Efficacy and tolerability of policosanol in hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women.

This randomized, double-blind, multicenter placebo-controlled study was conducted to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of policosanol, a cholesterol-lowering drug purified from sugar cane wax, in women who had experienced menopause and showed elevated serum total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels despite a 6-week standard lipid-lowering diet. Thus, 56 eligible patients were randomized to receive placebo or policosanol 5 mg/day for 8 weeks and the dose was doubled to 10 mg/day during the next 8 weeks. Policosanol (5 and 10 mg/day) significantly decreased LDL-cholesterol (17.3% and 26.7%, respectively), total cholesterol (12.9% and 19.5%) as well as the ratios of LDL-cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (17.2% and 26.5%) and total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol (16.3% and 21.0%) compared with baseline and placebo. HDL-cholesterol levels were significantly raised by 7.4% at study completion. No significant changes occurred in the lipid profile of the placebo group. The drug was safe and well tolerated. No drug-related adverse effects were observed. None of the patients administered policosanol but three of those administered placebo withdrew from the trial because of adverse effects: one due to a serious hypertensive status, one because of an allergic reaction (pruritus plus skin rash) and one due to gastrointestinal disturbances (nauseas plus vomiting). Eleven placebo patients reported 24 adverse effects compared with six policosanol patients who reported seven adverse effects (p < 0.05). In addition, five placebo (17.9%) and 13 policosanol patients (46.4%) (p < 0.05) reported improvements in habitual symptoms and health perception during the study. In conclusion, policosanol was effective and well tolerated in hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women, showing additional benefits in the health perception of the study patients.

[Low-frequency vibrations in the treatment of patients with acute maxillary sinusitis and ethmoiditis. Non-specific resistance and immunity]. / Nizkochastotnye vibratsii v lechenii bol'nykh ostrym gaimoritom i gaimoroétmoiditom. Sostoianie nespetsificheskoi rezistentnosti i immuniteta.

The authors present clinicoroentgenological and immunological evaluation of low-frequency mechanical intermittent biovibromassage used in the treatment of acute maxillary sinusitis alone and in its combination with ethmoiditis. The massage provides simple-in-use and effective impact on inflammation in the cells of the ethmoidal labyrinth. It can be practiced both in hospital and outpatiently.

Terapia hormonal de reemplazo combinada continua (THR-CC): influencia de la dosis de progestágeno sobre el patrón de sangrado (PS), el perfil lipíidico (PL), la tensión arterial (TA) y el índice de riesgo cardiovascular (IRC) / Replacement hormonal therapy combined (THR-CC) influences of the progestaagen dose on the pattern of bleedding (PS) the lipid profile (PL) the arterial tension (TA) and the risk cardiovascular index (IRC)

El objetivo es evaluar la influencia de diferentes dosis de progestágeno sobre los PS, el endometrio, el PL, la TA y el IRC, en pacientes menopáusicas que reciben THR-CC(AU)

Terapia hormonal de reemplazo combinada continua (THR-CC): influencia de la dosis de progestágeno sobre el patrón de sangrado (PS), el perfil lipíidico (PL), la tensión arterial (TA) y el índice de riesgo cardiovascular (IRC) / Replacement hormonal therapy combined (THR-CC) influences of the progestaagen dose on the pattern of bleedding (PS) the lipid profile (PL) the arterial tension (TA) and the risk cardiovascular index (IRC)

El objetivo es evaluar la influencia de diferentes dosis de progestágeno sobre los PS, el endometrio, el PL, la TA y el IRC, en pacientes menopáusicas que reciben THR-CC

English and Hebrew letter report by English- and Hebrew-reading subjects: evidence for stimulus control, not hemispheric asymmetry.

