Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P S Parfrey

Publications and source records attributed to P S Parfrey.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Effect of isometric exercise on the renal excretion of sodium and potassium in mild hypertension.

1. Basal levels of pulse rate, blood pressure and rates of sodium and potassium excretion were observed in eight white male patients with mild hypertension and eight age-, sex- and colour-matched controls during an initial rest period of 90 min and then for 5 h after a 1 h period of isometric exercise involving all four limbs in rotation. The studies were repeated on another day with the subjects resting instead of exercising for 1 h. 2. Changes in systolic pressure after exercise were similar in the hypertensive and control groups, whereas the rise in diastolic pressure was higher and the rise in pulse rate lower after exercise in the hypertensive group compared with the control group. 3. The changes in the rate of salt excretion were significantly different in the two groups, the hypertensive group retaining proportionately more sodium and potassium over several hours.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Iron overload despite partial gastrectomy.

Iron overload was found in 3 patients who had undergone partial gastrectomy: a 61-year-old woman developed iron overload because she may have had idiopathic haemochromatosis and had also been given parenteral iron; in a 62-year-old man with thalassaemia minor, iron overload may have developed because of increased oral iron ingestion, low serum folate, increased, albeit ineffective, erythropoiesis and sideroblastic anaemia; a 74-year-old man with thalassaemia minor developed iron overload without exogenous therapy and died from a hepatoma. These cases illustrate that partial gastrectomy fails to protect patients from developing iron overload, particularly if given uncontrolled iron therapy.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

Diabetic control--a critical evaluation of current methods of assessment.

The value of a number of currently used parameters in the assessment of diabetic control was critically assessed in one hundred and seventy seven diabetics. Each method was compared with the results of 5 blood glucose values taken at selected times during the 24 hours. In all diabetic patients, clinical assessment, semi-quantitative urine tests both at home and in hospital and 24-hour quantitative urinary glucose values can at best indicate only poor diabetic control. They failed to do this in a substantial number of cases. In insulin dependent diabetics, isolated blood glucose readings are of very limited value in predicting good diabetic control. In maturity onset type diabetes, a single blood glucose reading is a reliable index of diabetic control. The implications of these findings in the practical management of diabetes are considered.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Pulmonary function in the early postoperative period.

To the author's knowledge, an intensive investigation of pulmonary function during the first 2 postoperative days has not previously been reported. Consequently, in this study the effect of regional surgery on respiratory function, monitored every 4 h during the first 2 postoperative days, was analyzed. Hypoxaemia was a constant finding in all patients undergoing general anaesthesia. The degree and duration of hypoxaemia and spirometry changes were related to the site of surgical incision. Clinical signs of atelectasis were commonly observed during the first postoperative day and occurred after the change in PO2 and spirometry. Atelectasis was more common in patients having upper abdominal surgery. The current investigation reveals that the earliest postoperative change indicative of atelectasis is the fall in PO2; that auscultatory changes do not always occur in the presence of postoperative hypoxaemia; that auscultatory signs are not indicative of the extent of the PO2 fall; and that radiology represents a crude method of assessing postoperative atelectasis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Postoperative hypoxaemia and oxygen therapy.

To observe the duration of hypoxaemia 8 patients were monitored every day for the first 7 days following upper abdominal surgery. Three of these patients who had failed to regain their preoperative PO2 value by the seventh postoperative day were further monitored on alternate days until the fourteenth postoperative day. A further 3 patients were similarly monitored on alternate days for 14 days. In another group of 10 patients blood gases were monitored every 4 h for the first 48 h following major abdominal surgery, during which time the patients were given 35 per cent oxygen for the first 24 h after operation. (All patients in this group had a diminished respiratory reserve preoperatively to a sufficient degree to warrant admission to the intensive therapy unit postoperatively, and these patients were treated with oxygen for 24 h, as is the practice in our unit and in other surgical units.) Oxygen was administered using a Ventimask at 8 l/min (British Medical Journal, 1972). Nine of the 10 patients did not show postoperative hypoxaemia while being treated with 35 per cent oxygen, although the PO2 value attained were lower than expected. On withdrawal of oxygen after 24 h, the PO2 decreased below preoperative levels in all patients. The PO2 of 7 patients in this group decreased below 8 kPa during the second 24 postoperative hours, in 4 of whom the level fell below 6-7 kPa. Some recommendations to improve the respiratory care of the surgical patient are presented.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

The effect of religious factors on intoxicant use.

To examine cigarette, alcohol and drug use among undergraduates in Cork a precoded questionnaire was mailed to one in seven (458) students, chosen systematically. The response rate was 97%. Religious belief and practice was significantly associated with pattern of drinking behaviour, attitude to alcohol use, marijuana, L.S.D., barbiturate or amphetamine experience and cigarette smoking. It is suggested that current uncertainty of belief in a God and infrequent attendance at religious services are more important factors in promoting alcohol use than being brought up a Roman Catholic. The nature of practices considered serious misdemeanours was significantly associated with religious belief and practice, pattern of drinking behaviour, attitude to alcohol use, marijuana, cigarette smoking. These associations allowed separation of two overlapping groups, one of which was tradition-directed and other which swung towards a more liberal and unstructured life style.

Alcohol Drinking↗