Zidovudine (AZT) for treatment of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus type I: an evaluation of effectiveness in clinical practice

Article Abstract:

When the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, AIDS, was first identified and understood, no therapy was available to slow the progression of the disease. In the past few years, the drug zidovudine (AZT) was discovered to retard the growth of the virus that causes AIDS and to delay the development of some of the serious infections to which AIDS patients are susceptible. However, AZT has a number of serious side effects, including reducing the patient's red and white blood cell counts enough to necessitate either discontinuing or reducing the dosage of the drug. How much dose reduction reduces the efficacy of the drug has not been known. A series of 86 patients with AIDS or the AIDS virus were followed for a six-month period on AZT. By the end of the study period, 47 percent of the patients had their doses of AZT reduced, usually due to reductions in either their red or white blood cell counts. Interestingly, fewer patients who had dose reductions experienced either serious infections or death than those who had not had their AZT doses reduced, but the difference was not statistically significant. The study thus showed that a significant number of AIDS patients cannot tolerate full-dose AZT for long periods of time, but they still seem to derive benefit from AZT at the reduced doses. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Evaluation, HIV infection, HIV infections, Dosage and administration, Zidovudine

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Beta-blockers after myocardial infarction: influence of first-year clinical course on long-term effectiveness

Article Abstract:

The beta-blocker propranolol may not be an effective treatment for heart attack patients with a low or moderate risk of cardiac complications or death from heart disease. Beta-blockers have been examined since the 1970s as a long-term treatment for patients who have suffered a heart attack. Among 3,837 patients between 30 and 67 years old who suffered a heart attack, 1,916 started taking propranolol and 1,921 started taking a placebo, or an inactive substance, within five to 21 days of admission to the hospital. Four percent of the patients treated with propanolol died, compared with 6% of the patients who received a placebo. Among the patients who survived one year after suffering a heart attack, treatment with propranolol did not reduce the risk of death from heart disease significantly. However, propranolol reduced the risk of death by 43% in the patients with a high risk of cardiac complications.

Propranolol hydrochloride, Propranolol

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Functional recovery after myocardial infarction in men: the independent effects of social class

Article Abstract:

Men in the upper social classes are more likely to recover from a heart attack than men in the lower classes. Researchers measured the level of improvement after a heart attack in 2,145 men who participated in the Beta Blocker Heart Attack Trial. The men were ranked by social class, with those with only a grade school education in the lowest class and those with a high school degree and a professional or managerial occupation in the highest. Those in the highest class were more likely to have improved heart function one year after their heart attack compared to those in the lowest class.

Prognosis, Social status

Similar abstracts:

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