Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0020639 (hypoproteinemia)
 1,134 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A retrospective study compared the course of alcohol withdrawal, including delirium tremens, in women and men hospitalized in the Nowowiejski Hospital in Warsaw from 1973 to 1987. Medical records pertaining to 1179 patients were analyzed; 13.8% of these patients were women and 86.2% were men. The study showed that women began intensive alcohol drinking later than men (p < 0.0001), but the period between the onset of alcohol abuse and the first occurrence of alcohol withdrawal was shorter in women than in men (p < 0.0001). In the period of heavy drinking before hospitalization, women consumed significantly less alcohol then men (p < 0.0001); moreover, women drank nonbeverage alcohol less frequently than men (p < 0.05). Women were hospitalized substantially longer than men (p < 0.0001), whereas the duration of alcohol withdrawal symptoms at the time of hospitalization was comparable in both groups. Withdrawal seizures were significantly more frequent among men than among women (p < 0.001). Significant differences in the patients' somatic conditions were not noted between the groups, with the exception of anemia and decreased potassium concentration, which were more frequently observed in women (both p < 0.0001), and of increased concentration of ALT and hypoproteinemia, which were more frequent in men (respectively, p < 0.05 and p < 0.01). Co-existing personality disorders, depressive disorders, and anxiety disorders--as well as abuse of benzodiazepines and barbiturates--were more frequently observed in women (p < 0.0001). The period between the first hospitalization due to alcohol withdrawal and the time of death was significantly shorter in men than in women (p < 0.05). The results point to differences in the conditions and the course of alcohol dependence and alcohol withdrawal between women and men.
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PMID:Differences in the course of alcohol withdrawal in women and men: a Polish sample. 939 3

Pellagra usually results from niacin deficiency and presents with the classic triad of dermatitis, diarrhea, and dementia. It is most commonly associated with malnutrition and poverty. We report a case of pellagra in a hemodialysis (HD) patient with breast neoplasia, aged 68-years, female, on HD unit for seven years. Her original nephropathy was indeterminate. The patient was followed up for homozygous beta-thalassemia and breast neoplasia with hepatic metastases on chemotherapy. The body mass index of the patient was 18.5 kg/m2. Physical examination showed a thickening of the epidermis with a scaly surface, pigmented, and atrophied areas. We noted neuropsychiatric signs (apathy, irritability, anorexia, and depression) and digestive symptomatology (diarrhea). The laboratory tests revealed hypoproteinemia at 55 g/L, hypoalbuminemia at 21 g/L, and hypocholesterolemia at 0.8 g/L. The diagnosis of pellagra disease was made. Vitamin and protein supplementation was initiated, but the patient committed suicide by puncture of her arteriovenous fistula, causing hemorrhagic shock. Pellagra is usually reported to be associated with malnutrition, chronic alcoholism, and some chemotherapeutic agents. In our patient, pellagra was caused by malnutrition and co-morbidities. Pellagra disease requires multidisciplinary care and can be frequently seen in HD patients due to the associated malnutrition.
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PMID:Pellagra Disease in a Hemodialysis Patient. 3280 Dec 52