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Biomedical subjects

A Charlton

Publications and source records attributed to A Charlton.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Cigarette advertising and onset of smoking in children: questionnaire survey.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate uptake of smoking in a cohort of 11 to 12 year olds related to awareness of advertised cigarette brands named. DESIGN: Self completed questionnaires administered to whole classes of schoolchildren in June 1993 and June 1994. SETTING: Primary, middle, and secondary schools in the north and south of England. SUBJECTS: 1450 pupils aged 11 and 12 years at the time of the first survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Onset of smoking and brands smoked by the second survey related to cigarette brands named in the first one. Less advertised brands were used as the base for calculating odds ratios. RESULTS: Girls who named the most advertised brands-namely, Benson and Hedges alone (odds ratio = 2.50, 95% confidence interval = 1.18 to 5.30) or Benson and Hedges and Silk Cut (2.15, 1.04 to 4.42) in the first survey were at greatest risk of taking up smoking by the second one. The difference was similar but not significant for boys. Boys and girls who named the least advertised brands in the first survey were at no greater risk of taking up smoking by the second survey than those who named no brands (boys odds ratio = 0.49 (0.24 to 1.01); girls 0.79 (0.38 to 1.62)). New smokers were more likely to smoke any available brand (29.5%) or a less advertised brand such as Embassy (24.6%) than the most advertised ones, Benson and Hedges (19.7%) and Silk Cut (14.8%). Established smokers were more selective, only 15% smoking any available brand and 38.3% smoking Benson and Hedges. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette advertising appears to increase children's awareness of smoking at a generic level and encourages them to take up the behaviour, beginning with any cigarettes which are available and affordable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Establishing the timing of implantation in the Harlan Porcellus Dutch and New Zealand White rabbit and the Han Wistar rat.

The purpose of this study was to establish the timing of the onset of implantation in both the Harlan Porcellus Dutch and New Zealand White rabbit and the Han Wistar rat. Implantation was initiated on Day 5 (rat) and 7 (rabbit) and established by Day 7 and 8 of gestation in the rat and rabbit, respectively. Recent guidelines on toxicity testing during embryo-fetal development studies require that maternal exposure to pharmaceutical compounds does not occur until after implantation has taken place. In order to ensure that this is the case, female Harlan Porcellus Dutch and New Zealand White rabbits and Han Wistar rats were sacrificed on different days of gestation, over the expected periods of implantation. The presence of preimplantation blastocysts in the uterus was investigated, and evidence of established implantation sites was assessed.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Children's return to school after treatment for cancer: study days for teachers.

BACKGROUND: As greater numbers of children return to school after treatment for cancer, their teachers need information and assurance in order to facilitate the reintegration process. METHODS: Help with organising study days for teachers was offered to the 20 regional childhood cancer treatment hospitals in the United Kingdom, and the usefulness of the study days in helping teachers at six of these centres was evaluated using pre- and posttest questionnaires. At a study day, members of the hospital treatment team gave informal presentations, and, later, involvement in a workshop gave the participants opportunities to discuss and share information. RESULTS: After attendance at a study day, the teachers showed significant gains in knowledge about childhood cancers and in confidence concerning the management of typical problem situations that might be encountered when the children returned to school. CONCLUSIONS: In the light of this research, recommendations were made to the 20 regional treatment hospitals in the United Kingdom to organise such study days for teachers on a regular basis.

Caregivers↗
PubMed1996

Children and smoking: the family circle.

Children's and adults' smoking can form a 'family circle'. Young women and their male partners who are less well-educated and less affluent are most likely to smoke during the woman's pregnancy. The harmful effects on the fetus, including low birth weight and increased risk of respiratory diseases, are carried forward into childhood. The frequent minor ailments can cause absence from school, falling behind with school work and perhaps under-achievement. Children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy are likely to have smaller stature which can also affect self-esteem. Passive smoking in the home exacerbates these effects and adds others. The child, therefore, can become disenchanted with school and reject its norms and is then at increased risk of becoming a smoker. These young smokers are most likely to leave school early, to start families early and to smoke during pregnancy, thus continuing the 'family circle' or 'cycle of deprivation'. Practical action is needed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Smoking and menstrual problems in 16-year-olds.

