Blackouts induced by alcohol, in spite of their frequent occurrence, remain something of an enigma. This article reviews the knowledge of the blackout and of memory theory to date, and proposes a definition for this amnestic event. After establishing a definition, the article comments on the clinical significance, both from ...

Attitudes toward alcoholism among a representative sample of 524 adults in Georgia indicate acceptance of the disease concept remains incomplete. Despite expected regional differences, results from bivariate analyses are consistent with previous research conducted in other areas of the U.S. The Georgia data indicate similar levels of acceptance of the ...

All autopsies performed on homicide victims at the Salt River police mortuary, Cape Town, in the first 6 months of 1986 were reviewed. Most of the homicides that had occurred in Cape Town were as a result of stab wounds to the chest. Smaller, but significant, numbers of homicides were ...

Doctors often lack the knowledge and skills to identify and assess those who drink to excess and are unsure of what their preventive and educational role should be. As part of a prospective study of early identification and intervention with general hospital patients who drink to excess, we were interested ...

We describe 216 elderly patients (65 years of age or older) who were treated for alcoholism in an inpatient treatment program. Emphasis is placed on the demographics, medical characteristics, results of laboratory tests, outcome of treatment, and various comparisons of early- and late-onset alcoholism. The frequency of serious medical disorders ...

Seven alcoholism scales for the MMPI were evaluated for effectiveness in screening medical patients. Sensitivity and specificity were assessed by use of five contrast samples: (1) 736 inpatients from an alcohol and drug dependence unit; (2) 4,923 unselected medical outpatients; (3) 7,044 selected medical outpatients; (4) 214 psychiatric inpatients; and ...

As regards causes to liver cirrhosis in the latest survey, HB viral cirrhosis accounted for 20.9% and alcoholic cirrhosis 33%, going up to 46.8% in some highly prevalent areas. In Japanese rural areas, there are many occasions for people to drink according to custom like districts in the West where ...

Although the MacAndrew scale (MAC) is the most widely used of the MMPI alcoholism screening scales, evidence to support its continued use is equivocal, and recent data raise serious questions about its efficacy in the screening of medical patients. In comparison, the Institutionalized Chronic Alcoholic Scale (ICAS), an 8-item scale, ...

The efficacy of 14 handwashing or disinfectant preparations was compared in laboratory tests on staff volunteers. The test organism, Escherichia coli, was applied to the fingertips and log reductions (LR) were measured following treatment with the test agent and control preparations (70% isopropanol and non-medicated bar soap). Alcoholic preparations, particularly ...

The pattern of use of khat (Catha edulis Forsk), alcohol, cigarettes and tranquillizers among 479 medical and paramedical students in a boarding college in northwestern Ethiopia was studied by an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. The survey coverage rate was 98.8%. The majority of students were males (82.6%) and their average age ...

In a survey of Nigerian undergraduate medical students, alcohol and drug users were classified as frequent users, casual users, and nonusers. Place of residence during session and family structure recorded no significant contribution to the development of substance abuse. Male sex, poor performance on examinations, drug taking among close friends ...

To assess the prevalence of alcoholism in an ambulatory medical clinic and to determine the effectiveness of screening questions for alcoholism, 232 new patients in a medical primary care unit were interviewed using a questionnaire that included the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). Based on MAST scores, 47 of 232 ...

Propylene glycol, an alcohol frequently used as a solvent in medical preparations, is considered non-toxic. We found that this solvent, used in a commercially available IV nitroglycerin solution, may cause hyperosmolality, hemolysis and lactic acidosis. The influence of kidney function as the main determinant in causing accumulation of this solvent ...

Three hundred and twenty nine (329) patients aged between 18 and 60 years attending the diabetic, hypertension and fracture clinics were studied with regard to their alcohol consumption. The findings confirm the general view that a considerable number of patients attending the general medical services may be considered as problem ...

We examined the influence of castration on the volumes of sexually dimorphic nuclei, the amygdala pars medialis (Am) and lateralis (Al), and the anterior part of the preoptic nucleus, and on the immunoreactivity of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) in brains of Japanese toads captured in spring and autumn. Animals were ...

In an ongoing project utilizing New Jersey State Medical Examiner data, all 218 motor vehicle driver fatalities in Essex County from 1979 through 1985 were classified as alcoholics with (1) positive brain/blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) or (2) negative BACs, or as non-alcoholics with (3) positive BACs or (4) negative BACs. ...

