, and highest serum creatinine levels were similar between the hypertensive and the nonhypertensive groups. There were no differences in the percentage of aspirin or heparin treatments among the groups, but the percentage of the chronic hypertension-treated group who received steroids was significantly greater than the percentage of women who received steroids in the other 2 groups (P < .05). Preeclampsia developed in 23% of the no chronic hypertension pregnancies and in 32% of the hypertensive pregnancies (P = .54). When pregnancies that were treated with prednisone (n = 34 pregnancies) were compared with those pregnancies that were managed with other agents (n = 34 pregnancies), the percentages of preeclampsia were similar (26% and 24%, respectively; P = .78). CONCLUSION: The percentage of parturients with systemic lupus erythematosus in whom preeclampsia develops is increased, regardless of the presence of underlying chronic hypertension. Prednisone therapy was not associated with a higher risk of preeclampsia in this series.

What we have learned regarding antibiotic therapy for the reduction of infant morbidity after preterm premature rupture of the membranes.

Preterm premature rupture of the membranes (pPROM) is responsible for approximately one third of the over 450,000 preterm births occurring in the United States annually. In this manuscript, we summarize the outcomes and analyses related to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network (NICHD-MFMU) network multicenter trial of antibiotics to reduce infant morbidity after pPROM. Based on evident reduction in gestational age dependent and infectious infant morbidity, we provide the rationale for aggressive intravenous and oral, broad spectrum Ampicillin/Amoxicillin, and Erythromycin therapy during conservative management of pPROM before 32 weeks' gestation. We further review the histopathologic correlates to pPROM, to antibiotic treatment, and to perinatal outcome, and discuss the relationships between maternal and neonatal cytokine levels intercellular adhesion molecule, and other clinical and plasma markers regarding perinatal morbidity. The use and limitations of ultrasound and vaginally collected amniotic fluid pulmonary maturity assessment are discussed.