tretinoin and Feeding-and-Eating-Disorders

Examine the association between concerns about aging and a drive for thinness.. Two groups were studied: (1) randomly selected nonclinical subjects (77 men, M +/- SD age: 44.4 +/- 18.3 years; 140 women, M +/- SD age: 41.9 +/- 15.3 years) from Ann Arbor, Michigan (replication of an earlier shopping mall-based survey); and (2) women (N = 54) who were concerned about their aging appearance (18 women with mild to moderate skin aging, M +/- SD age: 41 +/- 4 years; 36 women with moderate to severe skin aging, M +/- SD age: 62 +/- 6 years) and had volunteered for 24-week, prospective, controlled studies evaluating the efficacy of topical retinoic acid versus placebo for the treatment of aging skin. All subjects rated their aging-related concerns on previously developed scales, and completed the Drive for Thinness (DT) and Body Dissatisfaction (BD) subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI).. In the random community survey there was a direct correlation between both concerns about the effect of aging on the appearance (men: r = .28, p < .05; women: r = .32, p < .01) and concerns about the cutaneous stigmata of aging (men: r = .38, p < .01; women: r = .28, p < .01) and DT (EDI). In the aging skin study both DT (EDI) and BD (EDI) were lower (p < .01) at 24 weeks posttherapy, in the retinoic acid (n = 32) but not the placebo (n = 22) group.. Concerns about an aging appearance can be associated with a drive for thinness and excessive dieting, factors that are important in the development of eating disorders.

Topics: Administration, Topical; Adult; Aged; Aging; Attitude to Health; Body Image; Drive; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Personality Inventory; Prospective Studies; Skin Aging; Social Values; Thinness; Tretinoin

Arsenic trioxide has recently been introduced as a promising new agent to treat refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). In the present study, arsenic trioxide was given intravenously for 42 days to a 56-year-old female patient suffering from chemotherapy/ATRA-resistant APL, with 43% APL blasts in the bone marrow and elevated D-dimers. During the first days of arsenic trioxide treatment a rapid decrease in the D-dimers was seen (normal values reached until day 7), together with a slight decrease in peripheral blood leukocytes. This initial coagulation response was followed by a second phase of hematological response (starting on days 15-20) characterized by leukocytosis, occurrence of myeloid progenitor cells in the peripheral blood, and a decrease in bone marrow blasts (<1% on days 28 and 36). Finally, the patient entered complete hematological and cytogenetic remission, although the PML-RAR alpha fusion product was still detectable by PCR. These data confirm the therapeutic value of arsenic trioxide in relapsed/resistant APL.

Topics: Antineoplastic Agents; Arsenic Trioxide; Arsenicals; Bone Marrow; Chromosome Banding; Colony-Forming Units Assay; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Female; Humans; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute; Leukocyte Count; Metaphase; Middle Aged; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Oxides; Pain; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Recurrence; Tretinoin