The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a novel laxative preparation, composed of celandin, aloevera and psyllium in patients with chronic constipation. Thirty-five men and women were randomized to receive capsules containing celandin-aloevera-psyllium, or placebo, in a double-blind trial lasting 28 days. Symptoms in the last 2 weeks of the treatment period were compared to those in the 14-day pre-trial basal period. In the celandin, aloevera and psyllium group, bowel movements became more frequent, the stools were softer and laxative dependence was reduced. In the placebo group, all these parameters were unchanged. Abdominal pain was not reduced in either group. The results of this study show that the preparation is an effective laxative in the treatment of constipation.
A prospective epidemiological and clinical study of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease was undertaken in the Bedouin Arabs of southern Israel between 1981 and 1990. There were six patients with ulcerative colitis and the prevalence rate in 1990 was calculated to be 9-8/105 (95% confidence intervals 3.6-17.4) in the total population, or 6-2/105 (0.8-22.5) in men and 13.7/105 (3.7-35.0) in women. Two cases of Crohn's disease occurred, both in women; the prevalence rate was 3 2/10 (0 4-11-8) Results are shown as mean (SD). The prevalence rates are expressed per 105 population, and the prevalence date was 30 June 1990. Confidence intervals (CI) are calculated at the 95% limit." Statistical comparison between the prevalence rates in Arabs and the rates previously documented in Jews5 was performed using age adjustment of rates to the world standard population and the odds ratio. 12 13 Results There were 61299 Bedouin Arabs living in southern Israel in 1990. The male to female ratio was 1 1. In men, 56-4% were aged 0-14 years, 30 4% were 15-34 years, 10-1% were 35-54 years, and 3-1% were 55+ years. In women the respective percentages were 57 6%, 28-6%, 10-5%, and 3-3%. About 80% of the population was rural but most lived within short distances from the large towns.Altogether eight patients with inflammatory bowel disease were diagnosed during the study period (no cases were diagnosed before 1981).There were two men and six women, ratio 0 33. These patients were aged mean (SD) 34-0 (16-4) years at a time of diagnosis, and the time interval between onset of symptoms and diagnosis was not more than one year. All the patients were alive on the prevalence date.Six of the patients had ulcerative colitis -two men and four women (Table I)
Human gastric bicarbonate secretion has been measured by back-titration, from pH and pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2) determinations (using the Henderson-Hasselbalch formula), and from equations based on gastric juice osmolality and [H+] (osmolality-[H+] method). Since these methods show large quantitative differences in their estimations of gastric bicarbonate secretion, we examined each to define the reasons for these discrepancies and establish guidelines for future work in this area. Bicarbonate recovery from 'non-parietal' secretions (0 to 80 mM HCO3) reacting with 'pure parietal secretion' (160 mM HCl) was studied both in vitro and in the pylorus-occluded healthy human stomach during acid suppression, exogenous acidification, and pentagastrin stimulation. The pH/PCO2 method estimated HCO3- accurately under anaerobic conditions in vitro, whereas the osmolality-[H+] method (with correction factors for osmolality incorporated by us) was accurate under aerobic conditions. In the acid-suppressed stomach back-titration was significantly more accurate than the pH/PCO2 method. In the exogenously acidified and pentagastrin-stimulated stomachs the pH/PCO2 method underestimated bicarbonates, and the osmolality-[H+] method was spuriously elevated in the low range and diminished at high bicarbonate concentrations. Estimates of 'basal' bicarbonate secretion (at zero added bicarbonate) were severalfold higher by the osmolality-[H+] method (5.26 +/- 0.33 mmol/h) than by the pH/PCO2 method (1.20 +/- 0.23 mmol/h) or back-titration (0.65 +/- 0.14 mmol/h). In conclusion, gastric bicarbonate was determined most correctly by back-titration in the acid-suppressed stomach, whereas measurement of bicarbonate in the acid-secreting stomach was not accurate with any method.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.