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Biomedical subjects

G Hill

Publications and source records attributed to G Hill.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

The antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the Bacteroides fragilis group in the United States, 1987.

A nationwide survey to monitor the susceptibility of the Bacteroides fragilis group, which began in 1981, was continued during 1987. In addition to the eleven drugs evaluated in 1986, sulbactam, a potent beta-lactamase inhibitor, was tested alone and in combination with ampicillin and cefoperazone. Imipenem, ampicillin/sulbactam, cefoperazone/sulbactam, and ticarcillin/clavulanic acid were the most active newer drugs tested, with less than 1% resistance rates. Chloramphenicol, metronidazole and clindamycin also had excellent activity with resistance rates of 0%, 0%, and 3% respectively. Resistance rates to cefoxitin remained stable at 8%. Ceftizoxime and cefotetan had resistance rates of 26% and 29%, respectively. Rates of resistance varied among different institutions and between the various species.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Comparative activities of newer beta-lactam agents against members of the Bacteroides fragilis group.

A nationwide susceptibility survey of 557 isolates of the Bacteroides fragilis group was continued in 1986. The most active beta-lactam drugs were imipenem and ticarcillin-clavulanic acid, which had 0.2 and 1.7% resistance, respectively. The rank order of activity of beta-lactam drugs was imipenem, ticarcillin-clavulanic acid, cefoxitin, piperacillin, moxalactam, ceftizoxime, cefotetan, cefotaxime, cefoperazone, and ceftazadime.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Links between passive smoking and disease: a best-evidence synthesis. A report of the Working Group on Passive Smoking.

We reviewed the toxicologic, clinical, and epidemiologic evidence on the health effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). For each type of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke we have sought articles in the English language reporting studies of effects on human health. Formal criteria that stressed study design, quality of execution and generalizability of results were used to select 116 scientifically admissible reports from over 2,900 articles. We concluded that: (a) there is strong evidence of an association between residential exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and both respiratory illness and reduction of lung function, and also between maternal smoking and reduced birth weight; (b) the weight of evidence is compatible with an association between active maternal smoking during pregnancy and increased infant mortality, and also between residential exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (primarily spousal smoking) and the risk of lung cancer; (c) there is evidence consistent with a relationship between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace and respiratory symptoms, (d) the evidence is insufficient to implicate residential exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in relation to other forms of malignant disease or congenital malformations; (e) there is no evidence in the literature of an association between nonresidential exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and any form of cancer. Further studies are required to address the effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, especially nonresidential exposure, in carcinogenesis and as a risk factor for atherosclerosis. Further work is also needed to improve measurement of exposure in such studies and to assess the importance of confounding factors.

Adolescent↗

Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CaSHA).

A Canada-wide study of the epidemiology of dementias was initiated in the summer of 1990 with the support of Health and Welfare Canada. The four objectives are to estimate the prevalence of dementias among elderly Canadian citizens, to determine the risk factors for dementia of the Alzheimer type, to describe the current pattern of caring for demented patients and assess the burden on informal caregivers, and to establish a uniform database for future incidence and longitudinal studies of dementias. Trained interviewers will screen a representative sample of senior citizens in the community. The screening is followed by a standardized clinical assessment for putative cases of dementia, for institutionalized patients and for a number of controls. Diagnosis will follow DSM-III-R criteria for dementia, the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria for dementia of the Alzheimer type and the ICD-10 criteria for other dementias. A sample of cases and controls will then enter the caregiver and risk factor sub-studies.

Aged↗

Survival rates among patients with cancer in Alberta in 1974-78.

We calculated 5-year crude and relative survival rates, by age and sex, for patients in Alberta in whom cancer was diagnosed between 1974 and 1978. Cancers with low overall 5-year relative survival rates (less than 35%) included stomach cancer, cancer of the pancreas, lung cancer, brain cancer, multiple myeloma and myeloid leukemia. Cancers with high overall 5-year relative survival rates (more than 70%) included melanoma, breast cancer, cancer of the uterus, cancer of the bladder and Hodgkin's disease. Five-year relative survival rates were generally lower in the highest age group (75 years or more). A strong inverse relation between age and survival was noted for brain cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloid leukemia.

Adult↗

Susceptibility of the Bacteroides fragilis group in the United States: analysis by site of isolation.

An ongoing survey of the susceptibility of the Bacteroides fragilis group of bacteria was continued at New England Medical Center in 1984 and 1985. A total of 1,229 strains were obtained from eight centers in the United States. These results were compared with those for 1,847 isolates tested in 1981 through 1983. The most active beta-lactam drugs were imipenem and ticarcillin-clavulanic acid (Timentin), which had a less than 1% resistance rate. No metronidazole- or chloramphenicol-resistant isolates were found during the 5 years of the study. Isolates obtained from blood, perinatal, and bone sites of infection were more resistant to a variety of antimicrobial agents. Susceptibility patterns of the members of the B. fragilis group varied at the eight hospitals and among species. These data indicate the need for determining the susceptibility patterns for the B. fragilis group of organisms at each hospital.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Clinical assessment of 31 patients with Wilson's disease. Correlations with structural changes on magnetic resonance imaging.

Thirty-one patients with Wilson's disease were evaluated with detailed neurologic and medical examinations. Mean age (+/- SD) at onset was 21 +/- 5 years and at examination was 28 +/- 6 years. Of the 90% of patients who were first treated with penicillamine, 31% deteriorated initially despite therapy, and half never recovered to pretherapy baseline. At the time of our evaluations, the most common neurologic findings were dysarthria (97%), dystonia (65%), dysdiadochokinesia (58%), rigidity (52%), gait and postural abnormalities (42%), and tremor (32%). Chorea and dementia were rare. Twenty-two patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging. All but one of the 19 symptomatic patients had abnormal scans. The three asymptomatic patients had normal scans. Most lesions were seen in the caudate, putamen, subcortical white matter, midbrain, and pons. Generalized brain atrophy was also common. Lesions were less common in the thalamus, cerebellar vermis, midbrain tegmentum, globus pallidus, red nucleus, and dentate nucleus. Dystonia and bradykinesia correlated with putamen lesions, and dysarthria correlated with both putamen and caudate lesions.

Adolescent↗