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Biomedical subjects

S Chinn

Publications and source records attributed to S Chinn.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

The relation of mortality in England and Wales 1969-1973 to measurements of air pollution.

The relation between mortality of people aged 45 to 74 and atmospheric smoke and sulphur dioxide in the county and London boroughs of England and Wales was investigated using data for the years 1969 to 1973. Weighted multiple regression analyses, which took into account a number of socioeconomic and climatic variables, showed no consistent relation of smoke or sulphur dioxide with mortality from all causes or with mortality from specified causes postulated a priori to be related to pollution. In particular there was no significant association between smoke and mortality rates for respiratory illness. Comparison with results from similar analyses of data for the two previous decades suggested that a decline in the strength of associations had occurred in parallel with declining levels of the pollutants.

Aged↗
PubMed1981

Weight-for-height as a measure of obesity in English children five to 11 years old.

The relation between measurements of height, weight and triceps skinfold for 7758 English boys and girls aged five to 11 are investigated. It is shown that the correlation between weight adjusted for height and triceps skinfold increases from about 0.5 at age five to nearly 0.7 at age 11, but that some curvature in the relation exists, a closer association between the variables being found for relatively heavy children than for relatively light children. However, the relation between the two measurements is not sufficiently great for weight-for-height to be used as a proxy measure of obesity. Skinfold measurements are recommended, except in large epidemiological studies or when fully trained observers are not available.

Body Height↗
PubMed1979

The relation between respiratory illness in primary schoolchildren and the use of gas for cooking--II. Factors affecting nitrogen dioxide levels in the home.

The study was designed to determine whether there was an association between indoor levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and respiratory illness and lung function in schoolchildren. NO2 was measured for one week in the winter outside and inside the homes of children aged 6-7 years living and attending primary schools in a defined 4 square km area in Middlesbrough, Cleveland, UK. Outdoor levels of NO2 measured at 75 points within the area ranged from 14-24 ppb weekly average. Measurements were also made in 428 kitchens with gas cookers, range 5-317 ppb, mean 112.2 ppb, and in 87 kitchens with electric cookers, range 6-188 ppb, mean 18.0 ppb. In a random subsample of homes the range of NO2 levels in 107 children's bedrooms in homes where gas was used for cooking was 4-169 ppb, mean 30.5 ppb, in 18 bedrooms in electric cooking homes the range was 3-37 ppb, mean 13.9 ppb. NO2 levels in the gas cooking kitchens were positively related to the presence of pilot lights, use of gas fires for main heating, number of regular smokers, and the number of people in the home. Information from 29 homes with the highest kitchen NO2 levels paired with 29 low NO2 gas cooking homes showed that the daily number of meals eaten and the frequency with which the cooker was used for heating and drying clothes were significantly greater in the high NO2 homes.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1979

The relation between respiratory illness in primary schoolchildren and the use of gas for cooking--III. Nitrogen dioxide, respiratory illness and lung infection.

We examined the relation between lung function and respiratory illness in a population of 808 primary school children aged 6-7 years and the levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the kitchens and bedrooms in their homes. Complete data were collected on about 66% of the population. The children lived in a defined 4 square km area in Middlesbrough, Cleveland, UK. One week average outdoor levels of NO2 varied little over the area (14-24 ppb); The prevalence of respiratory illness was higher in children from gas than electric cooking homes (p approximately or equal to 0.1). Although prevalence was not related to kitchen NO2 levels (range 5-317 ppb) it increased with increasing levels of NO2 in the children's bedrooms in gas cooking homes (range 4-169 ppb, p approximately or equal to 0.1). Symptoms in siblings and parents were not related to kitchen NO2 levels. Lung function was not related to NO2 levels in the kitchen or bedroom. Because of the very low levels of NO2 at which an association with illness was observed and the inconsistency between our results in the UK and those from several studies in the US, it is possible that the NO2 levels were a proxy for some other factor more directly related to respiratory disease such as temperature or humidity.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1979

The influence of availability of free school milk on the height of children in England and Scotland.

