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Biomedical subjects

R E Little

Publications and source records attributed to R E Little.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Mother's and father's birthweight as predictors of infant birthweight.

Mothers' and fathers' birthweights are each significantly related to their infants' birthweight, even after control for 31 potentially confounding variables. The relationship is stronger for mothers and daughters than for other parent-offspring pairs. Parents' birthweights together account for 2% of the variance in sons', and 5% of the variance in daughters' birthweights. There are interactions of maternal birthweight with maternal adult weight, pregnancy weight gain, and parity; the predicted effect of maternal birthweight on infant birthweight is enhanced when the mother weighs more, gains more weight during pregnancy, or is multiparous. Race and parents' drinking and smoking also modify the predicted effect of parents' birthweights. The correlation between mother and offspring birthweights has been attributed to the mother's own uterine experience and its effect on her later reproductive performance. However, the significant relationship of father and infant birthweights reported in this paper suggests that the fetal genes also play some role in determining size at birth.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Genetic and environmental influences on human birth weight.

Path-analytic techniques were used to demonstrate a significant influence of both fetal genes and maternal environment on birth weight in a sample of infants born to primarily white, middle-class, nonsmoking mothers. If the mother smoked before conception, however, the expression of the fetal birth-weight genes in males was significantly reduced. Multiparity was associated with an increase in genetic variance. This is the first report that genetic influences on birth weight are dependent on the environmental conditions imposed on the fetus by the mother.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1986

Agreement between laboratory tests and self-reports of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, marijuana and other drug use in post-partum women.

The agreement between self-reported consumption of several drugs and laboratory tests used to detect their use is examined. Post-partum women (N = 108) enrolled in a research study participated in a detailed interview covering alcohol and caffeine ingestion, tobacco smoking and use of marijuana and other psychoactive drugs. They also kept a 4-day record of their use of these substances. Blood and urine samples were taken and a physical exam done at the close of the record period. Laboratory tests to detect use of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, marijuana and other drugs were carried out and the results compared to self-reported drug use in the interview and the record. The degree of agreement depended on the drug taken, the test used and the pattern of drug use in the sample. Sporadic or infrequent consumption related poorly to laboratory tests, especially those that were designed as screening tools. Regular consumption could be identified with greater accuracy. However, the group associations evident between self-reports of drug use and laboratory results were not sufficient to guarantee that subjects were correctly classified. Error in both self-report and the decision made from laboratory values must be taken into account in determining the confidence that should be placed in the data and the conclusions drawn from it.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Fetal growth and moderate drinking in early pregnancy.

Heavy maternal drinking during pregnancy has consistently been linked to decreased intrauterine growth, but the effect of smaller amounts of alcohol is less clear. In this study, the relationship between fetal growth and "moderate" drinking by low-risk, nonsmoking prenatal patients is explored. The sample consists of 144 women seen for the first time at the prenatal clinic of University College Obstetrics Hospital, London, England, between July 1979 and May 1980 and meeting the following criteria: white, aged 19-35 years, 8-16 weeks gestation at first prenatal visit, nonsmoker, nonalcoholic, lower middle class or higher, and in general good health. Average daily consumption of 10 g of ethanol (about one drink) in the week prior to recognition of pregnancy is related to a decrease in infant birth weight of 225 g, after adjustment for gestational age, sex of child, and maternal age, weight, height, pregnancy weight gain, social class, gravidity, and parity. In addition, consumption of this amount in the week before first prenatal visit is related to a comparable decrease in birth weight for male but not for female infants. These findings suggest that risk of decreased intrauterine growth begins very early in pregnancy, and that fetal response to later alcohol use may vary with sex of the child.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1986

Osteomyelitis of the ilium secondary to external pelvic fixation.

Orthopedic surgeons commonly rely on external pelvic fixation in the treatment of pelvic fractures. Superficial pin tract infections have been reported with the use of this fixation, but we found no deep, chronic infections documented in the literature. We report here the case of a 24-year-old man with chronic bilateral iliac osteomyelitis following external pelvic fixation.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Birthweight and gestational age: mothers' estimates compared with state and hospital records.

Birthweight and gestational age estimates made by research subjects were compared with values obtained from birth certificates and hospital records. Ninety-one per cent of mothers' estimates of their infant's birthweight and 88 per cent of their estimates of infant gestational age agreed with the delivery record. When the same mothers estimated their own and their husband's birthweight, only 44 per cent were in agreement with birth certificate values; however, 78 per cent were in agreement with the pounds portion of the weight. Agreement of mothers' estimates of her own and her husband's gestational age with birth certificates was no better than chance.

Birth Certificates↗
PubMed1986

Radioulnar synostosis following an isolated fracture of the ulnar shaft. A case report.

In the case of a 19-year-old man, overuse of his nondominant forearm resulted in a radioulnar synostosis. Despite the persistence of the synostosis, the patient adapted to loss of forearm rotation. No further treatment was necessary. Isolated fractures of the ulnar shaft are slow in healing. Several authors observed that early function may be beneficial. However, excessive activity causing motion at the fracture site may cause subperiosteal hemorrhage and soft tissue trauma and may stimulate exuberant callus formation. Fractures of the ulnar shaft, even undisplaced, need to be immobilized to prevent overuse.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Reliability of retrospective estimates of alcohol consumption during pregnancy by recovering women alcoholics.

