Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018799 (heart disease)
 34,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

There is concern that wastewater treatment system workers are at risk for cancers and diseases affecting the neurological and digestive systems. However, these diseases have also been linked to early exposures. A proportional mortality study was conducted on a large cohort of wastewater treatment system workers who were divided into two groups, migrants and nonmigrants, by place of birth as reported on their death certificates. The migrant worker group was significantly higher than the US white male population for cancer of the stomach, leukemia, and all lymphopoietic cancers. Migrant workers also had an elevated ratio for all diseases of the nervous system and sense organs. No cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis were found. The American-born workers had an elevated rate of death for arteriosclerotic heart disease compared with the US white male population. We suggest that place of birth may present a confounding factor when evaluating exposures in employee groups.
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PMID:Proportional mortality analysis of wastewater treatment system workers by birthplace with comments on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 813 45

Mask-applied continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been shown to reduce morbidity among patients with acute respiratory distress in the setting of cardiogenic pulmonary edema. OBJECTIVE: To determine a minimum percentage of patients transported by ALS for difficulty breathing who could potentially benefit from a pre-hospital trial of CPAP. METHODS: Paramedic run sheets were collected from consecutive, adult, ALS transports for a chief complaint of difficulty breathing over a 6 week period in a large urban EMS system. Demographic information, medical history, vital signs, clinical assessments, and transport times were abstracted into a database by trained reviewers. Strict criteria for CPAP were defined in advance as "acute respiratory distress," meaning (1) respiratory rate > 25 and (2) labored or shallow breathing, and "presumed cardiogenic pulmonary edema," meaning (3) a prior history of heart disease and (4) presence of bilateral rales on exam. RESULTS: Data from 240 consecutive run sheets were compiled. Median patient age was 66 years old, with females outnumbering males 168 to 81. A total of 15 spontaneously breathing patients met all 4 criteria for CPAP. Four of these patients were either hypotensive (SBP < 90) or had potential for airway compromise (i.e., obtundation), making CPAP inadvisable. Among the 11 remaining patients (4.4% of all transports for difficult breathing), median transport time was 20 minutes (range 14-31 minutes). CONCLUSIONS: Using very strict criteria, a small but not significant percentage of patients are optimal candidates for a prehospital trial of CPAP. Transport times would appear to justify this type of intervention. A prospective study is currently under way to test the feasibility of administering CPAP to such patients in the prehospital setting.
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PMID:EMS transports for difficulty breathing: is there a potential role for CPAP in the prehospital setting? 1101 53

The identification of a majority of the polypeptides in mitochondria would be invaluable because they play crucial and diverse roles in many cellular processes and diseases. The endogenous production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a major limiter of life as illustrated by studies in which the transgenic overexpression in invertebrates of catalytic antioxidant enzymes results in increased lifespans. Mitochondria have received considerable attention as a principal source---and target---of ROS. Mitochondrial oxidative stress has been implicated in heart disease including myocardial preconditioning, ischemia/reperfusion, and other pathologies. In addition, oxidative stress in the mitochondria is associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, prion diseases, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as well as aging itself. The rapidly emerging field of proteomics can provide powerful strategies for the characterization of mitochondrial proteins. Current approaches to mitochondrial proteomics include the creation of detailed catalogues of the protein components in a single sample or the identification of differentially expressed proteins in diseased or physiologically altered samples versus a reference control. It is clear that for any proteomics approach prefractionation of complex protein mixtures is essential to facilitate the identification of low-abundance proteins because the dynamic range of protein abundance within cells has been estimated to be as high as 10(7). The opportunities for identification of proteins directly involved in diseases associated with or caused by mitochondrial dysfunction are compelling. Future efforts will focus on linking genomic array information to actual protein levels in mitochondria.
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PMID:Applied proteomics: mitochondrial proteins and effect on function. 1188 66

Coping with a chronic illness challenges children and adolescents in addition to their normal developmental tasks. This double challenge probably endangers the development of a stable self-esteem. The present investigation explores the possibility whether these processes are different with respect to the kind of illness. Chronic illnesses such as obesity and congenital heart defects (CHD) serve as examples in comparing two samples (8-16 years): obesity (N = 54) as visible and partly controllable illness (with respect to the course of illness) vs. congenital heart disease (N = 56) as invisible and uncontrollable illness (with respect to the origin and course of illness). Self-esteem is measured by a scale (ALS) which focuses on the public areas "school" and "leisure time" and the private area "family". Children and adolescents with CHD (especially females) display an above-average positive self-esteem in all areas. Children and adolescents with obesity mainly display an average self-esteem, the females scoring above-average for the private area "family", the males scoring below-average for the public area "leisure time". Furthermore, leisure-time related self-esteem is significantly lower for obese than for CHD subjects. These specific relations implicate differential accentuations for intervention programs.
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PMID:[Self esteem of chronically ill children and adolescence exemplified by obesity and congenital heart defect]. 1263 66

