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Biomedical subjects

David Bradford

Publications and source records attributed to David Bradford.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Twenty-five years.

Having returned to Australia from the United Kingdom in late 1979, it has been my privilege to witness first-hand the quite dramatic changes in Sexual Health Medicine which have taken place during the final 25 years of my professional life. In this article I give a snapshot of my early experiences at the Melbourne Communicable Diseases Centre, highlighting some of the deficiencies that needed urgent attention. I wish I could say that this picture was an exaggeration to make the article more interesting but unfortunately that is not the case. I also attempt to examine some of the factors that brought about the much-needed improvements, especially the effect human immunodeficiency virus had on sexual health practice. It is impossible to mention all the individuals most involved in initiating change, but I have mentioned a couple of names, only because of close personal knowledge about their contribution.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Drug counselor report of adolescents abuse of nicotine replacement therapy.

BACKGROUND: Nicotine replacement products (NRT) are formulated and marketed to reduce their abuse liability among adolescents. Few studies have examined the extent of adolescent abuse. The objective of this manuscript is to describe the youth abuse rate for NRT and other over-the-counter (OTC) abusable substances. METHODS: Two cross-sectional telephone surveys of Safe and Drug Free School Coordinators were conducted in 1996/7 (N = 562) and 1998/9 (N = 501). Abuse of NRT and other OTC drugs and circumstances surrounding NRT abuse was ascertained. RESULTS: NRT abuse rates were low and did not change significantly between the two surveys (2.7% in 1996/7 to 4.6% in 1998/9). NRT abuse rates were well below those of other OTC abusable substances (e.g., diet pills and inhalants). CONCLUSIONS: Concerns over promotion of youth dependence to nicotine by offering the sale of NRT OTC to adults have not been realized and policymakers should consider reducing barriers to access these products.

Administration, Topical↗

Treatment of thoracic pseudarthrosis in the adult: is combined surgery necessary?

In deformity surgery in adults, pseudarthrosis remains an important cause of progressive deformity and postoperative pain. Revision surgery for pseudarthrosis in the lumbar spine is a difficult challenge with failure rates of as much as 50% using posterior surgery alone. Treatment of pseudarthrosis of the thoracic spine has not been well-described. The purpose of the current study was to review the long-term clinical and radiographic results of posterior-only surgery for the treatment of pseudarthrosis in the thoracic spine. Using a posterior extension osteotomy through the identified pseudarthrosis with reinstrumentation and autogenous bone grafting, an improvement of regional sagittal balance was shown and reliable clinical outcomes were obtained. A single-stage posterior revision surgery with extension osteotomies through the regions of pseudarthrosis coupled with rigid internal fixation and autogenous bone grafting is an effective technique for treatment of pseudarthrosis of the thoracic spine. This technique improves regional sagittal deformity and leads to reliable arthrodesis. Combined anterior and posterior surgery was not necessary for effective treatment of thoracic pseudarthrosis in this series.

Adolescent↗