The Medical journal of Australia
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Over a 12-year period, from 1965 to 1977, 43 women under 46 years of age were documented with angiographic evidence of coronary atherosclerosis at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney. Twenty-five of the women were able to be followed up at a mean interval of 31 months. This group of young women with coronary artery disease was compared with an age-matched control group of 660 "healthy" women drawn from the general population. ⋯ Only one patient out of 43 showed neither hyperlipikaemia, nor hypertension, nor smoked cigarettes, and multiple risk factors were commonly present. The level of high density or alpha-lipoprotein was significantly reduced in young women with coronary artery disease. These results highlight the presence of classical risk factors in these young women, as well as the importance of alpha-lipoproteins.
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From 1969 to 1976 there was a significant reduction in mortality for various forms of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in inpatients at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The mortality rate for all forms of IHD fell from 22.9% to 8.8% in men, and from 26.7% to 14.5% in women; the rate for acute myocardial infarction fell from 28.5% to 16.1% in men, and from 38.4% to 25.1% in women; and the mortality rate for chronic IHD fell from 13.2% to 1.1% in men, and from 13.8% to 2.0% in women. ⋯ Numbers of hospital patients increased within each category of IHD. Admission of patients with less severe illness and changes in age and sex distribution may partially account for the observed reduction in hospital mortality.
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Twelve patients with acromegaly were treated with bromocriptine for periods from nine to 23 months. All showed some clinical improvement. There was no significant difference in plasma growth hormone levels before and after therapy with bromocriptine, but a significant fall in plasma prolactin levels was observed after the bromocriptine therapy was commenced. The release of other pituitary hormones was not affected by bromocriptine.
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Editorial Biography Historical Article
The first and last days of James Cook.