Twenty-six recovering women alcoholics were interviewed concerning their alcohol consumption during a pregnancy prior to their recovery. Several months later they were reinterviewed. Test-retest correlations were found to be high. Reliability was not related to the length of time since the pregnancy or to the test-retest interval. The frequency of consumption reported did not differ significantly from test to retest. However, the reported amount of consumption per occasion was significantly lower at the second interview. Reports of binge drinking were particularly unreliable. Results should be interpreted cautiously because the sample size was small. Although it may not be possible to estimate accurately actual alcohol consumption, it is possible to rank-order consumption reliably. It is not known whether these results may be generalized to other populations of pregnant women alcoholics, or to nonpregnant women and men.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Preventing fetal alcohol effects: effectiveness of a demonstration project.

The Pregnancy and Health Program (PHP) was established in 1979 to develop effective methods of intervening in maternal alcohol abuse during pregnancy in a metropolitan US community. Services provided over a two-year period included public and professional education, an alcohol and pregnancy information and crisis telephone line, screening for alcohol problems in selected prenatal clinics, treatment and support for women concerned about their drinking during a pregnancy, and help for children possibly affected in utero by alcohol. Evaluation of PHP's educational programmes showed significant increases in awareness and knowledge of the risks associated with drinking during pregnancy, among both the public and health professionals in the community. Information was provided by telephone to over 2400 persons, including one in every 44 pregnant women in the community. A total of 304 pregnant women were personally given information as well as treatment for alcohol problems when necessary. For women seen personally, a significant decrement in drinking was associated with programme entry, which was in turn related to healthier infants at birth. This two-year programme established that intervention in pregnancy drinking is essential and feasible. Screening techniques developed by PHP simplify detection of excessive drinking. Education coupled with effective screening and referral to treatment when needed make reduction of fetal alcohol effects a goal within reach for all communities.

Ethanol↗
PubMed1983

Change in obstetrician advice following a two-year community educational program on alcohol use and pregnancy.

A professional education program about the risks of drinking during pregnancy was conducted from 1979 to 1981 in King County, Washington. Advice of obstetricians to patients was measured both before and after the program. There was a significant increase in the proportion of obstetricians asking about current alcohol use of patients and in the proportion routinely recommending that alcohol be limited during pregnancy. When asked by their patients about the possible effects of alcohol on the fetus, obstetricians were more likely to mention fetal alcohol syndrome as a specific risk after the educational program. Patients of these obstetricians also reported similar, although somewhat more conservative attitudes. While no control group without access to the educational program was available, sources of information about drinking and pregnancy cited by obstetricians indicated that the program was influential in the change that occurred in the 2-year period.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Effects of alcohol on the fetus: impact and prevention.

In the spectrum of adverse effects on the fetus or infant associated with maternal drinking during pregnancy the most dramatic is the fetal alcohol syndrome, a pattern of malformation that has been associated with maternal alcohol abuse. Other undesirable outcomes of pregnancy linked to alcohol exposure in utero include growth deficiency, major and minor anomalies, decrements in mental and motor performance, and fetal and perinatal wastage. Alcohol, like other teratogens, does not uniformly affect all those exposed to it. Rather, there seems to be a continuum of effects of alcohol on the fetus with increasingly severe outcomes generally associated with higher intakes of alcohol by the mother. The cost of fetal damage associated with alcohol exposure is very high. A program to decrease the incidence of fetal alcohol effects is therefore imperative. The cornerstone of such a program must be not only education of the public but also careful training of all professionals who provide health care for pregnant women.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1981

Public awareness and knowledge about the risks of drinking during pregnancy in Multnomah County, Oregon.

Public awareness of the risks of drinking during pregnancy was assessed in a Northwestern metropolitan county. Ninety per cent of respondents stated spontaneously that drinking might be harmful, and one-fourth of this group felt pregnant women should customarily abstain from alcohol. The balance of those who considered drinking harmful felt an average of more than three drinks was safe for daily use. Thus awareness of risk does not necessarily result in recommendation of low-risk behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Epidemiologic and experimental studies in drinking and pregnancy: the state of the art.

Epidemiologic and experimental studies of the consequences of maternal drinking during pregnancy confirm reports that alcohol in high doses is teratogenic. Alcohol consumed in lower doses has been correlated with intrauterine growth retardation, increased risk of anomalies, behavioral decrements in infants and children, and increased risk of fetal wastage. While evidence linking these effects to moderate levels of alcohol use is growing, there is little agreement on the actual dose at which risks begin, due to the questionable validity of self-reported consumption. Many of the subtle effects correlated with lower amounts of alcohol--growth retardation, minor anomalies, and behavioral alterations--are the same effects that occur in severe degree with high amounts. Thus a dose-response curve may be emerging, although its existence must be substantiated by further studies.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1981

Behavioral correlates of prenatal alcohol exposure: a four-year follow-up study.

This prospective study examined long-term behavioral characteristics of children whose mothers drank alcohol and/or smoked cigarettes during pregnancy, compared to matched controls. Maternal habits had been assessed by interview during pregnancy; alcoholics and alcohol abusers were not included in this study. Primary outcome measures were naturalistic observations of children's behavior at age 4 in the home setting. Offspring of moderate drinkers (mean = 0.45 oz. absolute alcohol/day during pregnancy) generally were less attentive, less compliant with parental commands, and more fidgety during mealtime than were offspring of occasional and non-drinkers (mean = 0.07 oz. absolute alcohol/day during pregnancy). During storytime, an interaction of maternal drinking and child's sex occurred. The postnatal home environments did not differ as a function of maternal drinking or smoking habits.

Adult↗