[Is abortion murder?]. / Ist Abtreibung Mord?

PIP: Discussions about Paragraph 218 of the German federal abortion law have spawned antithetical opinions: on the one hand, the full right of the mother or parents to decide about the incipient human life; and on the other hand, under the dogma of abortion is murder, providing abortion is rejected even when the pregnancy is the result of rape and it is unwanted. Two questions are closely related to this issue: 1) what makes human beings human and 2) when does human life begin. From a medical point of view the function of the brain is fundamentally linked to being human. The brain controls almost all functions of the body and determines its psychological makeup, such as intellect and, in a theological sense, the soul. Without the brain such functioning is not possible, since brain death means the death of human life. Children born with anencephaly and microencephaly can never live a human life. At the end of life various diseases (stroke, Alzheimer disease) can severely damage the brain. In these cases normal living is also no longer possible. Yet ethically it is untenable to actively kill these human beings. But when one considers that life-threatening diseases can require life-support intervention, then often the pragmatic intervention is not far removed from active euthanasia. The other question related to the beginning of human life is even more difficult to answer. It is the fertilization of the egg cells; but a conglomeration of cells in the early phase of pregnancy can hardly be characterized as a human person. The human identity, personality, and worth is associated with the functioning of the brain, so only when the brain is fully developed can there be any talk about an unborn human being.^ieng

Assessment of indapamide in elderly hypertensive patients with special emphasis on well-being.

One hundred forty-nine patients between 56 and 80 years of age with mild to moderate hypertension received indapamide (2.5 mg per day) monotherapy for 12 weeks. In addition to studies of the efficacy and tolerance of indapamide, the study comprised an assessment of well-being, which was carried out objectively by the physician, and subjectively by the patient himself, by means of a list of complaints and a visual analogue scale. The mean blood pressure was lowered from 179/91 mm Hg (supine) before treatment to 149/81 mm Hg at the end of the treatment. The general well-being of the patients, as judged by the physician, showed a markedly positive evolution. The patients themselves indicated that their most frequent symptoms, such as sleep disorders, functional organic disturbances, and sensory and motor fatigue, had improved by 65 to 85 percent, indicating a tendency to better compliance.

[Borderline hypertension. Clinical significance and therapy]. / Grenzwerthypertonie. Klinische Bedeutung und Therapie.

Borderline hypertension can be diagnosed, when supine systolic blood pressures lie between 140 and 160 mmHg and diastolic blood pressures lie between 90 and 95 mmHg and when the rise in blood pressure after stimuli such as ergometric work is abnormally high. The causes of hypertension are frequently stress situations, heredity, overweight and high salt intake. Pathophysiologically the increase of heart rate and cardiac index without increase of the peripheral vascular resistance is typical. Stimulation of renin-angiotensin system and sympathoadrenal system are generally found. The diagnostic procedure is like that in essential hypertension. The antihypertensive agents of choice are betablockers and diuretics alone or in combination. It is important to notice that borderline hypertension is not a harmless fact but a not negligible risk for cardiovascular diseases.

[Which beta receptor blockers should be used in hypertension?]. / Welche Beta-Rezeptoren-Blocker sollen bei Hochdruck eingesetzt werden?

The author tries to answer the following questions: Which properties have the different beta-blockers, especially with regard to their cardioselectivity, lipoid solubility, bio-availability, membrane stabilizing effect and intrinsic sympathicomimetic activity? Which side effects and contraindications have the beta-blockers? How do the beta-blockers lower high blood pressure? With which antihypertensive substances should beta-blockers be combined? Do the beta-blockers have a cardioprotective effect?