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Biomedical subjects

P Benson

Publications and source records attributed to P Benson.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

An unusual vertical root fracture.

A case of an unusual fracture in the mesial root of a lower first molar tooth is described. The possible causes of vertical root fractures are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Lipase and pancreatic amylase activities in tissues and in patients with hyperamylasemia.

Lipase, pancreatic amylase, and total amylase activities were measured in nondiseased and diseased human pancreatic tissues and in six different locations of the human digestive system. In addition, it was determined whether serum lipase and pancreatic amylase tests could replace the total amylase test to improved diagnostic efficiency in the evaluation of acute pancreatitis in hyperamylasemia patients. Nondiseased pancreatic tissue contained 4.5 times more lipase activity than total amylase activity. Diseased pancreatic tissue contained less activity for both lipase and total amylase compared to normal tissue. The total amylase activity of the pancreas was comprised solely of pancreatic amylase. Tissue obtained from six different anatomic locations in the digestive system contained 35 to 45 times less lipase and total amylase activity compared to the pancreas. Total amylase activity of the digestive system tissues were comprised of 25% pancreatic and 75% salivary isoamylases. Lipase, pancreatic amylase, and total amylase levels also were determined in serial serum samples from 17 consecutive hyperamylasemia patients admitted with possible acute pancreatitis. The serum lipase level remained higher than normal longer than either the total amylase and pancreatic amylase levels. In patients with hyperamylasemia of pancreatic origin, a poor correlation was observed at admission between serum pancreatic amylase and serum lipase. Not all patients with elevated lipase had an elevated pancreatic amylase level and vice versa. However, in every patient pancreatic disease would have been detected by the elevation of either lipase or pancreatic amylase levels. Diagnostic efficiency for pancreatic disease using serum pancreatic amylase, lipase, and total amylase tests was 94.1%, 76.5%, and 64.7%, respectively. These data suggest that lipase and pancreatic amylase tests are specific for the pancreas and might be considered replacements for total amylase as the stat or routine laboratory test for the diagnosis of pancreatic tissue injury.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1990

Primate evolution at the DNA level and a classification of hominoids.

The genetic distances among primate lineages estimated from orthologous noncoding nucleotide sequences of beta-type globin loci and their flanking and intergenic DNA agree closely with the distances (delta T50H values) estimated by cross hybridization of total genomic single-copy DNAs. These DNA distances and the maximum parsimony tree constructed for the nucleotide sequence orthologues depict a branching pattern of primate lineages that is essentially congruent with the picture from phylogenetic analyses of morphological characters. The molecular evidence, however, resolves ambiguities in the morphological picture and provides an objective view of the cladistic position of humans among the primates. The molecular data group humans with chimpanzees in subtribe Hominina, with gorillas in tribe Hominini, orangutans in subfamily Homininae, gibbons in family Hominidae, Old World monkeys in infraorder Catarrhini, New World monkeys in semisuborder Anthropoidea, tarsiers in suborder Haplorhini, and strepsirhines (lemuriforms and lorisiforms) in order Primates. A seeming incongruency between organismal and molecular levels of evolution, namely that morphological evolution appears to have speeded up in higher primates, especially in the lineage to humans, while molecular evolution has slowed down, may have the trivial explanation that relatively small genetic changes may sometimes result in marked phenotypic changes.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Assessment of renal function by inulin clearance: comparison with creatinine clearance as determined by enzymatic methods.

We compared creatinine clearances determined by enzymatic (Kodak Ektachem 700 single-slide, Boehringer Mannheim creatinine PAP) and nonenzymatic (Jaffé, HPLC) methods with glomerular filtration rate measured by inulin clearance in patients with varying degrees of renal function. The Kodak enzymatic assay gave values for creatinine 2 to 3 mg/L higher than the other methods. This resulted in significantly lower creatinine clearances than inulin clearances and creatinine clearances determined by the other methods. However, correlations between all methods for serum and urinary creatinine values and clearances were good. To avoid between assay (enzymatic vs nonenzymatic) discrepancies, manufacturers should agree to an acceptable standard of calibration under the usual conditions used with patients.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
PubMed1988

