Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C D Florey

Publications and source records attributed to C D Florey.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Alcohol consumption in Dundee primigravidas and its effects on outcome of pregnancy.

In a population based cohort study information on the consumption of alcohol was obtained from 95% of the 952 consecutive primigravidas who lived in the Dundee district and attended for antenatal care between May 1985 and April 1986. Before realising that they were pregnant more than 90% drank alcohol and 53% were cigarette smokers. During the first four months of pregnancy, however, the proportion of women drinking and smoking fell to 56% and 44%, respectively. Alcohol consumption of more than 120 g absolute alcohol/week (12 or more standard drinks) during pregnancy was related to shorter gestational age (-2.6 weeks), smaller head circumference (-18 mm), shorter (-21 mm) and lighter (-499 g) babies, and lower Apgar scores at five minutes (-0.4, all p less than 0.01). After adjustment for the effect of smoking, social class, mother's size, and other confounding factors, however, an alcohol intake of more than 120 g/week was significantly related only to shorter gestational age (-2.0 weeks, p less than 0.001) and lower Apgar score at five minutes (-0.2, p less than 0.05). Alcohol intake in the region of 100-119 g/week was significantly related to smaller head circumference (-12 mm, p less than 0.05). Analysis by type of beverage consumed suggested that beer rather than wine or spirits was associated with a poorer outcome. As there was no detectable effect on pregnancy of alcohol consumption below 100 g/week, it is suggested that health education should be directed towards mothers who drink more than this amount.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1988

Weak associations in epidemiological research: some examples and their interpretation.

The study of the epidemiology of chronic non-infectious diseases grew rapidly after the Second World War. In the early 1950s strong associations were found in studies based on hypotheses derived from clinical, demographic and animal observations. The associations between smoking and lung cancer, physical exercise and myocardial infarction, and air pollution and mortality all led to more than three decades of epidemiological endeavour to refine our understanding of the initial observations. As the large effects were discovered, new associations were perforce of smaller magnitude. The benefits of milk supplements to the diet of school-age children was elegantly shown in an MRC trial in 1920s using small numbers of deprived children, whereas in the 1970s, when the population's nutrition was vastly improved, many thousands of children were needed to give an answer. The impact of passive smoking on cancer incidence, on children's health and on pregnancy is a current debate because of the vanishingly small effects. Studies of the relation between alcohol consumption during pregnancy and the outcome of pregnancy has given rise to conflicting findings so that clear cut scientifically based recommendations cannot be given to social drinkers. The demands of governments for epidemiological evidence on which to base standards for pollutants in the air, water and ground, has resulted in the need for multiple studies using different techniques to suggest whether or not an association between health and exposure exists. These examples are used to illustrate the difficulties of interpretation of epidemiological studies when the effects of suspected risk factors are small.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Computer-assisted learning in British medical schools.

A questionnaire survey of British medical schools requested information about school policy and resources and about departmental use of programs and computing hardware. Few schools were sufficiently involved in computer-assisted learning (CAL) to have a clear policy, nor were resources generally available for CAL development. However, at departmental level there was active development in many schools, particularly in preclinical departments. Hardware preference was for BBC micros, but IBM compatibles appear to be growing in popularity. Because of the huge development costs of CAL, collaboration between schools is seen as essential while financial resources are scarce.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed1987

Association of infant alimentary and respiratory illness with parental smoking and other environmental factors.

The incidences of alimentary and respiratory illnesses were observed during the first year of life in 1565 infants born in Tayside during 1980. Significant correlations (p less than 0.05) were found between each of these outcomes and parental smoking, maternal age, social class, method of infant feeding, and heating fuels. Multiple logistic regression indicated a significant independent effect of parental smoking was related separately to alimentary and to respiratory outcomes, the relative risks being of similar strength.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1985

The Tayside infant morbidity and mortality study: effect on health of using gas for cooking.

The relation between respiratory illness and the use of gas for cooking was examined from data on 1565 infants born to mothers who were primigravidas living in Dundee in 1980. Episodes of, and admissions to hospital for, respiratory illness were recorded during the first year of life. Both admissions and episodes were more common in infants from families using gas for cooking or heating than in infants from families using any other type of cooking or heating, but the differences were not significant. Results from this and other studies show that there is probably a small relation between respiratory illness and the use of gas appliances without a flue. To show convincingly whether such a relation exists might require a survey of 18 000-23 000 subjects. Respiratory illness was, however, strongly and positively related to parental smoking, a finding that is often made even in small studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Exposure to cigarette smoking and children's growth.