Three experiments were conducted using tachistoscopic circular displays of English and/or Hebrew letters that were equidistant from a fixation point. It was found that: (1) Irrespective of native language, English or Hebrew, subjects initiate their reports of English letters from the upper left quadrant and of Hebrew letters from the upper right quadrant of the display. In addition, subsequent letter reports come mostly from the same quadrant. (2) Although Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that direction of reporting might be a function of display language, Experiment 3 provided data to show that direction of reporting was a function of the position of the first response and not the display letter language that engaged that response, nor the display language of adjacent letters. It was suggested that the typical asymmetries reported in the literature, such as right visual field superiority for word stimuli, are the result of a particular set of stimulus conditions (e.g., hemifield presentations) and response requirements (e.g., reaction time and correct recognition). When stimulus conditions and response requirements are made compatible with previously overlearned behaviors, the potential influences of cerebral asymmetries are overshadowed by external stimulus control.

Bimodal electrodermal activity in schizophrenia.

Acute schizophrenics were found to be EDA hyper-responders, while chronics were hypo-responders. Within groups, acutes with positive symptoms tend to overrespond and chronics with negative symptoms to underrespond. Bimodality is thus most likely to arise when a sample containing both subtypes is tested.

[Topography of the gap junctions in human skin and their possible role in the nonneural transmission of information]. / Topografiia shchelevykh kontaktov v kozhe cheloveka i ikh vozmozhnaia rol' v beznervnoi peredache informatsii.

Localization and distribution of the gap junctions in the human epidermis have been studied. They are mainly concentrated in the area of biologically active (acupunctive) points and in so called meridians connecting these points. A supposition is made that the gap junction system performs certain integration of the information from the skin surface and its aneural transmission to remote areas. Discovery of a regulated gap junction system in relatively low organized animals (previously described by the authors), as well as revealing of such a system in mammals, makes it possible to suppose that the system is phylogenetically the most ancient one performing a directed transmission of an information simultaneously with and besides the neural system.

[Use of vibrostimulating footgear in the complex treatment of stroke patients]. / Primenenie vibrostimuliruiushchei obuvi v kompleksnom lechenii bol'nykh, perenesshikh mozgovoi insul't.

Under observation there were 95 patients with a history of a cerebral stroke. The therapeutic combination given to 65 of them included vibrostimulation of the bearing zones of the soles of both feet. The stimulation was effected inthe rhythm of man's walk with the use of special footwear developed at the Institute of Engineering Science, the USSR Academy of Sciences. The control group consisted of 30 patients with analogous pathology who did not receive the vibrotherapy. In all patients electroencephalographic, echo-encephalographic, rheoencephalographic and thermometric examinations were carried out. External respiration function was examined too. As a result it was found that the use of local vibrostimulation of the feet contributed to earlier (than in the control) activation of the patients with motor defects caused by the cerebral accident.

Electrodermal activity in depression: clinical and biochemical correlates.

Electrodermal activity was measured in a group of depressive patients and normal controls. Those patients classified as endogenous on the Newcastle Scale had significantly lower skin conductance levels than either the non-endogenous patients or controls. The endogenous depressives also contained significantly more non-responders to the experimental stimuli. The lack of responsiveness to external stimulation in non-responders is associated with a significantly lower rate of blood platelet 5-hydroxytryptamine uptake, suggesting that endogenous depressives have biological characteristics that distinguish them from other depressive groups and that electrodermal measures may be useful in the classification of depressive illness.

Bromocriptine in the treatment of hyperolactinemic amenorrhea.

Thirty women with secondary amenorrhea and hyperprolactinemia were studied; galactorrhea was present in 25 of them, and 18 were infertile. Serum prolactin (PRL) levels were high in all cases, between 26 and 120 ng/ml. All women were treated with bromocriptine in increasing doses from 2.5 to 5.0 or 7.5 mg daily, according to the response obtained, for 4 months. In 27 patients a PRL determination was performed during treatment; values returned to normal (up to 20 ng/ml) in 23 women and remained high in 4. Galactorrhea disappeared in 21 of 25 women. Ovulatory menses were re-established in 17 patients (56.6%). Seven women became pregnant (38.8%), one of them after bromocriptine and clomiphene were given simultaneously in the same cycle. According to our results and a literature review the following conclusions may be drawn: (1) bromocriptine is a useful therapeutic tool for re-establishing menstruation and inducing ovulation in patients with the hyperprolactinemic-amenorrhea syndrome; (2) the association of bromocriptine and clomiphene could be the next step in the treatment of patients who fail to ovulate with bromocriptine alone.

