Treatment of typhoid fever with azithromycin versus chloramphenicol in a randomized multicentre trial in India.

To compare the clinical and bacteriological efficacies of azithromycin and chloramphenicol for treatment of typhoid fever, 77 bacteriologically evaluable adults, with blood cultures positive for Salmonella typhi or Salmonella paratyphi A susceptible to their assigned drugs, were entered into a randomized open trial at four hospitals in India. Forty-two patients were randomized to receive azithromycin 500 mg p.o. od for 7 days and 35 to receive chloramphenicol 2-3 g p.o. od in four divided doses for 14 days. Thirty-seven patients (88%) in the azithromycin group responded with clinical cure or improvement within 8 days and 30 patients (86%) in the chloramphenicol group responded with cure or improvement. By day 14 after the start of treatment, all patients treated with azithromycin and all except two of the patients treated with chloramphenicol (94%) were cured or improved. Blood cultures repeated on day 8 after start of therapy showed eradication of organisms in 100% of patients in the azithromycin group and 94% of patients in the chloramphenicol group. By day 14 the eradication rate in the chloramphenicol group had increased to 97%. Stool cultures on days 21 and 35 after start of treatment showed no prolonged faecal carriage of Salmonella spp. in either group. These results indicate that azithromycin given once daily for 7 days was effective therapy for typhoid fever in a region endemic with chloramphenicol-resistant S. typhi infection and was equivalent in effectiveness to chloramphenicol given to patients with chloramphenicol-susceptible infections.

Prevalence and risk factors of hypertension and age-specific blood pressures in five cities: a study of Indian women. NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur, India. Five City Study Group.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the prevalence of hypertension and age-specific blood pressure in urban populations from five Indian cities. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted in six-twenty urban streets in different cities from five different corners of India, using similar methods of sample selection and criteria. There were 3212 randomly selected women from Moradabad (n=902), Trivandrum (n=760), Calcutta (n=365), Nagpur (n=405) and Bombay (n=780), aged 25-64 years, inclusive. Evaluation was by a physician and a dietitian, an administered questionnaire, a physical examination and using a sphygmomanometer. The diagnosis of hypertension was based on old World Health Organisation criteria and new World Health Organisation/International Society of Hypertension criteria. The prevalence of hypertension (>140/90 mm Hg) was significantly (P<0.01) high in Trivandrum, South India (30.7%), and Bombay, West India (28.0%), compared to Moradabad, which is in northern India (22.6%), Nagpur, in central India (24.2%), and Calcutta, in east India (19.1%). Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly higher in Trivandrum and Bombay compared to the other three cities. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 25.6% (n=823) and isolated diastolic hypertension was the most common form of hypertension (50.5%, n=1506) in the five Indian cities. According to old criteria, the overall prevalence of hypertension (>160/95 mm Hg) was 14.8% (n=481). Multivariate logistic regression analysis on pooled data from the five cities, after adjustment for age, showed that age (odds ratio 1.16), body mass index (1.68) and obesity were strongly associated with hypertension. A sedentary lifestyle and salt intake were weakly associated and alcohol intake was not a factor with these women.

Hypertension and CHD risk: whither alpha-1 blockers?

With the inclusion of alpha-blockers in the list of drugs recommended as firstline agents for managing hypertension, there has been a resurgence of interest in this group of drugs. The selective alpha-1 blockers reduce peripheral vascular resistance by blocking the alpha-1 receptors and preventing norepinephrine from reaching them. Their antihypertensive efficacy has been shown to be comparable to all other major classes of antihypertensive agents. They are also as well tolerated as the other currently used drugs, both facts being confirmed by the TOMHS. What differentiates them from the rest of the drugs is their beneficial effects on various other coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors. While lowering blood pressure (a CHD risk factor by itself), the selective alpha-1 blockers also reduce serum total cholesterol and increase serum HDL cholesterol (yet another major CHD risk factor). These drugs have been shown to increase insulin sensitivity and lower blood glucose levels. In addition, they also cause regression of left ventricular hypertrophy. Given these added beneficial effects, the lipid- and glucose-friendly selective alpha-1 blockers are increasingly being used.

Silent myocardial ischaemia and cardiac autonomic neuropathy in diabetics.

Treadmill exercise electrocardiography was performed in 47 patients of diabetes to detect latent coronary artery disease. Eighteen patients (36.3%) were found positive on treadmill test. All forty seven subjects were evaluated for cardiac autonomic neuropathy. The incidence of cardiac autonomic neuropathy in treadmill positive group was 72.2% as compared to 31.0% in treadmill negative group, (p < 0.01). Nine patients from the positive group and 4 patients from the negative group were subjected for coronary angiography, which revealed significant CAD in 8 and 1 subjects in both groups respectively. It is concluded that the incidence of silent myocardial ischaemia in diabetics is very high and cardiac autonomic neuropathy seems to be the most probable reason for absence of pain.