Stress of dying is not suppressed by high-dose morphine or by dementia.

Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis activation is a response of the organism to psychological and physical stress, resulting in elevated levels of glucocorticoids, mainly cortisol in humans. In our previous studies we found post-mortem blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cortisol levels to be up to 20-fold higher than in vivo levels. Since clinical observations point to similar strong elevations of cortisol in fatally ill patients, we suggested that the high post-mortem cortisol levels might be due to the stress during the process of dying. We hypothesized that if the cortisol rise during dying is due to the psychological stress of the impending death, then the rise in cortisol should be inversely proportional to the degree of dementia, and that high-dose morphine giving analgesia, sedation, and sleep would suppress this response. Therefore, we measured the cortisol levels by radioimmunoassay (RIA) in the post-mortem CSF of 85 Alzheimer patients and 52 controls. In addition, post-mortem serum cortisol of 17 subjects from the Alzheimer group and nine from the control group were measured. The Alzheimer patients were subdivided according to their degree of dementia, as scored on the Reisberg Scale, before their death. All groups were further analyzed for the effect of morphine treatment, as well as for the effects of the confounding factors like age, gender, time, and season of death. Alzheimer patients had significantly higher cortisol levels than controls, both in CSF (mean (nmol/l)+/-SEM: 482+/-32 vs 285+/-30, respectively, p<0.001) and in serum (2854+/-279 vs 1533+/-395, p=0.011). Mean CSF cortisol level of the severely demented Alzheimer group was even significantly higher than that of mildly demented group (508+/-35 vs 225+/-65, p=0.024) and controls (p<0.001). Cortisol levels correlated positively with the degree of dementia in the Alzheimer group (r=0.236, p=0.035). High-dose morphine did not cause a suppression of cortisol rise, neither in controls nor in Alzheimer patients. Our results indicate that the extreme elevations of cortisol levels during dying are rather due to the organic stress of the organism than to psychological stress of the patient, and is not suppressed by high-dose morphine.

Risk factors for and prevalence of thyroid disorders in a cross-sectional study among healthy female relatives of patients with autoimmune thyroid disease.

OBJECTIVE: Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is a common disorder especially in women, and both genetic and environmental factors are involved in its pathogenesis. We wanted to gain more insight into the contribution of various environmental factors. Therefore, we started a large prospective cohort study in subjects at risk of developing AITD, for example healthy female relatives of AITD patients. Here we report on their baseline characteristics. SUBJECTS: Only first- or second-degree female relatives of patients with documented AITD were included. MEASUREMENTS: Smoking habits, oestrogen use, pregnancy history and iodine exposure were assessed by questionnaires, and correlated to the thyroid function and antibody status. RESULTS: Of 803 subjects, 440 came from families with more than one patient with documented AITD. Of these families, 33% had documented cases of both Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Although the subjects were in self-proclaimed good health, 3.6% were found to have hypothyroidism (overt disease in 1.3%) and 1.9% had hyperthyroidism (overt disease in 0.4%). These patients were older than the euthyroid subjects and were mostly positive for thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies. Oestrogen use was associated with a lower rate of hyperthyroidism [relative risk (RR) 0.169; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06-0.52], whereas having been pregnant was associated with a higher relative risk for hyperthyroidism (RR 6.88; 95% CI 1.50-30.96). Of the 759 euthyroid subjects, 24% had TPO antibodies. Smoking and oestrogen use were negatively correlated with the presence of TPO antibodies. In the euthyroid subjects, TPO antibody titre correlated positively with TSH levels (r = 0.386; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of evidence for autoimmune thyroiditis at baseline supports the importance of genetic factors in its pathogenesis. The co-occurrence of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease within one family suggests a common genetic basis for these diseases. Oestrogen use is associated with a lower risk, and pregnancy with a higher risk for developing hyperthyroidism. The positive correlation between TPO antibody titres and TSH levels in euthyroid subjects suggests that TPO antibodies are indeed a marker of future thyroid failure.