Relaxation and imagery in the treatment of breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To see whether stress could be alleviated in patients being treated for early breast cancer. DESIGN: Controlled randomised trial lasting six weeks. SETTING: Outpatient radiotherapy department in a teaching hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred fifty four women with breast cancer stage I or II after first session of six week course of radiotherapy, of whom 15 dropped out before end of study. INTERVENTION: Patients saw one of two researchers once a week for six weeks. Controls were encouraged to talk about themselves; relaxation group was taught concentration on individual muscle groups; relaxation and imagery group was also taught to imagine peaceful scene of own choice to enhance relaxation. Relaxation and relaxation plus imagery groups were given tape recording repeating instructions and told to practise at least 15 minutes a day. END POINT: Improvement of mood and of depression and anxiety on self rating scales. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Initial scores for profile of mood states and Leeds general scales for depression and anxiety were the same in all groups. At six weeks total mood disturbance score was significantly less in the intervention groups, women in the combined intervention group being more relaxed than those receiving relaxation training only; mood in the control group was worse. Women aged 55 and over benefited most. There was no difference in Leeds scores among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with early breast cancer benefit from relaxation training.

Affect↗
PubMed1988

Hereditary xanthinuria in 2 Pakistani sisters: asymptomatic in one with beta-thalassemia but causing xanthine stone, obstructive uropathy and hypertension in the other.

We describe a 3-year-old Pakistani girl who presented with recurrent urinary infections. She had a nonfunctioning hydronephrotic right kidney and hypertension. At operation a calculus was impacted in the right ureter with dilatation of the pelviocaliceal system. Nephrectomy was performed. Histology revealed end stage pyelonephritis. The calculus consisted of pure xanthine. Further investigations demonstrated low serum uric acid and absent urinary uric acid with increased excretion of xanthine. Eight months after nephrectomy blood pressure had decreased to normal. Her 5-year-old sister, who has beta-thalassemia, also has a low serum uric acid concentration and xanthinuria. The treatment of choice is to increase fluid intake so that the urine xanthine concentration remains below the level at which xanthine crystallizes. This may require adjustment of the urine pH.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1988

Group therapy in a general practice setting for frequent attenders: a controlled study of mothers with pre-school children.

The frequent attendance of women suffering from anxiety and depression is a common problem in general practice and the problems are often externalized through the women's children. A small controlled study was carried out in a general practice surgery to see whether demand for medical attention by mothers of pre-school children would decrease after they attended a discussion group. Twenty women who fulfilled the study criteria of more than double the national average consultation rate for their age group and of having at least one pre-school child, were sequentially allocated to a treatment or control group. The group therapy was held over two terms of 10 sessions, each of 90 minutes, and was led by a psychologist and a general practitioner. Consultation rates (including surgery visits, house calls and prescription requests) were recorded for five consecutive six-month periods before and after the intervention. At follow-up six months after the end of the treatment a significant reduction in consultation rate had been achieved and maintained by the treated group compared with the controls (P<0.01). This study shows the value of attending to the cause of frequent consultation as well as to the complaints presented.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1987

Foetal heart rate and maternal emotional state.

Forty-five pregnant women rated themselves for hostility, depression and anxiety. Maternal and foetal heart rates were recorded while they listened to a tape through headphones. The foetuses of anxious mothers showed pronounced responses to certain taped stimuli but this effect was not found for mothers with high hostility or depression scores.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1986

Ill health and use of medical care. Community-based assessment of morbidity in children.

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between morbidity and ambulatory care utilization in a randomly selected sample of children with stable patterns of use of services in a prepaid multispecialty group practice. The unique features of the approach were a focus on long-term relationships (over 8 years) and on assessment of health status by a combination of parent reports, child reports, teacher reports, and physical examination. Domains of health status that were assessed included types and frequencies of health conditions and disability associated with them, functional status (physical health, mental health, social health, general well-being), school absence, vision and hearing screening, and physical abnormalities. Children with persistently high levels of use of services in a 6-year period (1974-79) were more likely to have health problems of all types, both concurrent and in a subsequent 2-year period (1980-81) than children with lower levels of use. As these findings were in agreement with those obtained in a study where morbidity was determined by diagnoses recorded in medical records, it is likely that the measures could be more generally useful to assess child health status in the community. Moreover, they distinguish groups of children who differ in their pattern of use of services and hence may be useful in the planning and budgeting of services for child populations.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1985

Utilization and morbidity: random or tandem?