The effect is investigated of availability of free school milk on height gain in one year of six- and seven-year-old primary schoolchildren in England and Scotland, using data collected annually from 1972 to 1976. The height gain of children for whom milk was available for the whole year of observation was compared with that of children who had no milk. Out of 16 sex-country-year-specific analyses for children from manual social classes only, 13 showed no significant evidence of greater height gain in children who had milk. Comparison of children from Social Classes IV and V (semi-skilled and unskilled) showed no greater increase in height for those who had milk, nor was there a difference in height gain between manual social class children according to the number of glasses of milk they drank a day at home or at school. We concluded that, given the standard of living at the time of the survey, the drinking of free school milk did not increase the growth rate of six- and seven-year-old children.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Female fat distribution--a photographic and cellularity study.

A new method of classifying women according to their pattern of fat distribution is discribed. Standard linear-discriminant analysis of data from somatotype photography shows that the most important measurements are those of thigh and waist diameters and a simple ratio of these is proposed as a fat distribution (FD) score, ie one which distinguishes an android or central-type fat distribution from a gynoid or peripheral-type fat distribution: FD score = 26 log10 (formula: see text) The score is shown to correlate positively with age, actual weight and relative weight in 90 subjects, showing that older, fatter women are more likely to have a central-type of fat distribution. The score is also significantly positively correlated with the size of fat cells in the arm and waist measured in 46 subjects, showing that women with central-type fat distribution have larger fat cells in the upper parts of their bodies compared with women with peripheral-type fat distribution. Analysis of FD score before and after weight loss showed no significant correlation between the change in FD score and the degree of weight loss. This suggests that the pattern of female fat distribution as defined by the FD score is relatively constant.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1977

A study of menarcheal age in India.

A study of menarcheal age was carried out in southern India. A logit method of analysis was applied to status quo data on 1267 Tamil and Telugu speaking girls aged 9 to 18 years in 3 schools catering for different socio-economic groups. There appears to be no relationship of menarcheal age with dietary pattern classified simply as vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Differences in median age at menarche between schools correspond well with the socio-economic differences between them. The median age in the most advantaged school (12-86 years) is comparable with that in recent studies in southern and eastern Europe, and may perhaps be in advance of some recent north-west European samples.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Menarcheal age in Northumberland.

A second survey of age at menarche in north-east England, how it is affected by family environment and how it affects physique, was carried out in 1960-70 on a large sample of schoolgirls in the suburbs of Newcastle. Age at menarche shows no independent effect of social class or of position in sibship, but is strongly influenced by the size of family in which a girl grows up. Menarche is associated with pronounced increments in height and weight, in the presence of which no consistent effects of variables of the family environment on physique can be clearly identified. The results are very similar to those from the first study in South Shields, County Durham.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

The diagnosis of the carrier state for the Lesch--Nyhan syndrome.

Skin biopsies from the mother of a classical case of the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome grew only wild type fibroblasts. This suggested that she is not a heterozygous carrier of the mutant X-linked structural gene which causes the syndrome, and that a fresh mutation caused the disorder in her son. Evidence of mosaicism was sought in skin fibroblasts, hair follicles, jejunal mucosa, cultured bone marrow cells and phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) stimulated lymphocytes from known hemizygotes and heterozygotes for the so-called complete, and partial deficiencies of hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT). These studies were designed to determine the genetic status of the mother of the propositus and to determine if the genetic diagnosis could be improved by the simultaneous study of this wider range of tissues. The results are compatible with the mother of the propositus being a non carrier of a mutant gene causing the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome in her son. Only the study of cultured skin fibroblasts, and of the enzyme levels in hair follicles, contributed diagnostically useful information in this case.

Adult↗
PubMed1974

Screening for hypertension: some epidemiological observations.

Data obtained in long-term epidemiological studies of arterial blood pressure in the general population in South Wales were analysed to provide background information for the rational planning of screening programmes for hypertension.The incidence rates for cardiovascular complications emphasize the much greater prognostic value of blood pressure measurements in men than in women. Proportionately fewer men are treated for hypertension at all ages and blood pressure levels; in the survey areas treatment for hypertension is less than satisfactory in both sexes but particularly inadequate among men.The data suggest that once a screening programme has been carried out rescreening can be made more efficient by allowing the intervals before re-examination to be determined by the initial findings rather than by age.

Adolescent↗