In a series of patients with the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome a pharmacologic attempt was made to alter the balance of biogenic amines in the central nervous system by increasing the level of serotin. Patients were treated with 5-hydroxytryptophan in…
The results of a survey given to parents with Sanfilippo syndrome (MPS III) children (n = 30) are described with an emphasis in several areas. Developmental and degenerative patterns are outlined in detail and contrasted with developmental milestones…
A retrospective study of 54 patients who underwent feeding jejunostomy because of dysphagia on a neurologic basis was performed to determine risk factors affecting a postoperative mortality of 33% and six-month mortality of 67%. Advanced patient age,…
The body composition of 23 patients with cachexia resulting from malignant or benign inflammatory disease was studied. Skinfold thickness and radioisotope tracer measurements enabled us to estimate total body fat, lean body mass, the ratio of fat…
This work evaluated the experiences of 45 parents of children with cancer and 101 cancer patients with their home pastors and hospital chaplains. The satisfactions and difficulties encountered in these interactions are detailed, and recommendations…
Although quantitative estimates of patients' attitudes toward the relative importance of different aspects of health are of great potential usefulness in medical decision making, there is little information about the stability of such values over…
The history of diphosphonates began with studies of inorganic pyrophosphate. This compound was found to occur in many biological fluids and inhibited the precipitation of calcium phosphates. It also slowed the transformation of amorphous calcium…
Twenty-four families who had participated in a Home Care Program for children terminally ill with cancer and 13 families of similar children who had died in the hospital completed inventories on parent and sibling personality as well as family…
A 3 1/2-year-old boy presented at three months of age with an acute episode of lethargy, somnolence, hypoglycemia, hepatomegaly, and cardiomegaly, which responded poorly to restoration of the blood sugar level to normal. The absence of ketonuria…
The question of suffering and its relation to organic illness has rarely been addressed in the medical literature. This article offers a description of the nature and causes of suffering in patients undergoing medical treatment. A distinction based…
We investigated how variations in the way information is presented to patients influence their choices between alternative therapies. Data were presented summarizing the results of surgery and radiation therapy for lung cancer to 238 ambulatory…
Longitudinal data from The Rand Corporation's Health Insurance Experiment were used to test the hypothesis that provider continuity can be modeled as one behavioral consequence of patient satisfaction. Bivariate and multivariate analyses (controlling…
Hospitalization and use of outpatient health care services during a 1-year period by 369 pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, myelodysplasia, or multiple physical handicaps and 456 randomly selected children without congenital…
This study reports the effects of sibling death on 33 adolescents from white, middle- to upper-middle income families. Contact was made through mutual support groups for bereaved parents. A focused interview was used to gather data on bereavement…
The aim of this paper is to present findings concerning a variety of factors expected to influence, either directly or indirectly as mediators, the psychological well-being of persons caring for a dementing relative in the community. The sample…
Records on recovery after cholecystectomy of patients in a suburban Pennsylvania hospital between 1972 and 1981 were examined to determine whether assignment to a room with a window view of a natural setting might have restorative influences.…
In rats that were fasted for 2 to 3 days there was a decline in hypothalamic, but not pituitary, beta-endorphin. There was no change in pituitary or hypothalamic adrenocorticotropin content as a result of fasting. Endogenous opiates may be involved…
Fourteen patients with severe cancer pain participated in a trial of methadone given in a fixed dose (10 mg) but at intervals selected by the patients themselves during the loading phase. The aim was to achieve rapid pain relief while avoiding the…
Helen House, a hospice for children, opened in Oxford in November 1982. From then until December 1983 care was provided for 52 children with terminal illness, progressive and incurable illness, and very severe handicap. The children came from a wide…
Emotional health of bereaving parents (N = 62; control N = 56) were explored 5 years after the death of a child (age 0-12) in Israel. The Symptom Check List-90 was utilized as the primary measurement instrument. Comparisons to controls according to…
Methodological problems make it difficult to determine whether or not the rate of separation or divorce among families caring for a child with a chronic life-threatening illness such as leukemia, spina bifida, or cystic fibrosis is higher than…
This investigation addressed the question of whether mothers and fathers have different problems during a child's fatal illness. A study of 145 parents of children who were treated for cancer or blood disorders at a large urban pediatric hospital and…
Examined the function of The Compassionate Friends (TCF), a self-help group for effective intervention in the severe bereavement after the death of a child, using a participant observation research method. Three decisions form the framework of the…
The Grief Experience Inventory (GEI) and the MMPI were used to assess bereavement reactions in 102 newly bereaved individuals; 107 controls were also assessed. Intensities of bereavement reactions were compared across three types of deaths…
KIE: The widespread consensus that withholding certain life-sustaining treatments, especially those entailing substantial suffering, is sometimes in a patient's best interest conflicts with our basic instincts when the treatments are food and water.…
• The records of 455 children were reviewed to investigate the relationship of nutritional status at time of first referral to various measurements of disease and survival. Initial symptoms of weight loss, anorexia, fatigue, and early satiety were…