Earlier studies have shown that one in eight children persist in being high users of health care services over long periods of time and, conversely, about the same proportion of children are consistently low users. As these studies failed to discover reasons for these persistent deviations from average, this study explored three possible explanations: persistent morbidity, mental health problem, and familial patterns of use. Although all three phenomena were associated with both persistence of high utilization of services as well as an overall large number of visits, the number of types of morbidity was the most significant correlate of high use. Children who were constantly low users of services were much more likely to have only a few types of morbidity whereas children who were constantly high users were much more likely to experience a wide variety of types of problems. These findings suggest that an understanding of the demand for health services requires an understanding of the interrelationships of illnesses within individuals rather than a focus on particular illnesses or particular types of illnesses.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1985

Styles of care provided to children in the United States: a comparison by physician specialty.

This study was based on findings from a national survey of physicians that was conducted from 1975 to 1977. The data concern face-to-face encounters with children in the ambulatory care setting. Over one half of the practices of pediatricians consisted of infants and preschoolers, whereas well over 50 percent of the child patients of other types of physicians were 10 to 19 years old. The proportion of visits dealing with a problem already under care was consistently greater for specialists other than primary care physicians; the proportion of visits for preventive care was much lower in the practices of these specialists than in primary care practice. These findings suggest that other specialists are functioning in ways different from primary care physicians. As compared with family physicians, pediatricians performed more diagnostic tests for all diagnoses and more immunizations and counseling about growth and development, were more likely to have seen children previously for problems other than the one dealt with in the visit under consideration, and were more likely to report that no specific therapy was required (except for well-child care). However, family physicians did more counseling about family and sex matters than pediatricians, were much more likely to have seen musculoskeletal and skin problems among 10- to 19-year-old patients, and were much more likely to have administered cauterization, cryotherapy, or suturing for skin problems. Family physicians provided more counseling of all types and did more minor surgical procedures than general practitioners. These and other findings show the existence of systematic differences across specialties in the care of children, even for apparently similar problems.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1984

Treatment of hypertension in pregnancy by relaxation and biofeedback.

In a study of the effectiveness of systematic relaxation training alone or combined with biofeedback in the treatment of hypertension in pregnancy, 60 women were seen weekly for 6 weeks. 18 were given relaxation therapy alone (group A), 18 relaxation plus biofeedback (group B), and there were 24 controls. Whereas two-thirds of the control group had to be admitted to hospital during their pregnancies, less than a third of each experimental group had to be admitted. The experimental groups also had significantly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure than the control group. There were no significant differences between groups A and B in hospital admission rates or blood-pressure measurements.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Morbidity in childhood--a longitudinal view.

We examined all the morbidity experienced in a six-year period by a total of 2591 children who were continuously enrolled in a prepaid medical plan. The children had received 19,291 diagnoses, each of which was assigned to one of 14 types of morbidity, and the frequency of each type was determined. Although the typical child had at least one problem in 5 of the 14 types of morbidity in the six-year period, over 20 per cent of children had at least 8 different types of problems during that time. Children with a greater variety of acute problems and more frequent acute problems were also more likely to have nonacute problems during the six-year period. Conversely, children with nonacute problems had more acute problems than other children. Our findings indicate that morbidity, like use of health services, occurred in clusters in this population of children. Therefore, an understanding of the cause and projected outcome of morbidity among children will be incomplete if the focus is only on specific diseases or specific types of illnesses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Preventive care and overall use of services. Are they related?

The relationship between the use of services of children constantly enrolled in a prepaid group practice medical plan for six years and the completeness of their preventive care were examined. Children who were consistently low users of services were more likely to be lacking one or more components of standard preventive care, particularly general health assessments in older children and vision, hearing, and tuberculosis screening in younger children. Teenage children who were low users were at some risk of not receiving their tetanus-diphtheria immunization on time. The relationship between low use of services and incomplete preventive care persisted after controlling for the severity of morbidity, although children with more severe morbidity were somewhat less likely to be missing preventive care. Health facilities and practitioners should pay special attention to assessing the need for standard preventive care in children who are infrequent users of services.

Adolescent↗