Objective To assess the accuracy of a pictorial blood loss assessment chart (PBAC) as a method for estiDesign A prospective analysis of 103 consecutive women complaining of excessive menstrual blood loss.Population Women recruited into an on-going study of menstrual blood loss in a large district general hospital.Main outcome measures Correlation between pictorial assessment of blood loss and actual measured menstrual blood loss.mating menstrual blood loss in women complaining of heavy periods.Results There was poor correlation between observed PBAC score and menstrual blood loss. ConclusionWe have not been able to validate previously published work. The pictorial assessment chart offers no significant improvement in the quality of objective diagnosis in women complaining of menorrhagia.

Abstract-Randomized trials have shown that increasing potassium intake lowers blood pressure. However, most previous trials used potassium chloride, whereas potassium in fruits and vegetables is not a chloride salt. It is unclear whether a nonchloride salt of potassium has a greater or lesser effect on blood pressure compared with potassium chloride. We performed a randomized crossover trial comparing potassium chloride with potassium citrate (96 mmol/d, each for 1 week) in 14 hypertensive individuals. At baseline, blood pressure was 151Ϯ16/93Ϯ7 mm Hg with a 24-hour urinary potassium of 81Ϯ24 mmol. During the randomized crossover part of the study, blood pressure was 140Ϯ12/ 88Ϯ7 mm Hg with potassium chloride (24-hour urinary potassium: 164Ϯ36 mmol) and 138Ϯ12/88Ϯ6 mm Hg with potassium citrate (24-hour urinary potassium: 160Ϯ33 mmol). These blood pressures were significantly lower compared with that at baseline; however, there was no significant difference in blood pressure between potassium chloride and potassium citrate, mean difference (95% confidence interval): 1.6 (Ϫ2.3 to 5.6) mm Hg for systolic and 0.6 (Ϫ2.4 to 3.7) mm Hg for diastolic. Our results, in conjunction with the evidence from many previous trials that potassium chloride has a significant blood pressure-lowering effect, suggest that potassium citrate has a similar effect on blood pressure as potassium chloride. These results support other evidence for an increase in potassium intake and indicate that potassium does not need to be given in the form of chloride to lower blood pressure. Increasing the consumption of foods high in potassium is likely to have the same effect on blood pressure as potassium chloride. Key Words: blood pressure Ⅲ potassium M uch evidence suggests that potassium intake plays an important role in regulating blood pressure. 1,2 Clinical trials of potassium supplementation have shown a significant blood pressure-lowering effect, particularly in individuals with high blood pressure. 3,4 However, most previous trials have used chloride salt of potassium (ie, potassium chloride), which is convenient for making the study double-blinded using Slow-K (slow-release potassium chloride) versus Slow-K placebo. 5 Potassium in fruits and vegetables is not a chloride salt, but rather a mixture of potassium phosphate, sulfate, citrate, and many organic anions including proteins. It is unclear whether a nonchloride salt of potassium has a greater or lesser effect on blood pressure compared with potassium chloride.A number of studies have shown that increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables has a significant effect on blood pressure. 6,7 A comparison of the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) study to clinical trials of potassium chloride supplementation 5 seems to indicate that the decline in blood pressure with increasing fruits and vegetables is similar to that found when it is performed by supplementing potassium chloride in individuals with elevated blood pressure. To further study the effect of different potassium...

In patients with a complete or partial response to chemo-radiotherapy for locally advanced or inflammatory breast cancer, reserving surgery for those with residual or recurrent local disease did not appear to compromise survival. This finding would support examination of this treatment strategy by a randomised controlled trial.

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