An analysis of data from 5903 children from a study of primary schools in England and Scotland in 1982 showed that the number of cigarettes smoked by the parents at home was significantly associated with the attained height of their children. This relation was statistically significant after allowing for parents' height, child's birthweight, mother's smoking during pregnancy, overcrowding and number of older siblings. Number of cigarettes smoked at home was more strongly related to height than number of cigarettes smoked by the mother during pregnancy. The results suggest that passive smoking may have an effect on the height of a child independent of genetic factors, the social environment and mother's smoking in pregnancy. Whether this is a direct effect of parents' smoking on the child's growth remains unclear.

Body Height↗
PubMed1985

Investigations into the relations between respiratory illness in children, gas cooking and nitrogen dioxide in the U.K.

In 1977 an association was reported between the prevalence of respiratory illness and use of gas for cooking at home in a national sample of six to 11 year olds living in England and Scotland (p less than .10). Other variables such as social class and number of cigarette smokers at home did not seem to explain the association. As the gas cooker is an unflued appliance emitting a variety of pollutants during gas combustion it was suggested that indoor air pollution might explain the finding. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was suspected so a series of studies was conducted to investigate the distribution of levels of NO2 in the home, the relative contribution of sources of NO2 to indoor exposure and the relation between respiratory illness in six to 11 year olds and levels of NO2 in the home. The gas cooker was found to be one of the main sources of NO2 in the home. Winter weekly averages in kitchens with gas cookers had a mean of 112.2 ppb (n = 428, range 5-317 ppb). Levels in electric cooking kitchens were significantly lower (n = 87, mean 18 ppb, range 6-188 ppb). Studies of health indicated a relation between respiratory illness and bedroom levels of NO2 over the range 4-169 ppb (p .10). Results for living room levels of NO2 suggested a similar but non-significant relationship (p greater than .10). No relation was found for kitchen levels of NO2. For schoolchildren any effect on health from indoor NO2 is likely to be weak. However other sections of the population such as infants and the elderly who may spend more time indoors and are particularly susceptible to respiratory illness need to be studied to assess fully the impact that NO2 may be having on health.

Child↗
PubMed1984

Differences and comparative declines in ischaemic heart disease mortality among subpopulations in Australia, 1969-1978.

Mortality rates from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in Australia for the period 1969-78 have been analysed by place of residence, occupation and country of birth. Large variations were found among subpopulations. Throughout the period IHD mortality was lowest among professional and farming occupations and highest among workers in mining, transport and communications. Geographically, mortality from IHD was highest on the east coast and lowest in Western Australia. Mortality among immigrants was lower than among people born in Australia, with death rates for those born in Greece, Italy and Yugoslavia about half the average rates. Mortality from IHD in Australia has declined by about 25% over the last decade. However, the decline has not occurred uniformly. By occupation, the professional, technical and related workers showed the largest decline, while administrative, executive and managerial workers experienced the smallest decline. By place of residence in Australia, the largest declines occurred in the Hunter and Geelong regions, although the Hunter region still has the highest rate. Western Australia, excluding Perth, and rural Victoria did not show any marked decline. The remaining regions particularly the capital cities all experienced similar declines. When analysed by country of birth, Australian born residents showed a greater decline, while men born in Greece and Italy may have had an increase in IHD mortality. There is every indication that the decline will continue. Even those subpopulations with low initial IHD mortality experienced the decline, thus Perth and Adelaide (with low rates) had similar declines to Brisbane and Sydney (with high rates) and the professional occupation group which had the lowest rate also experienced the greatest decline.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Respiratory illness in British schoolchildren and atmospheric smoke and sulphur dioxide 1973-7. I: cross-sectional findings.

