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Biomedical subjects

J D Douglas

Publications and source records attributed to J D Douglas.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Occupational asthma caused by automated salmon processing.

Within 3 months of the opening of a salmon-processing plant in the UK, some workers complained of symptoms suggestive of occupational asthma. A survey of all 291 employees identified 24 (8.2%) with occupational asthma. The employees worked near machines which generated respirable aerosols containing salmon-serum proteins. The IgE response to these proteins was associated with occupational asthma (p < 0.001), with increasing severity of symptoms (p < 0.001), and with working distance from the aerosol source (p = 0.037). The main factor which predisposed to IgE-antibody production and asthma was cigarette smoking (p < 0.001), whereas atopy and a previous allergic history did not. The affected employees were reallocated to a low-exposure worksite and factory ventilation was improved. Eleven showed significant clinical and pulmonary function improvement, and continued in employment. Thirteen who still had symptoms were advised to leave, thereafter becoming symptom-free, and regaining normal respiratory function. Early recognition of symptoms and prompt action to reduce aerosol exposure avoided the long-term reduction in pulmonary functions often associated with occupational asthma.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Salmon farming: occupational health in a new rural industry.

The medical hazards of salmon farming can be grouped into those related to marine safety, fish husbandry, fish-farm diving and disease treatments. The hostile water environment requires thermal protection and personal buoyancy aids as workers frequently fall in the water from boats or cages. Feedstuffs may generate respirable dust and attract rats, creating a risk of leptospirosis. Musculo-skeletal injuries are common from lifting nets. Fish-farm diving has particular risks which can be minimized. Organophosphorous pesticides are used to treat sea lice and employees require health surveillance. Fish immunization is required to reduce the incidence of Aeromonas salmonitica. Needlestick injuries when using oil-based vaccines are a serious hazard to employees. The occupational health problems of salmon farming are predictable and preventable with primary safety measures. This new industry is safer than land-based agriculture on current evidence.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Transcranial Doppler ultrasound in commercial air divers: a field study including cases with right-to-left shunting.

Many cases of decompression illness occur in divers using recommended decompression tables. Doppler ultrasound has been used for over 20 yr and has shown the presence of venous bubbles in asymptomatic divers working well within decompression limits. Previous studies have demonstrated an increased prevalence of patent foramen ovale in divers who have suffered neurologic decompression illness. It has been postulated that right-to-left shunting through a patent foramen ovale could allow arterialization of these bubbles, causing symptoms and signs of acute decompression illness and possibly chronic subclinical neurologic impairment. We set out to determine the incidence of bubbles in the cerebral circulation of commercial divers decompressing from air dives. Using transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD), the middle cerebral arteries of 17 divers were monitored after surfacing from depths ranging between 3 and 50 m. Peripheral contrast injection with simultaneous transthoracic echocardiography and TCD was used to screen for right-to-left shunting. Right-to-left shunting was detected in four divers by TCD (one at rest, two after a Valsalva maneuver, and one only after coughing); however, echocardiography was positive in only one of these subjects after a Valsalva maneuver (TCD was positive at rest in this subject). Seventy-three TCD recordings were performed in four settings: 41 after underwater decompression, 18 after surface decompression, 10 in the interval between surfacing and entering the decompression chamber, and 4 after a chamber dive. Twenty-three of these recordings were in four subjects with right-to-left shunting; no bubbles were detected in any of these recordings.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Deviance in the practice of science.

The author discusses misconduct in biomedical research in terms of research about deviance. The ancient mantle of the sacred was transferred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century from religious institutions to the scientists and the universities that they came to dominate. Universities were engaged in the pursuit of truth; and when science came to dominate universities, they became the hallowed ground of science. Many younger scientists consider that theirs is professional work like any other, but the general public, journalists, and policymakers still consider that scientists who break the rules are guilty of heinous offenses (violations of a sacred trust). This explains in part the different reactions of scientists and the public to recent scandals involving medical researchers. One of the most important points about deviance among scientists is the need to distinguish between rules imposed on the actor and rules that the individual is personally committed to. As government funding has come to dominate biomedical research, scientists have become part of huge bureaucratic entities with values, policies, and views often at variance from those of the scientific community. Increasingly, scientists find conflict between the values and mores of their community and the rules and mores of the federal and university bureaucracies that control modern science. Scientists can come to feel that they can violate the bureaucrats' rules and still be highly principled because they do not violate the values of science. The danger is that, by a process of drift, they can come to violate increasingly important, even primary, values of science.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1988

Heliox treatment for spinal decompression sickness following air dives.

Enforced delay in treatment of spinal decompression sickness following scuba diving can result in paraplegia. Poor response from initial recompression to 18 m presents the clinician with a difficult management problem. Theoretical objections have been raised to the use of He-O2 as treatment regimen. We report 3 cases that show He-O2 to be an excellent method of treatment in spinal decompression sickness after air diving.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Intramuscular diclofenac sodium as adjuvant therapy for type I decompression sickness: a case report.

The residual pain of type I decompression sickness (limb bends) occurring despite recompression therapy is due to an acute inflammatory reaction in the soft tissue around the joint. This case history reports an excellent response in resolving residual pain by the use of an intramuscular injection of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac sodium. The theoretical reasons for this are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Chromosome aberrations in divers.

The incidence of chromosome gain and loss and chromosomal aberrations has been measured in 48-h lymphocyte cultures of divers and control subjects as part of an overall research program to identify possible long-term health hazards associated with commercial diving. When the two diving groups, air divers (n = 77) and helium-oxygen divers (n = 76), are compared with two control groups, oil rig workers (n = 75) and nonoil industry controls (n = 52), 3.9% (6 out of 153) had an unusually high number of structural aberrations in a small portion of the dividing lymphocytes. Similar damage was not found in controls. The remaining 147 divers had a similar low incidence of chromosomal aberrations to the two control groups. The factors responsible for this phenomenon are not known, but several aspects of diving can effectively be ruled out. These are: direct effects of pressure, breathing mixture, radiographic exposure, and viral infection. The causative agent must be acting locally on lymphocytes after their last maturation division. Further studies are continuing on this topic in an effort to identify the causative factor or factors.

Air↗