[The Medical-Pharmaceutical Department of the Junta for aid to Spanish Republicans, Mexico delegation]. / El Servicio Médico-Farmacéutico de la Junta de Auxilio a los republicanos españoles, delegación de Mexico.

Between 1940 and 1942, the Mexican delegation of the Junta for Aid to Spanish republicans founded and supported its own Medical-Pharmaceutical Department in Mexico City, formed by recently exiled Spanish professionals. It initially dealt with home medical care, charging for each medical service performed by specialists and each drug prescription. It later included a polyclinic with a staff of specialists and its own pharmacy. Finally, a small hospital and a laboratory for medical tests were planned, but circumstances prevented the project from getting under way. The study addresses the reasons for the birth of the Medical Pharmaceutical Service, its funding, organization and functioning, the professionals on whom it depended, its lines of action and its immediate projects. It also covers the main problems faced during its development and the reasons for its forced dissolution.

Activity of hepatic enzymes from week sixteen of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence, epidemiology, and mother-child repercussions of increased alanine-aminotransferase levels from week 16 of pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: A longitudinal observational study of 381 pregnant women. The cause of increased alanine-aminotransferase levels during pregnancy and repercussions on the neonate were studied in 283 cases. Statistical analysis was performed with Mann-Whitney test, chi2 test, or the Fisher exact test. RESULTS: The mean age of the mothers was 29.9 +/- 4.8 years. Twenty-five percent presented increased gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase, alkaline phophatase, and dehydrogenase lactate from week 32. Increased alanine-aminotransferase was observed in 7.4% (95% CI, 5.00%-10.57%) of cases. Clinical disorders were light, transitory, and with no apparent cause, except for 1 hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets (HELLP) syndrome, 3 preeclampsias, and 1 gravidic cholestasis. No statistically significant differences were observed in the group of mother-child with alanine-aminotransferase normal or increased. CONCLUSION: Most increases in alanine-aminotransferase from week 16 of pregnancy are transitory, non-specific, and have no repercussions on mother or child.

Relationship between sleep and secretion of gonadotropin and ovarian hormones in women with normal cycles.

OBJECTIVE: To monitor gonadotropin and ovarian hormone levels in relation to sleep duration in normally cycling women. DESIGN: Observational and cross-sectional study. SETTING: Multicentric collaborative study. PATIENT(S): One hundred six healthy and normally cycling women, aged 19 to 44 years, with cycle lengths of 24 to 34 days. INTERVENTION(S): Follow-up during one to four consecutive cycles with daily urine collection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Urine concentrations of LH, FSH, estrone-3-glucuronide (E1-3-G), and pregnanediol-3-alpha-glucuronide (Pd-3alpha-G). Ultrasound determination of day of ovulation and estimation of sleep duration. RESULT(S): We found a significant association between FSH levels and sleep duration (P=.008). Follicle-stimulating hormone levels were 20% higher in long-time sleepers than in short-time sleepers. This association persisted whatever the age or the body mass index. There was no significant association between belonging to any group and LH, E1-3-G, or Pd-3alpha-G levels. CONCLUSION(S): Our results suggest that sleep duration could be related to FSH levels, although the study design did not allow us to establish a causal relationship nor to explain the physiological basis of the observed relationship.