Survey of cadaveric donor application files: 1978-1993.

Information derived from application files of potential cadaveric donors to our body donation program from the period of 1978-1993 was entered into a customized database to assess the characteristics of people contributing to such a program. A total of 1,267 application files were reviewed and the following information analyzed: 1) year of application submission, 2) age, 3) sex, 4) race, 5) marital status, 6) education, 7) occupation, and 8) disposition of cremains (return or not to family). Overall the typical body donor applicant to our program was likely to be a white married female homemaker of about 70 years of age. She was a high school graduate and chose not to have her cremains returned to her family. The males closely follow the above mentioned characteristics (with the exception of occupation), but were outnumbered by females in nearly every category throughout the span of our analysis. An analysis of the application numbers over the 15 year period of our survey indicated a reduction in applications during the period of 1982-1984 and a linear increase of applicant numbers from 1989 to 1993. Finally, we observed a tendency for married couples to donate together with 32.1% of our married applicants showing this phenomenon.

Survey of cadaveric donors to a body donation program: 1978-1993.

Body donation files from the Department of Anatomy at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine were reviewed from the 569 donors used in our program from 1978-1993. The data were entered into a computerized database to evaluate the characteristics of people who have contributed to the body donation program for cadaveric dissection. The purpose of this review was to reveal a profile of the people who have contributed to our program and enable us to identify any deficiencies or disproportionate representation of donors which can be used when targeting future applicants. Donors to our program were predominantly male (58%), although there was a clear trend for increasing numbers of females over the latter period of the program. Donors were almost exclusively white (98%) with an average age at death of 73 years (range 18-98 years). The combination cardiovascular (46%), cancer (27%), and pulmonary dysfunction (16%) accounted for nearly all deaths of our donors. Approximately half of the donors (49%) were married and they completed an average of 12.5 years of education. The typical donor bequested at, or near, the time of death. From these data we conclude that certain characteristics of our donors can be primarily attributable to the population base of our sample. Other characteristics, for example, gender, age at death of females, and educational level, show marked departures from population values and suggest some unique attributes of our donors. Bequests to our body donation program do not appear to represent a long-term plan, but rather a decision made just prior to death.

Effects of clonidine on anxiety disorders.

To examine the role of the noradrenergic system in anxiety disorders, 23 patients (nine with generalized anxiety disorders and 14 with panic disorders) were studied for four weeks with clonidine hydrochloride, a predominantly presynaptic noradrenergic agonist, and with placebo. A double-blind crossover design was used. The effect of clonidine was comparable in both anxiety disorders and superior to placebo in patients who tolerated the drug. The conditions of 17% of the patients became worse with the medication. The main effect of clonidine was a decrease of anxiety attacks and "psychic" symptoms. Somatic symptoms were least affected. The complexity of the results may be explained through the postsynaptic effects of clonidine, which in part neutralize its presynaptic nonadrenergic effects. It may also indicate disturbances in other neurotransmitter systems that are not affected by clonidine.