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Biomedical subjects

B J Henderson

Publications and source records attributed to B J Henderson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Three lay mental models of disease inheritance.

Genetics are coming to play an increasing role in biomedical understanding of common diseases. The implication of such findings is that at-risk individuals may be offered predictive genetic tests. How do individuals make decisions about predictive tests and what information do they need to make informed choices? Richards [Richards, M.P.M., 1993. The new genetics: some issues for social scientists. Sociology of Health and Illness 15, 567-586] has argued the first step in understanding and helping people to make these decisions is to investigate lay beliefs of genetics. This study examined mental models of inheritance in a sample of 72 lay people. Through analysis of open-ended questionnaires we found three mental models which loosely corresponded to three phases of historical development in the science of genetics. These we labelled the Constitutional, Mendelian and Molecular Models. Predictions for individuals holding each model are made for the comprehension of genetic information in a testing situation.

Female↗

Changes in women's emotions as a function of emotion valence, self-determined category of premenstrual distress, and day in the menstrual cycle.

A confirmatory study where 20 women completed Plutchik and Kellerman's Emotions Profile Index in a daily prospective rating of emotions supported previous findings of mood fluctuations across the menstrual cycle. Positive moods peaked at or about the time of ovulation and negative ones at or about the time of menstruation. However, significant interactions indicated that a pronounced shift in mood was only characteristic of women who rated themselves as "sufferers" of premenstrual discomfort and not of those who rated themselves as experiencing very mild discomfort.

Adult↗

Hungary: a health system in transition.

Hungary has an area of 93,030 square kilometers (35,900 square miles), the size of the state of Indiana in the United States. It is landlocked by the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic to the north, Austria to the west, Yugoslavia to the south, and Romania and the Soviet Union to the east. Although the health care system is based on the Soviet system, there have been dramatic changes since 1991, when the soviet Union and its Eastern European partners discarded their communist structures and the Soviet empire was disbanded. In this report, the current Hungarian health care system and the political structure in which it is housed will be described in terms of a key set of characteristics and their subparts. The purpose of this approach is to facilitate comparison of the Hungarian system with other national health care systems. An expanded version of this article will appear in an upcoming second edition of the College's book, International Health Care: A Framework for Comparing National Health Care Systems, by Drs. Mendoza and Henderson.

Demography↗

Constitutional guarantees to health care in Spain.

This analysis of the Spanish health care system is one in a series of such studies undertaken by the author, following a grid of factors that influence the delivery and financing of health care. The purpose of the national analyses is to facilitate a comparison of the United States' and other health care systems in terms of anticipated reform of the U.S. system. Analyses of the U.S. and nine other national systems are included in a book that has just been published by the College. Spain and nine additional countries will be studied in a book due for publication later this year. A final book with ten additional national analyses will appear in 1996.

Civil Rights↗

Pneumonectomy through an empyema.

In the 10 year period from May, 1973, to May, 1983, a total of 251 pneumonectomies were undertaken. Total unilateral bronchiectasis, the consequence of previous tuberculosis, occurred in 67.3% of cases and was the major indication for pneumonectomy. Of the 251 pneumonectomies, 14.7% were done through an empyema. The management of patients undergoing this procedure is discussed. There were two operative deaths among the 37 patients. Postpneumonectomy empyema developed in 16 patients (45.7%), and five of these patients required thoracoplasty, five left the hospital with an open drain or sinus, and in six the empyema was sterilized.

Adolescent↗

Pulsion intubation for palliation of carcinoma of the oesophagus.

One hundred and eighty-one patients with carcinoma of the upper thoracic oesophagus were intubated perorally using a Procter-Livingstone tube. The mortality was 16-6 per cent but, in the patients who survived, the palliation achieved, as judged by improved swallowing, was considered satisfactory. Factors influencing the success of intubation are also considered.

Adult↗

Palliation of malignant esophago-respiratory fistulae by permanent indwelling prosthetic tube.

Malignant esophago-respiratory fistula is an incurable condition calsing severe distress to those patients suffering from it. Sixty two successive patients with esophago-respiratory fistulae, secondary to squamous cell carcinomas of the esophagus, were intubated for palliation. The first 14 were intubated by a traction technique using the Celestin tube, and the remaining 48 were intubated by the Procter-Livingstone tube inserted by a pulsion method. Celestin intubation had a mortality of 64.3% but 75% of those intubated by the Procter-Livingstone tube were discharged from hospital, swallowing satisfactorily and relieved of their respiratory distress. In our experience the insertion of the Proctor-Livingstone tube by a pulsion technique, can be performed in a few minutes, with little morbidity and allows the patient to be discharged from hospital within 3-4 days of the procedure. It is a successful and acceptable method of treating malignant esophago-respiratory fistulae.

Adult↗