Treatment of health complaints attributed to amalgam.

The aim of the present study was to compare the reduction of subjective complaints by 3 treatment strategies in 90 "amalgam patients" whose complaints could not be explained by a medical or psychological disorder. The individuals were randomly assigned either to removal of dental amalgam only (removal group), or removal in combination with a "biological detoxification" therapy with high doses of vitamins and trace elements (removal-plus group), or participation in a health promotion program without removal of dental amalgam (no-removal group). Between baseline and month 12, the sum score of main complaints decreased by 3.5 (SD=2.2) points on average in the removal group as well as in the removal-plus group, and by 2.5 (SD=2.4) points in the no-removal group (p=0.152). Both removal groups showed a significant decrease in steady-state levels of inorganic mercury compared with the no-removal group. Thus, all 3 interventions were associated with clinically relevant improvements.

A multicenter survey of amalgam fillings and subjective complaints in non-selected patients in the dental practice.

The aims of this study were to examine whether there is a difference in symptoms between patients with amalgam fillings and patients without such restorations, to investigate the relationship between particular symptoms and the number of amalgam filled surfaces, and the differences in symptoms between patients with and without removal of amalgam fillings. Data from 6744 consecutive patients in 34 dental offices located throughout Germany were documented. Patients completed a questionnaire answering 48 items, and the current oral findings in the patients were registered. The analysis was restricted to 4,787 patients aged 21 to 60 yr because of special dental conditions in children and elderly persons. The study did not show any significant correlation between the intensity of complaints or particular groups of symptoms and the number of amalgam-filled surfaces. A higher number of symptoms as well as a higher intensity of symptoms were found in patients before amalgam removal compared to the remaining patients. The question remains open whether or not there may be a certain kind of relationship between the complaints and amalgam fillings in individual patients.

[Follow-up of 2300 vaginal and abdominal hysterectomies]. / Uberblick über 2300 vaginale und abdominale Hysterektomien.

The report deals with the 2330 hysterectomies, performed in the "Women's Hospital of the City of Nuernberg", in 1968 through 1973. One thousand extirpations were done the abdominal way, whereas 1330 were done using the vaginal method. The average age of the patients was 50 years. The distribution of the parity of the abdominal hysterectomies was about equal, whereas the parity of the vaginal operations was 11 times higher, mainly because of technical reasons. The main indications of the vaginal extirpations were: descensus, uterus myomatosus and non invasive cancer; the one of the abdominal extirpations was uterus myomatosus, benign and malign ovarial tumors and cancer of corpus uteri. The total ratio of complications (including abscess of the abdominal wall, seromes etc.) amounts ot 19,1% of the abdominal operations, 9,6% of the vaginal operations. The total mortality of the abdominal operations was nearly 1,7% the one of the vaginal operations approached 0,37%. In 50% respectively 80% the cause of death was an acute emboly of the lungs.