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- Trainer, P J, et al.
(author)
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Treatment of acromegaly with the growth hormone-receptor antagonist pegvisomant.
- 2000
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In: The New England journal of medicine. - 0028-4793. ; 342:16, s. 1171-7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Patients with acromegaly are currently treated with surgery, radiation therapy, and drugs to reduce hypersecretion of growth hormone, but the treatments may be ineffective and have adverse effects. Pegvisomant is a genetically engineered growth hormone-receptor antagonist that blocks the action of growth hormone.We conducted a 12-week, randomized, double-blind study of three daily doses of pegvisomant (10 mg, 15 mg, and 20 mg) and placebo, given subcutaneously, in 112 patients with acromegaly.The mean (+/-SD) serum concentration of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) decreased from base line by 4.0+/-16.8 percent in the placebo group, 26.7+/-27.9 percent in the group that received 10 mg of pegvisomant per day, 50.1+/-26.7 percent in the group that received 15 mg of pegvisomant per day, and 62.5+/-21.3 percent in the group that received 20 mg of pegvisomant per day (P<0.001 for the comparison of each pegvisomant group with placebo), and the concentrations became normal in 10 percent, 54 percent, 81 percent, and 89 percent of patients, respectively (P<0.001 for each comparison with placebo). Among patients treated with 15 mg or 20 mg of pegvisomant per day, there were significant decreases in ring size, soft-tissue swelling, the degree of excessive perspiration, and fatigue. The score fortotal symptoms and signs of acromegaly decreased significantly in all groups receiving pegvisomant (P< or =0.05). The incidence of adverse effects was similar in all groups.On the basis of these preliminary results, treatment of patients who have acromegaly with a growth hormone-receptor antagonist results in a reduction in serum IGF-I concentrations and in clinical improvement.
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- Hansson, L, et al.
(author)
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The relationship of needs and quality of life in persons with schizophrenia living in the community. A Nordic multi-center study
- 2003
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In: Nordic Journal of Psychiatry. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1502-4725 .- 0803-9488. ; 57:1, s. 5-11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The relationship between needs for care and support and subjective quality of life was investigated in a cross-sectional multi-center study including 418 individuals with schizophrenia from 10 centers in Nordic countries. Needs in 22 domains were investigated by interviews with key workers and their patients using the Camberwell Assessment of Need scale, and quality of life by the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile. The results showed that key workers rated slightly more needs than patients. To have more unmet needs, as rated by both key workers and patients, were correlated to a worse overall subjective quality of life, while met needs showed no such association. A regression analysis, controlling for clinical and social characteristics of the patients, showed more unmet needs to be associated with a worse quality of life, accounting for 6% out of a total of 41% explained variance in subjective quality of life. Regression analyses of the relationship of unmet needs in specific life domains and overall quality of life showed that unmet needs in five domains as perceived by patients accounted for 17% of the explained variance in overall quality of life. More than half of this variance was related to an unmet need in the domain of social relationships. It is concluded that unmet needs are of specific importance in needs assessment and that attention must be paid to separate met needs for care and services from unmet needs, since the latter seem more important to consider in order to improve outcome of interventions with regard to quality of life. Specific attention should in this context also be paid to unmet needs concerning social relationships and problems with accommodation.
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| 7. |
- Middelboe, T, et al.
(author)
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The Nordic Study on schizophrenic patients living in the community. Subjective needs and perceived help.
- 2001
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In: European psychiatry. - 0924-9338 .- 1778-3585. ; 16:4, s. 207-14
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In a community sample of 418 persons diagnosed with schizophrenia, subjective needs and perceived help was measured by the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN). The mean number of reported needs was 6.2 and the mean number of unmet needs 2.6. The prevalence of needs varied substantially between the need areas from 3.6% ('telephone') to 84.0% ('psychotic symptoms'). The rate of satisfaction estimated as the percentage of persons satisfied with the help provided within an area varied between 20.0% ('telephone') and 80.6% ('food'). The need areas concerning social and interpersonal functioning demonstrated the highest proportion of unmet to total needs. In a majority of need areas the patients received more help from services than from relatives, but in the areas of social relations the informal network provided substantial help. In general the patients reported a need for help from services clearly exceeding the actual amount of help received. In a linear regression model symptom load (BPRS) and impaired functioning (GAF) were significant predictors of the need status, explaining 30% of the variance in total needs and 20% of the variance in unmet needs. It is concluded that the mental health system fails to detect and alleviate needs in several areas of major importance to schizophrenic patients. Enhanced collaboration between the care system and the informal network to systematically map the need profile of the patients seems necessary to minimise the gap between perceived needs and received help.
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- Bengtsson, Gösta, et al.
(author)
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The kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of hydroxylamine by iron(III)
- 2002
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In: Journal of the Chemical Society. Dalton Transactions. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1472-7773 .- 1364-5447. ; :12, s. 2548-2552
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The kinetics of oxidation of hydroxylamine by iron() have been studied spectrophotometrically. The effects of pH, reactant and product concentrations led to two experimental rate expressions. The results obtained are consistent with a mechanism dependent on the relative iron(III)-to-hydroxylamine concentrations; an excess of iron() gives a stoichiometry of 2 : 1 for the total reaction and N2O as the oxidation product, whereas at equal amounts or excess of hydroxylamine the stoichiometry reduces to 1 : 1 with N-2 as the main product. In the latter case the rate expression d[ Fe(III)]/dt = k[Fe(III)](2) [NH2OH](2) /[Fe(III)](2) [H+](4) is obtained. The consistent mechanism identifies two pre-equilibria and the reaction of two different nitrogen-containing intermediates as the rate-determining step depending on the reactant ratios. The proposed mechanism does also involve the metal hydroxide complex Fe(OH)(2+), in agreement with previous results.
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