Plasma levels of norepinephrine during the periovulatory period in normal women. Further studies.

Eleven normally cycling women in whom laparotomy was indicated for benign gynecologic pathology were studied. Surgery was performed on day 0 (expected day of ovulation). Blood samples were drawn daily from day -8 to day -4, and every 8 hours from day -3 to day +2; estradiol (E2), progesterone (P), norepinephrine (NE), and LH were determined by RIA. Ovulation was certified by ovarian visualization and biopsy during laparotomy. In nine ovulatory patients mean E2 peak was found 48 hours before LH peak. Mean NE levels showed minimal variations until 48 hours before LH peak; 8 hours after E2 peak mean NE values increased significantly, fell 8 hours later, and rose immediately again, reaching maximal levels 24 hours after E2 peak. These values remained high until 16 hours before the LH peak and decreased gradually, thereafter reaching basal levels 32 hours after LH peak. Two anovulatory patients showed an atypical pattern of ovarian steroids and LH secretion and NE showed large variations without any correlation with estradiol or LH levels. This study confirms previous findings in women and experimental work in animals regarding the existence of a noradrenergic trigger mechanism to the LH ovulatory discharge.

Pituitary and ovarian response to acute stimulation with LH-RH in normal and anovulatory women.

The LH FSH estradiol and progesterone responses to acute stimulation with LH-RH were studied in 12 normal women with ovulatory cycles (4 in the initial follicular phase, 4 in the mid-follicular phase and 4 in the late follicular phase) and in two castrated women, two under hormonal contraception, two with ovarian amenorrhea, twelve with central amenorrhea of no detectable origin (6 with normal and 6 with low basal gonadotrophins), eleven anovulatory patients with pseudomenstruation, two with anorexia nervosa, and two with pituitary amenorrhea. Each woman received a rapid i.v. injection of 100 microgram synthetic LH-RH at 9:00 a.m. Serum levels of LH, FSH, estradiol and progesterone were determined by radioimmunoassay in samples collected before and 60, 120, 240 and 480 minutes after injection. The findings were : 1) A significant rise in estradiol and progesterone levels, in addition to LH and FSH elevation, in normal women; 2) A lack of ovarian steroid response in the castrated women and in ovarian amenorrheas, which suggests that the source of steroid response to stimulation is not extragonadal; 3) Significant differences in the responses of the four hormones to LH-RH in the women with central amenorrhea in comparison with the normal group with great variability of results; the steroid response in the presence of a positive LH response might correlate with the severity and/or prognosis of the disorder, a point deserving further study; 4) In anovulatory women with pseudomenstruation, LH responses for the most part normal, and particularly, progesterone responses.

PIP: Simultaneous pituitary and ovarian responses to acute stimulation (100 mcg iv injection) with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) in normal women at different times of the menstrual cycle were determined and the results were compared with those obtained in women with anuvulation from different causes. There were 12 normal women, 2 women who had had surgical oophorectomy, 2 who were taking combined hormonal contraceptives, 1 with amenorrhea following pelvic irradiation, 1 with gonadal dysgenesis, and 2 with anorexia nervosa. There were also 12 patients with secondary amenorrhea without detectable pathology. All patients received an iv injection of 100 mcg of synthetic LH-RH. In the normal patients basal LH levels were significantly (p .05) higher on Days 13-14 of the cycle than on Days 4-5. In all 3 phases of the cycle, LH reached peak poststimulation levels within 60 minutes after LH-RH injection. Castrate women showed basal LH levels and LH response profiles similar to normals. There were no estadiol or progesterone responses in this group. Women using hormonal contraception showed low basal levels of both gonadotropins with poststimulation LH response but no follicle stimulating hormone response. Estradiol response in this group was slightly lower and more sustained than in normal women. In patients with ovarian amenorrhea, responses were similar to those in castrated women. In patients with anorexia nervosa findings were normal.