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Biomedical subjects

R K McLellan

Publications and source records attributed to R K McLellan.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Disability management training for supervisors: a pilot intervention program.

Proactive disability management practices among employers have been associated with reduced frequency and duration of disability. Supervisors have a critical role in disability prevention. However, few studies have evaluated training efforts to modify supervisor responses in order to improve disability outcomes. In this study, 108 supervisors representing seven employers were provided a 1.5-h training session to reinforce a proactive and supportive response to work-related musculoskeletal symptoms and injuries among employees. Pre- and post training results showed improvements in supervisor confidence to investigate and modify job factors contributing to injury, to get medical advice, and to answer employees' questions related to injury and treatment (p < .05). More supervisors reported decreases (38.5%) than increases (9.6%) in lost work time within their departments. These data provide evidence that this approach may improve disability outcomes of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Controlled trials with disability outcome data are needed to confirm these results.

Female↗
PubMed2000

Epidemiologic basis for an occupational and environmental policy on environmental tobacco smoke.

ETS contains numerous toxins. Robust epidemiologic evidence implicates ETS as a cause of lung cancer and as a primary cause and source of exacerbation of excess respiratory disease. There is also increasing evidence that ETS may be associated with other outcomes, including heart disease. There is currently little doubt that ETS is an important and avoidable health hazard. Unfortunately, ETS is frequently encountered in the workplace--where it is no safer than in other environments and where it presents hazards to exposed workers and to others. A unique aspect of workplace ETS is that exposure is rarely an outcome of essential manufacturing, extraction, or service delivery processes. Moreover, ETS exposure, with its growing list of known hazards, is preventable by engineering or policy means. Implementation of policies to prevent workplace ETS can be highly effective while entailing low costs and yielding primary and secondary benefits to employers and employees. ACOEM strongly supports an increase in the scope and effectiveness of policies and efforts that protect against exposure to ETS in the workplace and elsewhere. To that end, ACOEM supports voluntary, regulatory, and legislative initiatives to eliminate ETS from the workplace, including public spaces such as bars, casinos, restaurants, schools, day-care centers, and public transportation. ACOEM also encourages employers to provide employee training concerning the health hazards of ETS and voluntary personal smoking-cessation programs.

Carcinogens↗
PubMed1986

Magnesium deficiency in the pathogenesis of mitral valve prolapse.

Idiopathic mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is the commonest valvular disorder in industrialized nations. It is predominantly a familial condition, showing Mendelian dominance with delayed and variable penetrance. Although hyperkinesis and hypertrophy of the left ventricle have been described in MVP, its histopathology, somatic morphology and genetics support the leading theory that MVP results from a hereditary disorder of connective tissue. Latent tetany (LT) due to chronic Mg deficit (Mg-D) occurs in over 85% of MVP cases; MVP complicates 26% of LT. Mg-D can explain many clinical features of the MVP syndrome which are not easily explained by its genetics. Mg-D hinders the mechanism by which fibroblasts degrade defective collagen, increases circulating catecholamines, predisposes to cardiac arrhythmias, thromboembolic phenomena and dysregulation of the immune and autonomic nervous systems. Mg therapy provides relief of MVP symptoms.

Alprostadil↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Biological interventions in the treatment of patients with multiple chemical sensitivities.

The syndrome of multiple chemical sensitivities has many manifestations and undoubtedly many causes. Treatment must be individualized based on a thorough psychosocial and biological diagnostic evaluation. Careful listening, as is usually the case, not only results in a more complete history but also serves a critical therapeutic purpose in cementing a trusting, working partnership. Family dynamics, and larger social concerns, such as litigation, may figure importantly as obstacles to rehabilitation if they are ignored in treatment planning. In chronically disabled patients, the importance of psychosocial interventions is even greater but should not eclipse attention to relevant medical interventions. The most basic physiologic manipulation involves a program of environmental avoidance. Such a program should be applied with caution since it is not without risks of inadvertent exacerbation of medical and psychologic disabilities. Therefore, from a medical perspective, interventions should focus on improving chemical tolerance by the appropriate application of first aid, chronohygiene, nutrition, psychophysiology, and correction of microbiological disruptions. Thorough investigation for intercurrent disease and its appropriate management is paramount. Attempts to treat the entire problem by isolating attention to one area or based on a single theory are likely to fail.

Drug Tolerance↗