Education in Australian medical schools is presently under review, including teaching about alcohol and other drugs. In August 1986, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Australia (ADFA) presented to the Deans of Australasian medical faculties (including those of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand) a number of options to develop ...

The validities of six MMPI repression scales were compared using each of the other five and an independent measure as criteria (N = 190). The data gave little support to the Eichman, Welsh, and Haan Repression scales as operational definitions of this construct. The results for the Little-Fisher Denial, Byrne ...

We describe the patterns of alcohol use of one medical school class assessed repeatedly over time from the first day of medical school to a point several months short of graduation. Although male students consistently drank more than their female counterparts during the preclinical years, the men reduced their alcohol ...

Few studies have addressed the variables that affect physicians' practice behavior in treating alcoholism. In the study reported here, the authors hypothesized that alcohol-related training and experience would influence practice behavior more significantly than attitudes or knowledge. In order to assess the most important predictors of practice behavior, the authors ...

Carbon monoxide exposure of medical personnel working beneath the turning rotor of a medical helicopter appeared to cause mild clinical illness. We measured the carbon monoxide levels found in various locations beneath the rotor of a jet helicopter under two different conditions. Carbon monoxide levels ranged from 8-76 ppm depending ...

A sample survey of Nigerian students conducted by means of a self-administered drug use questionnaire at three universities in the United States of America showed that at some time in their lives 91.2 per cent of the respondents had used alcoholic beverages, 62.3 per cent tobacco, 30.6 per cent cannabis, ...

Since the advent of modern psychopharmacology in the 1950s, use of medications in the treatment of many psychiatric disorders has become commonplace. Alcohol use is also widespread. As alcohol can interact with a wide variety of medications to alter drug effects, understanding the interactions between it and psychiatric medicines is ...

As part of a longitudinal study of medical students, relations between masculinity and femininity and psychosocial well-being were investigated over a 21-month interval. Of a class of medical students, 82% (N = 99) completed measures of masculinity and femininity during orientation and, 21 months later, completed a broad array of ...

491 consecutive adult patients who consulted their family physician for routine medical problems completed a five item screening questionnaire for alcoholism and a checklist of 12 commonly occurring symptoms. More than 11% showed definite evidence of alcoholism while another 6% showed probable evidence. Review of the medical record for that ...

The technique of alcohol injection in the vulva is reserved for the attempted relief of pruritus vulvae in patients who have failed to respond to a conscientious trial of medical therapy. The procedure is time-consuming, but the operative time can be shortened significantly if a transparent adhesive drape with a ...

Medical examiner records of homicides in Erie County, New York, in 1972-1984 were analyzed, comparing homicides of whites with homicides of blacks. Black victims were younger than white victims, had more alcohol in their blood, and were less often killed with bare hands. The killer of a black victim was ...

The charts of 10,861 patients of the Innsbruck University Department of Psychiatry were evaluated for this study. The patients were in- and outpatients admitted between January 1978 and September 1981. WHO criteria were used for the diagnosis of dependence. 1,743 inpatients and 2,130 outpatients were dependent on psychotropic substances (most ...

Editor's note: The following notes were intended as a help to platoon commanders operating with LRP troops and were the result of observations made on six months LRP training and fifteen weeks operations with a column of 23rd British Infantry Brigade in the Naga Hills. The operations, particularly from the ...

The accumulated data from a defined medical examination of 561 male alcoholics is reported and analysed using a simple artificial index of the severity of alcohol injury which describes each patient in a single parameter; the alcohol related toxicity quotient (ARTq). The results indicate that after an average of twelve ...

Ninety medical records of patients with an alcohol-related diagnosis who were admitted to a major city teaching hospital over a 12-month period were reviewed to assess the ways in which the problem had been recognized and managed by hospital staff members. The overall frequency of an alcohol-related diagnosis of 1.8% ...

The kava bowl, a traditional feature of Pacific Island societies, has been adopted and adapted by a number of Aboriginal (Yolngu) communities of northern Australia, where it was introduced in the hope that it would challenge alcohol. This paper reports a study of its usage at Elcho Island, Northern Territory. ...

In a general medical unit 27% of 104 admissions and 17% of bed occupancy were attributed to alcohol consumption, although only 10 of these 28 patients had classical alcohol-related conditions. Questioning on the amount of alcohol consumed was the most accurate method of screening for these patients. The brief MAST ...

The in vitro accuracy and precision of four infrared breath-alcohol analyzers, the Alcotest 7010, BAC Verifier, Intoxilyzer 5000, and Intoximeter 3000, were studied with a protocol adapted from portions of the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) "Standard for Devices to Measure Breath Alcohol." Statistical evaluation of these studies indicated that ...

