Faculty Bibliography

Two federally supported studies have shown that the drug enalapril reduces the rates of death and hospitalization for people with moderate or mild chronic heart failure

The drug, enalapril, is widely used to help alleviate the symptoms of heart failure, such as shortness of breath, and to treat high blood pressure. The new studies are the first to show that it actually reduces the rates of death and hospitalization for people with moderate or mild heart failure. Dr. Claude J. Lenfant, head of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md. -- which financed one of the studies -- said wider use of enalapril and similar drugs could prevent as many as 20,000 deaths and 100,000 hospitalizations and save $1 billion a year in the treatment of heart failure. The authors of one study, headed by Salim Yusuf of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, concluded that for every 1,000 patients with chronic heart failure who were treated with enalapril, 50 deaths and 350 admissions to hospitals could be prevented over a three-year period

Health officials have an incomplete understanding of Dr. [David J. Acer]'s personal life and medical history. They have located some records of Dr. Acer's own medical care but are still seeking others for clues as to whether the infection damaged his brain, since the AIDS virus sometimes attacks brain cells. If so, investigators surmise, he may have been less likely to use proper infection-control precautions. The inquiry team will refocus on the still unresolved questions as to just how Dr. Acer's patients got infected. Supposing the dentist had been treating a sex partner carrying the same viral strain, did he do so immediately before one of the patients who became infected? If so, that would support the idea that the virus was transmitted by contaminated instruments from a sex partner to a patient. The C.D.C. has reported that Dr. Acer's infection-control practices were faulty at times. Indirect evidence might come from measuring the amount of virus in the still existing samples of Dr. Acer's blood. If it contains extraordinarily large amounts of HIV, then perhaps only a drop or two was needed to have infected the five patients. Such a finding would make it easier to explain transmission, but it would not favor a particular theory. It could suggest transmission occurred when Dr. Acer bled directly into his patients' mouths. But it also could apply to the contaminated instrument theory

Overruling an advisory group, federal health officials are planning to pay for a study of whether low doses of aspirin protect women against heart attacks

The 27-year-old federal program to develop fully portable, permanent artificial hearts and mechanical assist devices, which has run a rocky course in recent years, received a strong endorsement Jul 23, 1991 in a study by the National Academy of Sciences. The academy said the two types of devices could eventually be implanted in up to 70,000 of the 700,000 Americans who would otherwise die each year of heart disease

In Africa through July 18, there were 3,488 reported deaths from cholera. In Central and South America there were 2,618 deaths among the more than 250,000 cases in the same period. In Africa, Zambia reported more than 11,000 cases, the largest number, and 981 deaths. Nigeria, which has not reported cases for the last several years, was second with more than 7,600 cases and 990 deaths. Ghana's nearly 6,500 cases were more than 10 times the number reported last year. It had 181 deaths

Cholera is sweeping through several African countries at 'a catastrophic pace,' the World Health Organization said on Jul 22, 1991, killing people at a much higher rate than in South America, where the first epidemic in 90 years struck in Peru in Jan 1991

New findings promise to help scientists unravel several mysteries about why hundreds of thousands of Americans, including President and Barbara Bush, have developed an overactive thyroid gland from Graves' disease. The new findings are examined

Although fewer cases of the diarrheal disease were reported from Africa than from South America, the death rate is higher in Africa, said the organization, an agency of the United Nations. Death rates range from 6 percent to 10 percent in some African nations and are as high as 30 percent in some areas. Cholera is spread by improper disposal of human waste that contaminates drinking water and food with cholera bacteria. It also can be spread by apparently healthy travelers who are not aware that they are carriers of the bacterium. They are not detected by normal public-health measures. In Africa, Zambia reported more than 11,000 cases, the largest number, and 981 deaths. Nigeria, which has not reported cases for the past several years, was second with more than 7,600 cases and 990 deaths. Ghana's nearly 6,500 cases were more than 10 times the number reported last year. It had 181 deaths. The increase was due both to a true rise and better reporting, [James Tulloch] said