Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Efficacy Of A Doxycycline Treatment Regimen Initiated During Three Different Phases Of Experimental Ehrlichiosis, Jennifer C. Mcclure, Michelle L. Crothers, John J. Schaefer, Patrick D. Stanley, Glen R. Needham, S A. Ewing, Roger W. Stich

John J Schaefer

Doxycycline is the treatment of choice for canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME), a well-characterized disease and valuable model for tick-borne zoonoses. Conflicting reports of clearance of Ehrlichia canis after treatment with doxycycline suggested that the disease phase during which treatment is initiated influences outcomes of these treatments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a 28-day doxycycline regimen for clearance of experimental E. canis infections from dogs treated during three phases of the disease. Ten dogs were inoculated with blood from E. canis carriers and treated with doxycycline during acute, subclinical, or chronic phases of CME. Daily …

Overview Of The Essential Tremor, Theresa A. Zesiewicz, Abinaya Chari, Israt Jahan, Amber M. Miller, Kelly L. Sullivan

Kelly L. Sullivan

Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders in the world. Despite this, only one medication (propranolol) is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat it. Fortunately, recent studies have identified some additional medications as treatment of ET. Surgical procedures, such as deep brain stimulation of the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus, offer treatment for refractory tremor. The epidemiology, pathogenesis, and medical and surgical treatment of ET will be discussed in this paper.

Reduction Of Circulating Endothelial Cells In Peripheral Blood Of Als Patients, Svitlana Garbuzova-Davis, Robert L. Woods Iii, Michael K. Louis, Theresa A. Zesiewicz, Nicole Kuzmin-Nichols, Kelly L. Sullivan, Amber M. Miller, Diana G. Hernandez-Ontiveros, Paul R. Sanberg

Kelly L. Sullivan

Background: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) treatment is complicated by the various mechanisms underlying motor neuron degeneration. Recent studies showed that the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) are compromised in an animal model of ALS due to endothelial cell degeneration. A later study demonstrated a loss of endothelium integrity in the spinal cords of ALS patients. Since circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in the peripheral blood are associated with endothelium damage, being detached dysfunctional endothelial cells, we hypothesized that CEC levels may reflect endothelium condition in ALS patients.
Methodology/Principal Findings: CEC levels were estimated in whole blood smears from …

Applicability Of A Video Intervention To Increase Informed Decision Making For Prostate Specific Antigen (Psa) Testing Among African-American Men With Different Levels Of Health Literacy, Levi Ross, Alicestine D. Ashford, Sherese J. Bleechington, Tyra Dark, Deborah C. Erwin

Levi Ross

Purpose: To evaluate the applicability of an evidence-based video intervention to promote informed decision making for prostate cancer (CaP) screening among African-American men with different levels of health literacy.

Methods: Forty nine African-American men participated in interviewer-administered, pretest-posttest interviews between January and March 2008. Health literacy status was assessed with the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA). Repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), McNemar or binomial distributions were computed to assess pretest/posttest differences in knowledge. Descriptive statistics were produced to describe participants’ perceptions of the information presented in the video.

Results: Results indicated that men with functional health …