This epidemiologic investigation comprised separate studies of the risk of cancer, cause-specific mortality rates, risks for neurodegenerative diseases, and the risk of arrhythmia-related heart disease among employees exposed to extremely low-frequency (50-Hz) electromagnetic fields (EMF) in the Danish utility industry. All the employees in this industry were followed-up in several registers. The risk of disease was analyzed in relation to occupational exposure to EMF, latency, and duration of employment. A specific job-exposure matrix was developed and validated by comparison with direct measurements of EMF during a workday. Linkage with the Danish Cancer Register did not identify increased risks for the cancers suggested a priori to be associated with exposure to EMF, including leukemia, brain tumors, and breast cancer. Significantly increased risks for lung cancer and mesothelioma were identified for workers highly exposed to asbestos. Linkage with the National Mortality Register revealed a significantly increased overall mortality rate from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), with an increasing trend with duration of employment and EMF exposure. In addition, a significantly increased mortality rate from electric accidents was observed. It was hypothesized that the observation of increased mortality from ALS was associated with exposure to EMF or electric shocks. No increased mortality rate from cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease was observed. Linkage with the National Hospital Register also revealed an increased risk of ALS and, thereby confirmed the finding of an increased mortality rate for this disease in the previous study. Linkage of the cohort with the Multiple Sclerosis Register revealed an increased risk of multiple sclerosis, which was not, however, significant. Linkage with the Pacemaker Register showed no increased risk of severe arrhythmia-related heart disease. The second part of the study included the establishment of a large, nationwide cohort of mobile phone subscribers comprising some 420 000 persons. No increased risk was observed for the cancers considered a priori to be possibly associated with the radiofrequency fields emitted by mobile phones, which were brain tumors, including acoustic neuroma, salivary gland tumors, and leukemia. The data were analyzed by duration of phone use, latency, system used (NMT, GSM or both) and age at first subscription. A study of the incidence of ocular malignant melanoma in comparison with the annual increase among the mobile phone subscribers showed a highly stable incidence rate for this rare cancer in Denmark over close to 50 years of registration. On the basis of these studies and the scientific literature, it is concluded that occupational exposure to 50-Hz EMF is not associated with an increased risk of cancer, but that these fields, electric shocks, or some other unknown factor related to alternating current electricity may be associated with the risk of ALS. There is no clear evidence that 50-Hz EMF is associated with other neurodegenerative or cardiovascular diseases. At present, there is little, if any, evidence that the use of mobile phones is associated with cancer in adults, including brain tumors, acoustic neuroma, cancer of the salivary glands, leukemia, or malignant melanoma of the eye.
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PMID:Electromagnetic fields and health effects--epidemiologic studies of cancer, diseases of the central nervous system and arrhythmia-related heart disease. 1525 60

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fast progressing neuromuscular disease that affects all but the extrinsic muscles of the eye and sphincters. The main cause of morbidity and mortality are the respiratory complications that usually start in a late stage of the diseases natural history. In a small number of cases acute respiratory failure is the initial manifestation of the disease. The authors present 2 case studies admitted to a pulmonary department, without previously known neuromuscular disease, with the diagnosis of acute respiratory failure of unknown etiology and that were later shown to be cases of ALS. Analysis of the cases presented here, and those already published in the literature, suggests that the occurrence of acute respiratory failure in patients without a previous history of pulmonary and/or heart disease, especially in the 5th and 6th decade of life, should alert to ALS as a possible diagnosis.
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PMID:[Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis revealed by acute respiratory failure: two case studies]. 1573 90

