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Biomedical subjects

P J Cook

Publications and source records attributed to P J Cook.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1973

Oesophageal cancer studies in the Caspian Littoral of Iran: the Caspian cancer registry.

The results of the first 3 years of cancer registration on the Caspian Littoral are described. The main finding, confirming previous reports, is a very large variation within the region of the incidence of oesophageal cancer. Possible sources of bias are considered and shown to contribute little to the pattern of incidence. Among women there is a thirty-fold variation in the incidence across the regions; among men a ten-fold variation. In the north-east of the region the tumour is at least as common in women as in men, and is more common than almost any tumour anywhere in the world. Among other tumours, stomach cancer has a strikingly uniform incidence by comparison; breast cancer shows an incidence gradient of opposite slope.

Adult↗
PubMed1972

1 -Antitrypsin deficiency and neonatal hepatitis.

Five out of 28 infants investigated in a regional survey of neonatal hepatitis were found to have genetically-determined deficiency of alpha(1)-antitrypsin (ZZ phenotype). The clinical course and pathological changes varied considerably. All five infants had an acute hepatitis-like illness, and although this subsided cirrhosis later developed in three cases. The remaining two infants had minimal abnormalities of the liver function tests at 12 and 18 months of age, and one had increased hepatic fibrosis. Australia antigen was found in the serum of three infants, and Australia antigen or antibody in one or both parents of these and of one further case whose serum was negative. It is suggested that the association of neonatal hepatitis with alpha(1)-antitrypsin deficiency may be commoner than previously realized and that Australia antigen acts as a trigger factor in these cases.

Autopsy↗
PubMed1971

Pulmonary emphysema and alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency.

Of 72 patients with radiological evidence of pulmonary emphysema, emphysema occurred either alone or in association with bronchitis in 61, and 8 of these (13%) were found to have alpha(1)-antitrypsin deficiency. The main features of this condition are: exertional dyspnoea of relatively early onset (generally between 30 and 45 years of age), severely impaired FEV(1) and T(L)CO, and radiological emphysema predominantly affecting the lower zones of the lungs. It is probable that any patient with all the above abnormalities has alpha(1)-antitrypsin deficiency. There is evidence to suggest that cigarette smoking may hasten the onset of this type of emphysema.

Adult↗
PubMed1971

A search for nitrosamines in East African spirit samples from areas of varying oesophageal cancer frequency.

Following the report of the presence of nitrosamine-like substances in samples of homemade spirit from Zambia, which had been obtained from an area where cancer of the oesophagus is common, samples of distilled alcoholic drinks were collected throughout western Kenya and southern Uganda from areas where the frequency of cancer of the oesophagus varies from very common to very rare. The 44 samples of spirit were screened by polarography and substances giving a similar response to nitrosamines were indicated at levels as high as 21 ppm. Subsequent analysis by gas chromatography for selected individual nitrosamines showed no evidence for the occurrence of methylethylnitrosamine (MEN), diethylnitrosamine (DEN), dipropylnitrosamine (DPN), ethylbutylnitrosamine (EBN), dibutylnitrosamine (DBN), nor of N nitrosopiperidine (N Pipn), but traces of compounds having a similar retention time as dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) were observed. However, subsequent examination by mass spectrometry showed no evidence of dimethylnitrosamine. There was no apparent association between the levels of unknown constituents indicated by polarography and gas chromatography, nor between either of these levels and the frequency of cancer of the oesophagus. The results by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry confirm that polarography is too unspecific to be a useful indicator of nitrosamines.

Alcoholic Beverages↗