The New England journal of medicine
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Comparative Study
The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.
A high incidence of hypertension (50 to 75 percent) occurs early in the course of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Cyst enlargement, causing bilateral renal ischemia and subsequent release of renin, is proposed as the cause of this form of hypertension. ⋯ The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is stimulated significantly more in hypertensive patients with polycystic kidney disease than in comparable patients with essential hypertension. The increased renin release, perhaps due to renal ischemia caused by cyst expansion, probably contributes to the early development of hypertension in polycystic kidney disease.
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Many paint companies have used phenylmercuric acetate as a preservative to prolong the shelf life of interior latex paint. In August 1989, acrodynia, a form of mercury poisoning, occurred in a child exposed to paint fumes in a home recently painted with a brand containing 4.7 mmol of mercury per liter (at that time the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit was 1.5 mmol or less per liter). ⋯ We found that potentially hazardous exposure to mercury had occurred among persons whose homes were painted with a brand of paint containing mercury at concentrations approximately 2 1/2 times the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effect of long-term monitoring of glycosylated hemoglobin levels in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
The value of routine measurements of glycosylated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1c) in the care of patients with diabetes mellitus is uncertain. We undertook this study to determine whether knowledge of hemoglobin A1c values would result in improved metabolic control in a group of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). ⋯ Regular measurements of hemoglobin A1c lead to changes in diabetes treatment and improvement of metabolic control, indicated by a lowering of hemoglobin A1c values.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A controlled trial of the effect of calcium supplementation on bone density in postmenopausal women.
Background. The effectiveness of calcium in retarding bone loss in older postmenopausal women is unclear. Earlier work suggested that the women who were most likely to benefit from calcium supplementation were those with low calcium intakes. ⋯ Conclusions. Healthy older postmenopausal women with a daily calcium intake of less than 400 mg can significantly reduce bone loss by increasing their calcium intake to 800 mg per day. At the dose we tested, supplementation with calcium citrate malate was more effective than supplementation with calcium carbonate.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A clinical trial of beta carotene to prevent basal-cell and squamous-cell cancers of the skin. The Skin Cancer Prevention Study Group.
Beta carotene has been associated with a decreased risk of human cancer in many studies employing dietary questionnaires or blood measurements, and it has had protective effects in some animal models of carcinogenesis. ⋯ In persons with a previous nonmelanoma skin cancer, treatment with beta carotene does not reduce the occurrence of new skin cancers over a five-year period of treatment and observation.