ZIDOVUDINE (3′-azido-3′-deoxythymidine; formerly azidothymidine, or AZT) is a thymidine analogue that inhibits the replication of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) in vitro.¹ The administration of zidovudine to patients with advanced HIV ...

ZIDOVUDINE prolongs survival in persons with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease and delays the progression of HIV infection.^{1 2 3} The initially recommended doses of 1200 to 1500 mg a day are associated with hematologic toxicity that often ...

THE relation between glycosylated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A_1c) and blood glucose concentrations in diabetes mellitus became clear over a decade ago,^{1 , 2} but the value of monitoring hemoglobin A_1c levels for metabolic control was not demonstrated. Despite ...

FOR many years, an association has been suspected between coffee drinking and cardiovascular disease, in particular coronary heart disease.^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22} Studies have been inconsistent, however, fueling a debate ...

THE most characteristic feature of asthma is bronchial inflammation leading to nonspecific hyper-reactivity.¹ The association between eosinophilia and asthma was observed shortly after eosinophils were first described,² and the view that eosinophils are ...

HEREDITARY spherocytosis is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by hemolytic anemia, spheroidal red cells, and increased osmotic fragility of erythrocytes. The majority of the patients have an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance. It is the most ...

PHYSICALLY strenuous occupations have long been suspected of causing adverse pregnancy outcomes. Occupational factors such as long working hours,^{1 , 2} night work,¹ and lengthy periods of standing^{1 , 3} have been associated with an increased risk of preterm ...

Presentation of Case

A 66-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of progressive deterioration of renal function.

There was a 10-year history of hypertension, which was under satisfactory control until recently. Five years before admission a ...

The clinician's romance with newly introduced tests in medicine follows a predictable course. Initially greeted with unfettered enthusiasm, the tests are subjected to further scrutiny and their relative worth determined. Weaker tests are supplanted by ...

IN recent years, women have gone from being labeled a national treasure to being recognized as a national resource. With that recognition has come a responsibility on the part of medical schools, hospitals, and other educational and training institutions ...

The typical office-based physician has contact with 713 patients each year and will provide care for at least 1000 different people over the next 10 years, according to the Bureau of Health Professions. During that time, if the patients are representative ...

To the Editor: My identical twin brother (HLA confirmed) and I were interested in the articles^{1 , 2} and editorial³ (May 24 issue) concerning twin fat and the nature-versus-nurture controversy regarding the origin of girth. Our mother was not surprised by ...

To the Editor: Fischl and coauthors have reported a beneficial effect of recombinant human erythropoietin in the management of zidovudine-induced anemia in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (May 24 issue).¹ They found that ...

To the Editor: In recent years β₂-microglobulin amyloidosis has been increasingly recognized as a complication of dialysis.^{1 , 2} The incidence of amyloid deposits and associated arthropathies increases with the lengthening of dialysis therapy; hence, ...

To the Editor: Chasnoff et al. (April 26 issue)* compare the prevalence of alcohol and drug use as determined by urine testing at the first prenatal visit with the results of a legally mandated system for reporting illicit-drug use in pregnancy in ...

To the Editor: Dr. Slater's article (April 27, 1989, issue)* about rubber anaphylaxis in two children with myelodysplasia (spina bifida) was discussed at the June 1989 meeting of the New England Myelodysplasia Association, a regional network of nurses ...

To the Editor: I wish to report a case of acute anaphylaxis that occurred in a 43-year-old female nurse after she ate a new Kellogg's cereal, Heartwise, for the first time. Shortly after the ingestion of Heartwise, which contains psyllium-seed husks, she ...

To the Editor: I greatly appreciated the Special Article by Tierney, Miller, and McDonald (May 24 issue)* concerning the effects on physicians of informing them of the charges for diagnostic tests. During my medical school training, I was goaded by one ...

To the Editor: We stood in the cold and saluted, then mourned, our old home at Boston City Hospital. Born in 1906 as the Lamont Burnham Building, it became the home of Harvard's Fourth Medical Service in 1915. The visionary physician Francis Weld Peabody ...

In '85, the razor

slipped

She said.

One unit of blood,

Just to be safe.

In '86, the garage door

stuck

She said.

One unit of blood,

Just to be safe.

In '87, the oven

malfunctioned

She said.

One unit of blood,

Just to be safe.

In '88, true love

came

She ...

In 1987 a family practitioner at the Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook, New Hampshire, asked us when our laboratory was going to convert to Système international (SI) units. We responded that conversion could be done quickly if the medical ...

This collection addresses a number of important issues that face health care institutions as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic enters its second decade. The best essays in the collection are those looking at the role of the law in serving ...

The central thesis of this book is not that the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) does not exist at all in heterosexuals, as the title implies. Rather, the author maintains that the average completely heterosexual citizen of the United States is ...

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic has emerged as the primary new epidemic of the 1980s. As a result of its increasing importance, many facets of this plague have been written about, discussed in the media, and generally presented to ...

With the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Nancy Cruzan now behind us, Robert Weir's book is both a timely and a valuable contribution to the growing literature on treatment decisions concerning critically ill patients. Weir begins by discussing ...

Our first book here, Ethical Dilemmas in Cancer Care, consists of 11 essays of uneven quality by 12 authors. The best are the chapters on the right to bad news, painful choices between patients, obtaining informed consent in clinical trials, compromising ...

During the past 15 years there has been a proliferation of literature on medical ethics. A review of a new textbook of medical ethics requires not only a critical evaluation of the nature, content, and scope of the book itself, but also an assessment of ...

Biomedical Science

Alpha-Keto Acid Dehydrogenase Complexes: Organization, regulation, and biomedical ramifications. (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 573.) Edited by Thomas E. Roche and Mulchand S. Patel. 474 pp., illustrated. New York, ...

ASTHMA CONTROL IN THE 1990'S

The conference, subtitled "Meet the Challenge," will be held in Canton, Mass., on Oct. 17.

Contact Ctr. for Asthma Management at Massachusetts Respiratory Hosp., 2001 Washington St., Braintree, MA 02184; or call (617) 848–2600,...