Gait disorders in the elderly.

Gait disorders affect a significant number of elderly people and may be important factors in accidents. In 35 patients aged 65 and older, gait problems were classified into four diagnostic categories: cardiovascular, arthritic, neurosensory and etiology unknown. Most gait disorders can be identified through a simple office evaluation. The goal of treatment is to improve or restore functional capacity.

Suppression of sexual behavior and localization of [3H] puromycin after intracranial injection in the rat.

Bilateral intracranial injections of puromycin (10 micrograms/0.5 microliter vehicle) into the preoptic area (POA) of steroid-primed ovariectomized rats resulted in a significant decrease in the lordosis response when compared to saline treated controls. To determine the extent of puromycin diffusion after intracranial injection, [3H] puromycin was injected into the right POA of ovariectomized rats. Neural regions anterior, posterior and superior to the POA, and the right and left POA were assessed for tritium activity 0.5, 6 and 24 hours after stereotaxic surgery. The activity was primarily located at the injection site or in the injection tract. The highest amount of activity external to the injection site or injection tract was found in the right ventromedial hypothalamus.

A survey of intestinal parasites in rural children.

A study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in a group of rural, economically disadvantaged children. Thirty-four percent of 108 children were found to have a clinically significant parasite. The most common organism was Giardia lamblia (22 percent). Those children with Giardia were significantly (P = .05) smaller than those with negative stool examinations. Even in areas with a low overall prevalence of intestinal parasites, certain high-risk groups may have significant levels of infection.

Rubella seroconversion following immunization in a rural practice.

One hundred two consecutive patients with verifiable immunization to rubella were studied in a rural West Virginia county. Hemagglutination Inhibiting (HI) antibody titres, age at immunization, and elapsed time since immunization were recorded. Twenty-three (22.5 percent) had HI titres less than 1:8. There was no statistically significant difference in whether immunization at less than 15 months or more than 15 months of age resulted in a titre of greater than or equal to 1:8. There was no evident change in group proportion of seroconversion with time; either the child initially had a seroconversion with immunization, or he/she did not. A relatively large number of children with verified immunization to rubella do not have a titre currently considered protective to rubella. This does not seem to vary with time since immunization or age at immunization.

Cholesterol kinetic analysis in normal and cholesterol-fed rabbits; effects of saturated versus polyunsaturated fat and of cholestyramine.

A model for cholesterol metabolism in rabbits has been demonstrated based on kinetic analysis and total carcass analysis. As has been shown for humans and primates, the model conforms to a two-exchangeable pool model with a third pool not exchangeing during the time interval studied. Alterations in turnover rate, sizes of pools, and exchange rates were demonstrated when rabbits were fed diets containing increased amounts of cholesterol and fat. Evidence was presented that indicated that the there may be differences in tissue distribution of cholesterol, dependent on whether the fat fed with choleserol is saturated or polyunsaturated. These differences include: in rabbits fed cholesterol plus coconut oil is compared with those fed cholesterol plus corn oil, the ratio of the amount of cholesterol in plasma to the amount of cholesterol in pool B was higher, and the rate constant for transfer from pool B was higher. The serum cholesterol concentration of rabbits fed cholesterol plus coconut oil was lowered slightly by feeding cholestyramine. Cholestyramine administration at the dose fed failed to produce statistically significant alterations in pool sizes or serum cholesterol concentration in control rabbits; it did lower serum cholesterol concentration in rabbits fed cholesterol plus coconut oil.