The British Birth Cohort Study (BCS70) is a cohort study which follows all the people born in England, Scotland and Wales in the week of 5-11 April 1970. The data described here were from the postal questionnaires returned by 2181 young women aged between 16 and 16 1/2 in 1986. Thirty-nine per cent of the respondents had never smoked, 39% had smoked at some time and 22% were regular smokers. Most of the respondents indicated that they had one or more of the following symptoms associated with menstruation: pain, depression, irritability, headaches, cramps. Analysis of the data showed that regular smokers were significantly more likely than those who had never smoked to have all these symptoms. Whilst the percentage of 'sometime smokers' experiencing pain, depression and headaches fell between smokers and 'never-smokers', the percentage experiencing unpleasant symptoms in general, irritability and cramps was the same as for regular smokers. If causality could be demonstrated, messages about immediate health problems such as these might be more powerful health education to young women than information about long-term risks.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Cancer education and the primary school teacher in England and Wales.

Many adult behaviors and attitudes develop in early childhood. There is a growing acceptance of the need for health education of children of primary school age. Cancer is an important topic within health education, and this study was designed to assess the level of cancer education in schools. Data were collected from a randomly selected sample of over 1,000 teachers of children in primary school years 3-6 (ages 7-11 years). Cancer had been taught about by 18% of the sample, and their pupils' ages had no significant effect on whether they had taught about cancer. Cancer was most often taught about in response to a real-life situation, and the majority of the teachers did not use cancer education resources to help them. The study sought to ascertain why so many teachers had taught about cancer. It appears that concerns over their own lack of personal knowledge, and a perceived lack of resources, were the most common reasons. The young age of the pupils was also a deterrent to cancer education, especially among the teachers of the younger pupils. The results indicate various interventions that may increase the level of primary-school-based cancer education. These include improving teachers' awareness of cancer education issues and providing appropriate cancer education resources.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1995

Blood pressure and smoking: observations on a national cohort.

The reasons why adult smokers have lower blood pressure than non-smokers have not been determined. It is possible that low blood pressure might precede the onset of smoking. This study investigates this hypothesis in a national cohort study in Britain. Blood pressures and pulse rates taken on a sample of 5019 members of the British Birth Cohort Study (BCS 70) at the age of 10 years were analysed in relation to self reported smoking behaviour at age 16+ years. Prospectively, those children who had lower diastolic blood pressure or pulse rate at age 10 were more likely to have smoked by age 16+ years. Using analysis of variance, pulse rate was significantly related to smoking in young men (p < 0.001). Seventy per cent of those with lower pulse (below the 10th centile), 58% with medium pulse, and 52% with the higher pulse (above the 90th centile) had ever smoked by age 16+ years. In young women, pulse rate (p = 0.003), diastolic pressure (p = 0.024), and systolic pressure (p = 0.032) at age 10 were all significantly related to smoking at age 16. This longitudinal study found that lower blood pressure and slower pulse rate were related to the onset of smoking in children. More research is needed on this new observation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Use of vitamin E and glutamine in the successful treatment of severe veno-occlusive disease following bone marrow transplantation.

Veno-occlusive disease of the liver is a common complication following the administration of conditioning regimens to patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation. Free-radical damage to the liver is believed to be the cause of the hepatic outflow occlusion, and maintenance of adequate antioxidant stores of glutathione and vitamin E may be a means of counteracting the hepatotoxicity. We report the case of a 44-year-old woman who developed severe veno-occlusive disease after bone marrow transplantation and was treated with vitamin E, the major antioxidant of the cell membrane, and glutamine, a precursor of glutathione. The administration of this therapy was associated with reversal of the clinical and biochemical signs of severe hepatic dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Is health locus of control related to health education activity.

Analysis of responses of 1922 teachers indicated that Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale was a suitable instrument for assessing their health beliefs. The results suggest that health belief is not linked to whether teachers teach about cancer and, by implication, health generally.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Brief communication: sliding displacement of amnion and chorion following controlled laser wounding suggests a mechanism for short-term sealing of ruptured membranes.

The Erbium-YAG laser was used to produce narrow wounds of defined depth in term amniochorion. The charring effect of the laser meant that sites could be readily localized in histological sections. During brief post-wounding incubations, sliding displacement of the amnion relative to the chorion occurred through the plane of the spongy layer. This suggests a possible short-term mechanism whereby a spontaneous rupture could be sealed in vivo.

Amnion↗
PubMed1994

Children who have a parent with cancer: a pilot study.