The indications for operative treatment of lumbar disc herniations are outlined and the advantages, short-comings and temptations of discolysis, micro-operation and large approach discussed. The following indication scheme is proposed: Discolysis: Non-displaced disc herniation without other major causative pathology; Micro-operation: Displaced disc herniation; non-displaced disc herniation with monosegmental additional causative ...

Alcoholism is a widespread illness which in its early stages can be treated effectively. It is important, therefore, that medical residents be able to diagnose alcoholism prior to end-stage disease and organ damage. To assess the ability of residents to diagnose alcoholism, a survey was conducted of 95 patients from ...

This paper examines the effect of introducing wine into grocery stores in Quebec. Beer has been available in Quebec grocery stores for many years but limited wine sales were introduced in 1978. Data on wine sales and total sales of alcoholic beverages were examined for Quebec and Ontario for the ...

Fifty urban American Indians were interviewed during admission to a free-standing medical detoxification unit. From the year before the interview through 2 years of follow-up, this sample averaged 44.6 detoxification admissions and 64.1 days in other inpatient treatment and had no significant change in the number of annual detoxification admissions. ...

Leasing medical equipment can be a financially advantageous undertaking, but also somewhat risky. Leases, if misrepresented by the leasing company, can trap the healthcare organization into an agreement that is actually more costly than purchasing the equipment. Therefore, extreme caution should be taken when evaluating leasing agreements, looking carefully at ...

To assess the frequency of an evolution to stable moderate drinking among alcoholics coming to medical or psychiatric treatment facilities, we examined the five- to seven-year outcome for 1289 diagnosed alcoholics treated in our facilities during a two-year period (between 1973 and 1975). We obtained data from personal interviews, records, ...

An objective test measure of personalized power was developed to test McClelland's hypothesis. Four existing personality questionnaires that have been considered to be relevant to personalized power were used. These scales were administered to 50 patients in a Veterans Administration alcoholism program and to 50 VA medical outpatients. Items which ...

Nearly two thirds of 200 male hypertensive veterans surveyed in Philadelphia admitted to past ingestion of illicit alcoholic beverages (moonshine), many drinking it recently, and in the North. They were more likely to be black and have gout than those denying moonshine use. But we did not detect unequivocally high ...

Attitudes to treatment were investigated in medical and nursing staff and alcoholic patients at a district general hospital. Significant differences were found between the two groups, indicating that patients prefer a strict medical approach to their problems rather than a psychological one. The implications of these findings for the planning ...

Two major forces mitigate against alcoholism education within the medical school curriculum. One relates to the structure and organization of academic medicine with its emphasis on disease states and pathophysiology; sophisticated and technologically complex diagnostic and treatment modalities; and an acute illness, cure-oriented focus rather than a chronic illness, adaptational ...

Replied to Hays and Stacy's critique of an article by Holmes, Dungan and McLaughlin in which the validity of MMPI alcoholism scales was questioned. Hays and Stacy asserted that the original authors misinterpreted the results of the statistical analyses. The present article presents support for the original conclusions and comments ...

In order to gain a broader perspective on the natural course of drinking by alcoholic cirrhotic patients receiving medical care, the medical and surgical literature from 1963 through 1982 was surveyed for prospective studies of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis in which follow-up drinking data were reported. Eleven studies with 1,039 ...

The service of Manchester's hospital-based purpose-built alcohol detoxification centre is described, together with demographic data, drinking history, findings on admission, disposal arrangements, and outcome of 235 police referrals. Police referrals under-used the centre, which now accepts from magistrates' courts, the local alcoholism council, accident and emergency departments, and general practice. ...

The development of a more sophisticated aetiological model of alcohol abuse and dependence has certain advantages when it comes to teaching medical students about the subject. The move away from a simplistic, unicausal model of disease coincides with more sophisticated notions of disease in medicine in general and alcoholism in ...

Doctors are more vulnerable than the average citizen to alcohol dependence. Causal factors may include social conditioning, the patterns of drinking in medical schools and in early professional life, the responsible nature of the work and the associated emotional control. Statutory controls are an unfortunate necessity but informal schemes to ...

The amount of topical medication needed to cover the body thinly by self-application was measured in twenty-nine adults. It averaged 22 gm and varied with surface area and size of container, but not with sex or instruction. There was no difference in amount used between cream and ointment or between ...