Positive effect of etidronate therapy is maintained after drug is terminated in patients using corticosteroids.

Following a 52-wk randomized controlled trial of intermittent cyclic etidronate therapy in patients using corticosteroids, we performed a 52-wk open-label trial of calcium alone in 114 corticosteroid-treated patients to determine whether the beneficial effect of etidronate is maintained after the drug is discontinued. All patients were given 500 mg/d of elemental calcium. Sixty-one and 53 patients made up the former placebo and etidronate groups, respectively. A total of 89 (98%) of patients in the former placebo and etidronate groups remained on corticosteroids throughout the second year. The mean (SE) percentage change in bone mineral density of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and trochanter were compared between groups. The difference between groups in mean percentage change from baseline (wk 0, initiation of etidronate or placebo therapy) in the bone density of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and trochanter, following 104 wk, was 3.8 (0.9), 3.0 (1.1), and 4.3 (1.1), respectively (p < 0.05, all sites), in favor of the former etidronate group. While not significant, the former placebo group demonstrated a slightly larger rate of decline in bone density over the second year than the former etidronate group at all three sites. Following the discontinuation of etidronate therapy, there was no accelerated bone loss and there was evidence of a residual protective effect in both the lumbar spine and femoral neck for up to 1 yr posttreatment.

Open-label tolerability study of enteric-coated naproxen in the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Two hundred and ninety-six patients were enrolled in a 6-month, open-label tolerability study of enteric-coated naproxen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 174) and osteoarthritis (n = 122). Thirty percent of the patients were greater than 65 years of age. Under standard clinical prescribing conditions, enteric-coated naproxen 500 mg twice daily and 375 mg twice daily demonstrated an acceptable tolerability profile that was not different from what one would expect with standard naproxen.

Acute gastrointestinal manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a common multisystem disorder of young women, and gastrointestinal symptoms are a frequent clinical manifestation. There is serious danger that appropriate therapy may be delayed in the patient with an acute abdomen when systemic lupus erythematosus is not considered as a cause. This paper describes four patients with acute abdomen as a manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. They responded dramatically and without complication to steroid therapy. The symptoms recurred in one patient but responded to plasmapheresis and intravenous administration of cyclophosphamide. The other gastrointestinal manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus and their pathogenesis are discussed. Management requires consideration of systemic lupus erythematosus as the cause of acute abdomen, paracentesis for culture and treatment with high doses of steroids with or without broad-spectrum antibiotics. If there is no notable improvement within 24 hours laparotomy should be performed.

Perceived sources of stress among first-year medical students.

A survey of first-year medical students at the University of Toronto shows that academic factors are viewed as the most stressful and social factors as the least stressful. Among anticipated sources of stress those dealing with perceived failure are highly stressful, and those dealing with sexual aspects of the doctor-patient relationship are much less so. Factor analysis reveals that sources of stress are multidimensional rather than unidimensional. Particular socio-demographic antecedent variables are much more highly correlated with stress than are others. In particular, it is found that students in subgroups differing from "mainstream" students feel more stress than their mainstream counterparts. Feelings of stress are also found to be positively related to possible consequences of stress, such as frequency of thinking about dropping out and to number of days off school because of illness.