The relation between respiratory illness and atmospheric smoke and sulphur dioxide (SO2) was investigated from 1973 to 1977 in children aged 6 to 11 from a random sample of 28 areas in England and Scotland. Cross-sectional results are presented for 1975, and results from other years briefly summarised. In 1975 there were 19 areas with data on pollution and in these areas the sample included 5787 children of white ethnic origin of whom 4116 (71%) had complete information of respiratory illness and other variables considered in the analysis. After allowing for the effects of age, social class, population density, type of fuel used for cooking in the home, and season of examination, the prevalence of respiratory illness in both sexes was in the home, and season of examination, the prevalence of respiratory illness in both sexes was positively associated with the levels of smoke over the range of annual means 8 to 51 microgram/m3 )P less than or equal to 0.05). No relation was found between illness and annual means of SO2 ranging from 12 to 114 microgram/m3. Similar results were found in other years, and in 1977, when information of tobacco smoking at home was collected, the association between illness and atmospheric smoke appeared to be independent of smoking within the home. The levels of smoke were much lower than those at which effects on health hve previously been reported so the association is unlikely to be causative. We postulate that higher levels of atmospheric pollution at an earlier period in some areas may have predisposed children living there to respiratory illness during their primary school years. Alternatively, some other characteristics of the polluted areas may explain the findings.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1981

Respiratory illness in British schoolchildren and atmospheric smoke and sulphur dioxide 1973-7. II: longitudinal findings.

A study was set up to investigate the effects of annual changes in the levels of atmospheric smoke and SO2 on changes in health from 1973 to 1977 in primary schoolchildren from 28 randomly selected areas of England and Scotland. Changes in health were measured by taking the change in number of respiratory conditions reported from one annual examination to the next. The number of areas with data on pollution in each period was 5,9,17, and 14 respectively and within these areas the response rate varied from 65% to 74%. Altogether 857, 1436, 2702, and 2036 children respectively who were of white ethnic origin, aged 6 to 11, and had complete data on sex, social class, and changes in health were studied in each period. In 1973-4 the levels of pollution were highest and showed the greatest decline. The greatest annual mean change in smoke was a decrease from 71.9 to 50.5 microgram/m3 and in SO2 a decrease from 94.2 to 47.6 microgram/m3. However, no relation was found between improvement in health and decreasing levels of pollution. In subsequent years, when the levels of pollution were lower and showed smaller changes, change in health was also unrelated to changes in pollution. Thus no evidence was found to suggest that the levels measured during the study were harmful to health.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1981

The relation of mortality in England and Wales 1969-1973 to measurements of air pollution.

The relation between mortality of people aged 45 to 74 and atmospheric smoke and sulphur dioxide in the county and London boroughs of England and Wales was investigated using data for the years 1969 to 1973. Weighted multiple regression analyses, which took into account a number of socioeconomic and climatic variables, showed no consistent relation of smoke or sulphur dioxide with mortality from all causes or with mortality from specified causes postulated a priori to be related to pollution. In particular there was no significant association between smoke and mortality rates for respiratory illness. Comparison with results from similar analyses of data for the two previous decades suggested that a decline in the strength of associations had occurred in parallel with declining levels of the pollutants.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

Travels in Iraq.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1979

The influence of availability of free school milk on the height of children in England and Scotland.

The effect is investigated of availability of free school milk on height gain in one year of six- and seven-year-old primary schoolchildren in England and Scotland, using data collected annually from 1972 to 1976. The height gain of children for whom milk was available for the whole year of observation was compared with that of children who had no milk. Out of 16 sex-country-year-specific analyses for children from manual social classes only, 13 showed no significant evidence of greater height gain in children who had milk. Comparison of children from Social Classes IV and V (semi-skilled and unskilled) showed no greater increase in height for those who had milk, nor was there a difference in height gain between manual social class children according to the number of glasses of milk they drank a day at home or at school. We concluded that, given the standard of living at the time of the survey, the drinking of free school milk did not increase the growth rate of six- and seven-year-old children.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Association between gas cooking and respiratory disease in children.

A four-year longitudinal study of the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and disease in schoolchildren and related environmental and socio-economic factors is in progress. We report results for the first year of this study (1973). A total of 5758 children aged 6 to 11 years from 28 randomly selected areas of England and Scotland were examined. In an analysis of the effects on health of possible indoor pollutants, boys and girls from homes in which gas was used for cooking were found to have more cough, "colds going to the chest", and bronchitis than children from homes where electricity was used. The girls also had more wheeze if their families used gas for cooking. This "cooking effect" appeared to be independent of the effects of age, social class, latitude, population density, family size, overcrowding, outdoor levels of smoke and sulphur dioxide and types of fuel used for heating. It was concluded that elevated levels of oxides of nitrogen arising from the combustion of gas might be the cause of the increased respiratory illness.

Air Pollution↗