Biomedical subjects
C Berger
Publications and source records attributed to C Berger.
[Apropos of Hallopeau's continuous acrodermatitis localized on the left heel. Cure by subcutaneous injections of a hydrochloric hydrolysate of pus].
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Repeat abortion: is it a problem?
As the number of Canadian women who have had induced abortions increases with each succeeding year, the number at risk--and the actual incidence--of repeat abortion also increases. Some researchers have argued that women who have more than one induced abortion are less well adjusted, others that they are less willing to use contraceptives, perhaps because of anxiety about sexuality. Still others have suggested that repeat abortion is unrelated to the psychology or attitudes of individual women, but rather is an inevitable result of imperfect contraceptives, imperfect contraceptive practice and the availability of legal abortion for the termination of unwanted pregnancies. A group of 580 women seeking abortions were interviewed at the Montreal General Hospital and given a number of psychological tests. About one in five of these women were having repeat abortions. The women having repeat abortions were older, less likely to be married and more tolerant of legal abortion than were women having their first abortions. They also had intercourse more frequently than the first-abortion patients. Women obtaining a repeat abortion were slightly more likely to have been using contraceptives at the time they became pregnant, but they did not differ from first-abortion patients in the types of methods that they used. On no other social or demographic characteristics, measures of psychological adjustment or attitudes about sexuality were there any important differences between the groups. A more complex statistical analysis reveals that the two most important factors differentiating first-abortion and repeat-abortion patients are age and coital frequency--both of which are variables that reflect added exposure to the risk of unintended pregnancy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
[Splenogonadal fusion. Apropos of a case].
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[Does the placebo effect exist in newborn infants?].
Although comparison with a placebo is necessary to demonstrate the "true" effect of a drug, neonatologists are usually reluctant to use a placebo. The reason given is the lack of placebo effect in neonates. We studied heart and respiration rates and behaviour in normal neonates during heelstick for diagnosis of phenylketonuria. In this open randomized study we compared no treatment with an "analgesic" treatment consisting of water and sucrose. There was no difference in heart and respiration rates and behaviour between the two groups. These results do not demonstrate a "suggested" placebo effect and can in part be explained by the model and tools used to measure pain. The results do not support the non-use of placebo in drug evaluation trials in children.
[Pentasa (mesalazine) and pregnancy].
We analysed the outcome of 11 pregnancies in women treated for inflammatory bowel disease with mesalazine (Pentasa) during part of or throughout pregnancy. There were 9 healthy babies, one spontaneous abortion (the woman had an uterine malformation) and one infant with multiple malformations (but the mother was not treated with mesalazine during organogenesis). Because of the relatively small number of pregnancies exposed to mesalazine (Pentasa) in this study, these data need to be confirmed by other studies.
[Children's participation in biomedical research. A planned survey of 541 parents].
BACKGROUND: We have interviewed the parents of children born at two maternity hospitals to evaluate the knowledge of parents concerning the French Huriet law and their consent to the participation of their child in a randomized therapeutic trial. METHODS: The inquiry was conducted between 15 February and 30 April 1991. Each couple of parents of whom the mother had given birth in one of the hospitals was sent an explanatory letter and a questionnaire on the second day after delivery. Parents who were unable to read adequately and those whose baby was ill were excluded from the study. The main questions were: age of parents, country of origin, education, profession, social insurance, frequency of medical consulting, their knowledge of the Huriet law, the source of that knowledge, their attitude to giving parental consent for their child to participate in a trial, the reasons for their consent or refusal. RESULTS: Five hundred and eighty two questionnaires were distributed but only 541 were used. 73% of the parents said they knew that drugs were tested on volunteers. 59% claimed to know of the Huriet law, through the media (75%), their practitionist (12%), their environment (8%). 21% of the parents would consent to one of their children participating in such trial; 74% would refuse. Both parents were in agreement in 79% of cases, 12% of them for consent. The main reasons for refusal were the risk for side-effects of the drug (75%), lack of proof for efficacy (49%), disagreement in principle (19%). The mothers who consented were older than those who refused. The members of the "consent" group were more highly educated. CONCLUSIONS: Law Huriet is still inadequately understood in France. Pediatricians should consider how best to provide parents and the media with better information before trying to obtain parental consent.
[Social relations of children in the primary school age group. A study with the SOBEKI method in 8- to 11-year-old primary school children].
From the beginning of their lifes children are involved in many different kinds of social relations, that influence the development of children's personality. With the "Soziales Beziehungsverfahren" (SOBEKI), a method for the clinical diagnostic of children is available, that allows of determining the social network of six- to twelve-year-olds as well as specific distributions of functions in the children's systems of relations and beyond, making conclusions about cohesion and hierarchical structures of children's networks in- and outside their families. In this article a study will be presented, in which the social relations of eight- to eleven-year-old primary school children were investigated with the SOBEKI.
[Pericarditis caused by a swallowed safety pin in an infant. Review of the literature].
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