HOMOZYGOUS β-thalassemia is a genetic disease characterized by the absent or defective production of beta-globin chains. It results in severe anemia and a consequent hyperstimulation of erythropoiesis and expansion of the bone marrow that can only be ...

THE incidence of tuberculosis correlates closely with the prevalence of tuberculous infection in the population. In residents of nursing homes in Arkansas, both the incidence and the prevalence are consistently about twice as high in blacks as in whites.¹ ...

THROMBOSIS affecting prosthetic heart valves and arterial thromboembolism remain major causes of late morbidity and mortality after the replacement of heart valves with mechanical prostheses, despite improvements in valve design.¹

Factors that influence ...

IN the province of Quebec, hereditary tyrosinemia (tyrosinemia Type I; McKusick no. 27670) is a common genetic disorder. This autosomal recessive disorder of amino acid metabolism is caused by a deficiency of fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase, the final ...

CHANGES in the anatomy and physiology of the epithelium of the digestive organs because of aging are slight.¹ The functional capacity of both the secretory and absorptive cells of the gut is so great that a decrease to as little as 5 to 10 percent of ...

IT has been over 20 years since there has been a severe influenza pandemic. Nevertheless, influenza remains an important epidemic viral infection with the potential to return to its former magnitude.^{1 2 3 4} The Centers for Disease Control documented 10,...

IN this report, we describe a curious and apparently unique genetic bone disorder in a white family. The main radiologic features are intracranial hyperostosis and osteosclerosis of the calvaria and the base of the skull; the mandible and skeleton are ...

Presentation of Case

A 32-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of fever, diarrhea, and jaundice.

He was well until one week earlier, when he experienced the onset of malaise, fever, night sweats, anorexia, diffuse aches, and pain in the right ...

The 12 pairs of cranial nerves innervate most structures of the head and neck. Their afferent and efferent connections traverse the meninges, subarachnoid space, bony structures of the cranium, and superficial soft tissues. Disruption of these nerves can ...

It would be tempting to suggest that the U.S. health care system is now in disarray were it not for the fact that it has never really been otherwise. There is increasing anger and frustration among employers, consumers, uninsured people, payers, and ...

One of the linguistic inventions of Harvard professor John Dunlop was the term "disjointed incrementalism." Dunlop, former U.S. secretary of labor and an expert on conflict resolution, used it frequently in his lectures to describe the American political ...

To the Editor: With reference to the recent report by Swedo et al. (Aug. 24 issue)¹ on trichotillomania and the accompanying editorial by Jenike,² we may have discovered another aspect of the "hidden epidemic" of obsessive—compulsive and related ...

To the Editor: It was with some surprise that we read in the article by Maclure et al. (Aug. 31 issue)¹ that parity was not a risk factor in the development of symptomatic cholelithiasis in the Nurses' Health Study. Research on the pathophysiology of ...

To the Editor: Dr. Steere briefly addresses the important question of prophylactic antibiotic therapy for deer-tick bites in his superb review of Lyme disease (Aug. 31 issue).¹ Others have offered the opinion that only attachments by engorged deer ticks ...

To the Editor: Yunis et al. (April 20 issue)¹ report correlations between specific chromosomal abnormalities and prognosis in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. We have a number of questions about their observations and conclusions. They report that patients with ...

To the Editor: The abuse of androgenic steroids persists in spite of their known toxic effects. The reported risks of such abuse have not been deemed serious enough by steroid-using athletes to diminish their use. Indeed, the credibility of official ...

To the Editor: The article by Rocchini et al. (Aug. 31 issue)¹ concluded that salt intake may have a greater influence on blood pressure in obese than in nonobese adolescents. In that study, obese subjects had a greater reduction of blood pressure in ...

To the Editor: We would like to point out an error in the article on lipoprotein lipase by Dr. Eckel (April 20 issue).¹ The method of calculating the body-mass index was described incorrectly. Dr. Eckel states that the body-mass index is calculated as ...

To the Editor: I was thrilled by Robert Coles' laudatory review of Peter D. Kramer's Moments of Engagement: Intimate Psychotherapy in a Technological Age (Aug. 31 issue).* Dr. Coles is right that "Many psychiatrists have come to appreciate Peter Kramer" ...

To the Editor: As a gastrointestinal endoscopist, I confront obstruction of the esophagus, rectum, and biliary tree on a regular basis. The tools and techniques that are used in the biliary tree are similar to those used in other hollow organs. It occurs ...

To the Editor: When I began my medical education, there were signs outside all the teaching hospitals clearly proclaiming, "Quiet: Hospital Zone." The signs are gone now, and noise from without is less a problem than noise from within. Today, television ...

The evolution of the intraocular lens provides many examples of human strength and frailty but few strict applications of the scientific method. Ridley observed during World War II that pieces of the plastic canopies of British planes were well tolerated ...

In this excellent book, the editor and his associates document "a phenomenal decrease in the number of complete neurologic injuries admitted to the Northwestern University Spine Injury Center —from 75.8 percent in 1972 to 22.1 percent in 1986." Parallel ...

This is the second book to be published by a group of physicians who first gathered in 1973 to provide a "forum in which the problems and challenges associated with treatment of cervical spine disorders could be presented and discussed." The first edition ...

Here are two excellent books addressing all aspects of bone and joint infection, still one of the greatest challenges for the orthopedic surgeon. Both books contain excellent chapters on new knowledge about microbial adhesion, biofilms, and the surface ...

When it was published in 1962, Surgical Treatment of Peripheral Vascular Disease (New York: McGraw-Hill), edited by Barker, was considered the most comprehensive textbook of vascular surgery. Ten contributors covered what was known about vascular surgery ...

Raynaud's phenomenon frequently afflicts young women, particularly those living in cold climates, and is also associated with myriad diseases, such as connective-tissue disorders, atherosclerosis, and blood dyscrasias. Consequently, physicians are often ...

There are 713 pages of text in this $65 book from Australia, primarily addressed to the trainee in the "early stage of development." The topics covered by the 43 chapters range from history through basic considerations to the surgical specialties.

Overall,...

There is an unfortunate impulse in medicine to label patients as hysterical when their symptoms are not easily pigeonholed into one diagnostic category or another. A similar phenomenon pertains in the practice of occupational medicine, when one is ...

Medicine

Adjuvant Therapy of Primary Breast Cancer. (Recent Results in Cancer Research [115].) Edited by H.-J. Senn, A. Goldhirsch, R.D. Gelber, and B. Osterwalder. 296 pp. New York, Springer-Verlag, 1989. $98.

Advances in Drug Therapy of Gastrointestinal ...

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

The National Rural Health Association is accepting award nominations in the following categories: "Outstanding Rural Practice," "Rural Health Practitioner of the Year," "Outstanding Rural Health Program," and "Louis Gorin Award for ...

On February 14, 1990, the National Research Council's Committee on Contraceptive Development released a report on a two-year study of the process by which contraceptives are developed and approved for use in the United States.* The committee was ...