Epidemiological survey of diabetes in toowoomba, queensland

1. (1) The crude poit prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Toowoomba is estimated at 22.6/1000. This figure is certainly the lower limit of the true figure. 2. (2) Diabetes Mellitus has a higher prevalence in those over 60 than those under 60. 3. (3) If glycosuria is used as an indicator of diabetes mellitus many cases of the disease will be missed. 4. (4) Diabetes in the Toowoomba survey was more common in males than females. The reason for this sex difference, if in fact it exists, is not known

Consumption of drugs in eight private nursing homes in a provincial Australian city

The number and variety of drugs taken by 250 elderly patients in private nursing homes in a provincial city, Toowoomba, in Queensland, Australia were studied. There was a significant increase in the number of drugs prescribed in the older patients over 80 years compared with the younger ones under 70 years of age and there was a high level of prescribing of tranquillizers, diuretics and analgesics in the ages studied. It is considered that fewer drugs could be prescribed with advantage to patients

A clinical study of skin cancer: Genetic and environmental interactions

A survey of skin cancer patients attending the Queensland Radium Institute at the Royal Brisbane Hospital was carried out and the characteristics of the patients were compared with a control group of skin outpatients. The skin cancer patients had higher percentages of patients of Northern European ancestry and indoor occupations than the controls, although the skin reactions to the sun did not differ, which is at variance with other surveys. The diagnosis of cellular type, if made on clinical grounds only, was shown to have an 80% chance of accuracy. The ratio of basal cell carcinomas to squamous cell carcinomas was 4·2 : 1 which is in line with the findings of others in this field

The pharmacokinetics of amiloride-hydrochlorothiazide combination in the young and elderly

The pharmacokinetics of amiloride and hydrochlorothiazide were studied in 12 healthy young volunteers following a single dose of a fixed combination of amiloride and hydrochlorothiazide and in 11 elderly hypertensive patients at steady-state. Following modelling of the single dose data, simulated steady-state plasma concentrations for the 2 drugs were generated to examine the effect of age and/or hypertension on pharmacokinetics. The apparent systemic plasma clearance for both amiloride and hydrochlorothiazide was significantly reduced in the elderly when compared to the young (from 753 to 325 ml.min-1, amiloride; and from 418 to 157 ml.min-1, hydrochlorothiazide). The plasma concentrations at steady state for both drugs were greatly increased in the elderly patients (Amiloride: from 7 to 25 ng.ml-1, Css,max; from 2 to 8 ng.ml-1, Css,min; and from 4 to 14 ng.ml-1, Cav; Hydrochlorothiazide: from 184 to 651 ng.ml-1, Css,max; from 31 to 121 ng.ml-1, Css,min; and from 89 to 273 ng.ml-1, Cav). The decreased clearance of the diuretics in the elderly was believed due to deterioration of renal function, and there was a significant correlation between the plasma clearance of hydrochlorothiazide and creatinine clearance in both age groups (r = 0.62, young; r = 0.72, elderly). As a result of the pharmacokinetic findings caution may be indicated in the clinical dosage of the diuretics particularly when in fixed dose combination