Changes in blood lipids and blood pressure during adolescence.

A total of 625 adolescents from three general practices participated in a cross-sectional study of cardiovascular disease risk factors. The girls had higher serum total and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations than the boys, while the boys had higher serum triglyceride concentrations. Smoking (equally prevalent in both sexes) was associated with lower HDL cholesterol concentrations, particularly in boys, while in girls use of oral contraceptives was associated with higher total cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol concentrations showed striking associations with age, height, and sexual maturation in boys, but not in girls. Triglyceride concentrations were associated with age in boys. Systolic blood pressure and serum urate concentrations were higher in boys and rose steeply with age, but no age association was seen for urate concentrations or systolic blood pressure in girls or for diastolic pressures in either sex. Girls, however, had higher diastolic pressures. There was a strong association between urate concentration and the other cardiovascular disease risk factors, especially HDL cholesterol. Adolescence is associated with considerable changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors, and there are striking sex differences in these changes.     

Endometrial blood flow in rats.

The endometrial blood flow was measured in rats by injections of 85Kr saline into aorta and measurements of the clearance of the radioactivity by a Geiger-Müller probe situated in the uterine lumen. Estrus and diestrus were determined by vaginal smears. The endometrial blood flow was found to be 0.88 +/- 0.08 (mean +/- SEM) ml/g tissue/min in estus and 1.60 +/- 0.15 mg/g/min in diestrus. The experiment indicates that the endometrial blood flow and the total uterine blood flow change in opposite directions during the estrous cycle.     

Clinical use of blood,blood components and blood products.

The goal of modern transfusion therapy is to provide appropriate replacement therapy with blood components as opposed to whole blood for patients with specific hematologic deficiencies. A prerequisite of component therapy is, therefore, correct identification of the deficiency. Appropriate use of components avoids many of the hazards associated with the use of whole blood, and at the same time makes maximal use of this valuable resource. Blood components separated from whole blood soon after collection and appropriately stored can, in combination, provide all the factors present in fresh whole blood. Red cell concentrates prepared from multiple packs have a hematocrit of approximately 70%. They may be stored for up to 3 weeks at 4 degrees C and are recommended for most situations requiring red cell transfusions. Platelet concentrates, which can be stored for up to 72 hours at 22 degrees C, may be used for thrombocytopenic patients. Fresh frozen plasma, stored plasma, cryoprecipitated factor VIII, factor VIII concentrate and factor IX complex concentrate are available for the proper treatment of patients with hemorrhagic disorders due to coagulation factor deficiencies. Similarly, albumin and immune serum globulin are available for their oncotic and antibody properties respectively. Thus, the availability and appropriate use of the various blood products allows not only optimal transfusion therapy for each patient, but also fuller utilization of national blood resources.     

Salt and blood pressure in Scotland.

Dietary salt intake and urinary sodium excretion were compared in normotensive and hypertensive subjects in Renfrew, Scotland. All groups had high 24-hour urinary salt excretions, and hypertensive subjects did not eat or excrete more salt than normotensive subjects. The only significant relations found were a lower sodium excretion in hypertensive women than in normotensive women (p < 0.02) and a lower urinary sodium concentration in hypertensive men than in normotensive men (p < 0.05). These data provide no support for the hypothesis that dietary salt is a major cause of hypertension.     

Observer error in blood pressure measurement.

This paper describes an experiment undertaken to determine observer error in measuring blood pressure by the auscultatory method. A microcomputer was used to display a simulated mercury manometer and play back tape-recorded Korotkoff sounds synchronized with the fall of the mercury column. Each observer''s readings were entered into the computer, which displayed a histogram of all readings taken up to that point and thus showed the variation among observers. The procedure, which could easily be adapted for use in teaching, was used to test 311 observers drawn from physicians, nurses, medical students, nursing students and others at nine health care institutions in Ottawa. The results showed a strong bias for even-digit readings and standard deviations of roughly 5 to 6 mm Hg. The standard deviation for the systolic readings was somewhat smaller for the physicians as a group than for the nurses (3.5 v. 5.9 mm Hg). However, the standard deviations for the diastolic readings were roughly equal for these two groups (approximately 5.5 mm Hg).