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) affects 1 in 150 children in the United States. Autism is characterized by impairments in social relatedness and communication, repetitive behaviors, abnormal movements, and sensory dysfunction. Recently emerging evidence suggests that mercury, especially from childhood vaccines, appears to be a factor in the development of the autistic disorders, and that autistic children have higher than normal body-burdens of mercury. In considering mercury toxicity, it has previously been shown that testosterone significantly potentates mercury toxicity, whereas estrogen is protective. Examination of autistic children has shown that the severity of autistic disorders correlates with the amount of testosterone present in the amniotic fluid, and an examination of a case-series of autistic children has shown that some have plasma testosterone levels that were significantly elevated in comparison neurotypical control children. A review of some of the current biomedical therapies for autistics, such as glutathione and cysteine, chelation, secretin, and growth hormone, suggests that they may in fact lower testosterone levels. We put forward the medical hypothesis that autistic disorders, in fact, represents a form of testosterone mercury toxicity, and based upon this observation, one can design novel treatments for autistics directed towards higher testosterone levels in autistic children. We suggest a series of experiments that need to be conducted in order to evaluate the exact mechanisms for mercury-testosterone toxicity, and various types of clinical manipulations that may be employed to control testosterone levels. It is hoped by devising therapies that address the steroid hormone pathways, in addition to the current treatments that successful lower heavy metal body-burdens of mercury, will work synergistically to improve clinical outcomes. In light of the fact that there are a number of other diseases that may have a chronic mercury toxicity component, such as Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, obesity, ALS, asthma, and other various forms of autoimmune disorders, it is imperative that further research should be conducted to understand mercury-testosterone toxicity.
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PMID:The potential importance of steroids in the treatment of autistic spectrum disorders and other disorders involving mercury toxicity. 1578 Apr 90

Good end-of-life care requires that clinicians, families, and ethicists be aware of biases that influence patient cases, particularly in the acute care setting where the aim is primarily cure and return to optimal functional level. Persons with disabilities may pose unique challenges; their potential for quality of life is viewed through the lens of highly functional clinicians who might have a biased view of the disabled person's quality of life. The authors aim to present three categories of disability that do not claim to be absolute but rather offer clinicians and ethicists a lens through which to reflect on bias that unconsciously may influence their approach to the patient who is seriously ill and may be nearing the end of life. The categories include (a) a person who has lived with a disability from birth or early life, due to trauma or disease, and is now faced with a serious illness that requires that life-sustaining treatment; (b) the otherwise healthy person who acquires a disability through an acute event of disease or trauma and whose condition requires that life-sustaining treatment decisions be made; and (c) the person who has lived with a progressive chronic illness, such as lung or heart disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and may have gradually adjusted to disabilities imposed by the condition and now is faced with life-sustaining treatment decisions. The concept of inherent dignity (Pellegrino 2005) is suggested as a filtering lens in case consideration.
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PMID:Complexities in decision making for persons with disabilities nearing end of life. 1708 70

Physical exercise exerts a wide range of benefits on an organism's overall health and well-being. Exercise contributes positively toward an individual's healthy weight, muscle strength, immune system, and cardiovascular health. Indeed, exercise has been demonstrated to reduce life-threatening conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Of particular interest to this review, exercise has also been shown to be neuroprotective in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Naturally, such findings apply broadly to the study of neurodegenerative disease with numerous reports demonstrating that exercise has beneficial effects on disease progression. One of the most devastating neurodegenerative diseases is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease in the United States, or motor neuron disease in the United Kingdom, resulting from the progressive loss of brain and spinal cord motor neurons. Several human studies show that moderate exercise regimens improve ALS patients' scoring on functionality tests and ameliorate disease symptoms. Other promising recent works using transgenic mouse models of familial ALS have shown markedly slowed disease progression, improved function, and extension of survival in moderately exercised animals. Possible explanations for these findings include the exercise-induced changes in motor neuron morphology, muscle-nerve interaction, glial activation, and altering levels of gene expression of anti-apoptotic proteins and neurotrophic factors in the active tissue. Here we review the current literature on exercise and motor neuron disease, focusing on rodent and human studies to define the proper type, intensity, and duration of exercise necessary to enhance neuron survival as well discuss current mechanistic studies to further define the exercise-mediated pathways of neuroprotection.
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PMID:Physical activity and neuroprotection in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 1828 88

A large number of studies indicate that DNA damage and mutation increase with age in human cells and tissues (1). Age-related degenerative disorders in which DNA damage has been invoked include heart disease and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Parkinson's disease (2, 3). Patients with deficiencies in DNA repair, including xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) (4) and ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) (5) show characteristic patterns of neurodegeneration (as opposed to a failure of normal development). The implication is that failure of repair can lead to accumulation of damage and degenerative disease. XPs and A-Ts are hypersensitive to specific types of DNA damage, and the degenerative damage in patients is tissue specific. DNA in every tissue, however, is under attack from a range of endogenously formed mutagens, including reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, reactive metabolites, and breakdown products such as malondialdehyde. A series of repair enzymes recognize and remove these types of DNA damage from the genome. Failure to repair DNA may cause the synthesis of defective proteins, which will repair DNA less efficiently, and in turn lead to propagation of further errors (6). Alternatively, oxidative damage to mitochondrial proteins might cause less efficient processing of oxygen, release of higher levels of reactive oxygen species and increased levels of background DNA damage.
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PMID:Measurement of DNA damage and repair capacity as a function of age using the comet assay. 2235 Dec 71


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