THE eosinophilia—myalgia syndrome is a newly recognized illness characterized by marked peripheral eosinophilia with scleroderma-like features.¹ In October 1989, physicians in New Mexico and Minnesota reported that three patients with this syndrome had ...

CURRENT understanding of the molecular and cellular pathogenesis of sickle cell disease^{1 2 3 4} has led to three independent approaches to therapy: chemical inhibition of hemoglobin S polymerization, reduction of the intracellular hemoglobin concentration, ...

THE existence of intracellular chemical mediators of the action of insulin was proposed in 1974 by Larner et al.¹ Since then, progress has been made in the identification of such mediators.² Putative mediators that regulate adenylate cyclase and cyclic ...

CARMUSTINE (BCNU) is a nitrosourea drug with activity against brain tumors, lymphomas, malignant melanoma, and certain other neoplasms. It is known to be capable of causing lung fibrosis within three years of treatment. Weiss et al. have reviewed this ...

THE number of reported infections due to Salmonella serotype enteritidis increased six-fold in the northeastern United States from 1976 to 1986.^{1 , 2} Of the reported outbreaks of food-borne salmonellosis, infections due to S. enteritidis were more likely ...

THE acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was recognized in Africa through the study of African patients with the disease^{1 2 3 4 5} and the subsequent documentation of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).^{6 , 7} Epidemiologic studies ...

NARCOLEPSY, a syndrome of excessive sleepiness and abnormalities of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep,¹ is a distinct neurologic disorder with characteristic clinical symptoms and sleep-laboratory findings. Narcolepsy associated with cataplexy is often ...

Presentation of Case

A day-old boy was admitted to the hospital because of a mass in the left hemithorax and respiratory distress.

The child was born to a gravida-7 mother 24 years of age after a 37-week gestation. The pregnancy was complicated by ...

Adverse pulmonary reactions resulting from the use of chemotherapeutic agents are a life-threatening complication of modern cancer therapy. Their recognition and differentiation from lung injuries with infectious or other causes present a continuing ...

The emergence of an innovative treatment as standard therapy has serious legal, ethical, and economic consequences, especially in pediatrics. Since children are unable to consent to or refuse treatment for themselves, the provision of standard therapy may ...

To the Editor: The article by Berkowitz et al. (March 8 issue)¹ suggested that "advancing maternal age at first birth does not appreciably increase the risk of an adverse outcome in singleton gestations." The odds ratios for perinatal deaths they present ...

To the Editor: The risks and benefits of fluoride treatment for osteoporosis have been the subject of much controversy, fueled by a lack of adequately controlled, prospective, randomized, blinded studies. Although such shortcomings cannot be attributed ...

To the Editor: Recent reports, including those published in the Journal (March 29 issue),^{1 , 2} have highlighted the spectrum of the eosinophilia—myalgia syndrome,^{1 2 3} but there seems to be no truly effective therapy for it. Corticosteroids may relieve ...

To the Editor: The central nervous system can be involved early in the course of infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1).^{1 2 3} The clinical presentation may be one of meningitis or encephalitis. Several HIV-1 isolates exhibit marked ...

To the Editor: The choice of chemotherapy for Mycobacterium avium complex or M. avium disease is problematic because there are no established methods for drug-susceptibility testing. "Critical-concentration" methods have been validated for M. ...

To the Editor: The central nervous system (CNS) complications of cyclosporine treatment are receiving more attention now that its nephrotoxicity and related hypertension can usually be minimized by reducing the dose.¹ Adverse reactions in the CNS that ...

To the Editor: Secondary hyperparathyroidism with parathyroid hyperplasia is an important factor underlying the bone disease of patients on long-term dialysis.¹ In patients who have not responded to oral vitamin D therapy, intermittent intravenous ...

To the Editor: The study by Bertozzi et al. (March 29 issue)¹ is reminiscent of the observations made many years ago by Lieberman, and first reported in the Journal, on diminished plasminogen-activator activity in the lungs of newborn infants with ...

To the Editor: Dr. Creditor's observations on the varied activities of the contemporary hospital (March 15 issue)¹ overlook the merits of many support programs that the modern medical center offers. One of medicine's major deficiencies has been to ignore ...

Chatter from the hall

intruded through the shut

door into his hour of waiting

for a brief connection

with his sister.

Phone pressed to his ear

he strained to hear so far

away in Czechoslovakia.

So long the 20 years

since they allowed his

words inside the ...

On reading this book my initial reaction was similar to that of the child required to write a report on a comprehensive textbook on rabbits: "This book told me more about rabbits than I care to know." It would be unfair, however, to use such a flippant ...

Daniel Callahan's new book catches the sense of alarm that medical costs are out of control in the United States. They are expected to reach $660 billion in 1990 — an increase of nearly 10 percent each year for the past decade. Unlike most reformers, ...

In an autobiography, the reader hopes to discover the intimate reflection of a public life, to realize how a series of personal choices can become the respected work of a lifetime. Dr. Eva Salber is a prominent academic physician in the fields of social ...

This book is well done, comprehensive, and thought-provoking. The editors have chosen their authors carefully — persons of expertise with comparable abilities to write well, provide data, and raise important questions. Each of the book's six sections ("...

Morbidity data have been difficult to measure accurately. Although mortality has declined in Western society over the past 400 years, trends in sickness are not as clear. As acute infections and other illnesses of past eras have receded in frequency, ...

EXTERNAL DISEASE

The course, subtitled "Diagnosis and Management for the 1990's," will be offered in Incline Village, Nev., Aug. 26–29.

Contact UC Davis School of Med., Office of CME, 2701 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817; or call (916) 734–5390.

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