Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0010200 (cough)
 23,843 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Respiratory symptoms and ventilatory capacity were studied in 63 flour processing male bakery workers in Umtata, Transkei, Southern Africa. The controls were from a bottling plant in the same city. Both groups were black Africans from the Xhosa-speaking population. The studied population was nonsmoking and no significant difference was noted in age, race, sex, or height between the groups. The exposed workers had significantly lower forced expiratory indices than the control group. Mean percent predicted values of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced expiratory ratio (FEV1/FVC x 100), forced mid-expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of FVC (FMF), forced expiratory flow between the first 200 ml and 1,200 ml of FVC (FEF 200-1,200), and peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) were, respectively, 11.2%, 20.0%, 31.0%, 27.4%, and 36.1% lower in the exposed group compared with the controls. The prevalence of forced expiratory ratio less than 70% in the exposed group was 37% while in the controls it was 8%. The prevalence of PEF rate less than 5 1/s in the exposed group was 32% while in the controls it was 11%. The exposed workers reported a significantly higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms compared to the controls. The prevalence of nasal symptoms, phlegm, and cough in the exposed workers was 53.9%, 30.1%, and 25.4%, respectively. The present study demonstrated that exposure to flour dust in flour processing workers in the baking industry is associated with significantly lower pulmonary functions and a higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms, and that these workers show signs of airway obstruction, compared to workers not exposed to flour.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function in flour processing workers in the baking industry. 774 42

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an inherited multisystem disease manifested by painful, febrile attacks affecting the chest, abdomen, joints, and skin. No simple studies confirm the presence of FMF, contributing to the difficulty in diagnosis. A 10-year-old boy initially presented with a diffuse rash and complaints of bilateral joint pain of the hips, knees, and ankles and pain of the right shoulder. The child responded to daily naproxen. One year later, he continued to complain of hip, knee, ankle, and bilateral wrist pain. He also reported mild to moderate recurrent abdominal discomfort. Omeprazole provided intermittent relief. The patient continued to experience episodes of joint and abdominal pain. Two and a half years after he first presented, FMF was considered. In the second case, a 51-year-old man presented to the emergency department with complaints of fever, cough, and abdominal and joint pain. Fever, joint pain, and swelling decreased during the next few days. The patient was maintained on colchicine, with complete resolution of joint pain complaints during the next few days. Colchicine, 1 to 2 mg per day taken continuously during flare and quiescent periods, is the treatment of choice for FMF. Colchicine reduced the severity and frequency of attacks and may also delay or prevent secondary amyloidosis.
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PMID:Familial Mediterranean fever. 1092 6

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is characterized by recurrent episodes of peritonitis, pleuritis, and synovitis. Among the pulmonary manifestations of FMF, pleuritis is the most common. Long-term sequelae of the respiratory system have not been described in FMF patients. We describe the pulmonary manifestations and function tests in a group of children who were found by genetic screening to be homozygous for the FMF gene. We surveyed 48 patients of Mediterranean extraction (aged 6-18 years) who were evaluated for a variety of pulmonary symptoms, and in whom clinical and genetic studies confirmed a diagnosis of FMF. All patients underwent complete pulmonary function tests, which included spirometry, body plethysmography, and single-breath carbon monoxide diffusion (Dlco). Forty percent of the Jewish patients, but only 8% of the Arab patients (P < 0.001), suffered from pulmonary manifestations during an attack of FMF. Jewish patients who were homozygotes for the M694V mutation suffered significantly more from episodes of pleuritis, cough, and rapid, shallow breathing than Arab patients, who were either homozygotes for the V726A mutation or bore any other combination of mutations. Three patients (6%) had mild restrictive lung disease, all of them homozygotes for the M694V mutation. In 3 further patients, obstructive lung impairment was found. Pulmonary manifestations during FMF attacks are significantly more common in the Jewish population bearing the M694V mutation. Restrictive lung impairment was found in a small number of these patients with a severe course of the disease; however, the series is too small to draw conclusions about long-term sequelae of the respiratory system in FMF patients.
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PMID:Pulmonary manifestations and function tests in children genetically diagnosed with FMF. 1274 42

A 47-year-old man from Armenia presented at the emergency department with abdominal pain. He had had a kidney transplant 2 years earlier for renal failure caused by amyloidosis that was secondary to familial Mediterranean fever. He was also known to have chronic hepatitis B with persistent viraemia. He had not received any prophylactic anti-tuberculosis treatment due to impaired liver function, but an extensive work-up was performed prior to transplant, including chest radiography, a Mantoux tuberculin skin test and cultures from 3 consecutive fasting gastric lavage samples, which were all negative for active or latent tuberculosis infection. The patient had presented at the emergency department repeatedly with abdominal pain that was attributed to the familial Mediterranean fever. During his last visit his complaints were accompanied by vomiting, coughing, night sweats and weight loss. He was diagnosed with an intestinal perforation with faecal peritonitis and underwent several laparotomies to treat the faecal peritonitis. Histopathological examination of resected bowel tissue revealed granulomatous inflammation, and acid-fast bacilli were seen with appropriate staining. Later, cultures appeared to be positive for normally sensitive Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The patient died as a result of the disseminated tuberculosis. In immunocompromised patients, tuberculosis often has an atypical course and an increased chance of dissemination that may be difficult to recognize.
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PMID:[Intestinal perforation caused by tuberculosis in a kidney transplant patient who was extensively evaluated for tuberculosis prior to transplant]. 1684 91