This British pilot study was undertaken to determine whether the children of cancer patients experience problems and anxieties related to the parent's diagnosis and treatment. The data were collected by means of semistructured interviews with 24 adolescent children (16 sons, eight daughters) whose parents' cancers had been diagnosed between two and six years previously (mean four years). Self-report questionnaires to assess adolescent anxiety were also completed at the interviews. The results show that some of the children experienced problems and anxieties related to their parents' cancers that affected their school lives, sports and leisure activities, family lives, and relationships. Factors that were significantly associated with high anxiety scores were: inability to discuss the parent's illness with parents; having to spend less time with friends; having to spend less time on sport and leisure activities; deterioration in schoolwork; and continuing anxiety over the parent's illness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Psychosocial adjustment of five-year survivors of childhood cancer.

This study assessed the psychosocial adjustment of 31 childhood cancer patients five years after diagnosis compared with their school peers. The children were aged 8 to 18 years at the time of the study. No significant difference was found in self-rated measures of anxiety and self-esteem. However, there were significant differences in teacher ratings of concentration, academic progress, and popularity with peers and in parent and teacher ratings of behavioural adjustment (Rutter Scales A and B), indicating that the survivors of childhood cancer were at increased risk of problems. Relationships between behavioural adjustment scores and child, family, and illness variables were investigated within the cancer-survivor group. No significant relationship was found with illness variables or social class. Significant associations were found between behavioural adjustment and parental psychological distress, parental coping strategies, children's perceptions of their own scholastic competence, and their relationships with peers. In addition, children who had shown considerable problems in school work one year after diagnosis were more at risk for behavioural problems at this later state. The findings have implications for the provision of support to childhood cancer patients, their families, and their teachers that may help to prevent later problems in adjustment.

Achievement↗
PubMed1994

Children and passive smoking: a review.

BACKGROUND: For the past 40 years, evidence has been accumulating on the effects of passive smoking on the fetus and on children. Over this period, research methods have become more precise and accurate, with confounding factors controlled for and actual exposure to smoke measured and validated by cotinine tests on body fluids. This review follows the progress of these studies and assesses the weight of evidence for various health risks of passive smoking on children from before birth to adolescence. METHODS: Nearly 200 research papers published worldwide were reviewed. RESULTS: Effects of maternal smoking on the fetus include low birthweight, increased risk of spontaneous abortion, and perinatal death. The effect of maternal smoking on breast feeding is still enigmatic. Breast-fed infants of mothers who smoke appear to be protected against respiratory diseases but are subjected to chemicals from the smoke transferred in the milk. It is difficult to separate prenatal and postnatal effects with regard to growth, development, and lung function retardation. There is, however, a definite increase in respiratory diseases, otitis media, and minor ailments, which are unequivocally related to parental, especially maternal, smoking. CONCLUSIONS: There is now sufficient evidence that health problems in children are related to maternal, and to a lesser degree paternal, smoking during pregnancy, and, after birth, to exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the home and daycare centers. Exposure to ETS should be noted on pediatric patients' problem lists and addressed at each visit.

Child↗
PubMed1993

An in vitro comparison of the Erbium: YAG laser and the carbon dioxide laser in laryngeal surgery.

This study compares the relative thermal damage caused by a surgical CO2 laser and the Erbium:YAG laser when used to incise the human vocal fold in vitro. Results show that charring is completely eliminated when using the Erbium:YAG laser. The depth of coagulative necrosis adjacent to an incision is reduced from 510 microns (+/- 75) using the CO2 laser to 23 microns (+/- 12) using the Ebrium:YAG laser and at the base is reduced from 125 microns (+/- 45) using the CO2 laser to 12 microns (+/- 8) using the Erbium:YAG laser. The potential advantages regarding post-operative healing after laryngeal surgery are discussed.

Carbon Dioxide↗
PubMed1992

Smoking: a special need?

The smoking behaviour of 665 children aged 12-15 years with special educational needs was compared with that of a control group of 842 children in mainstream education. Each child was interviewed using a structured questionnaire and reported smoking behaviour was validated against scores on a carbon monoxide monitor. We identified as the most at risk group children with emotional and behavioural disorders. They had the highest smoking rates and were the heaviest smokers. In contrast, children with learning difficulties had slightly lower smoking rates than those of the control. There were significant associations between the children's smoking behaviour and the smoking behaviour of siblings and 'other adults' in the household, belonging to single parent families, low self-esteem and large friendship groups. The reported smoking rates of the families of both groups of special needs children was found to be considerably higher than that in the control group or in the general population.

Achievement↗