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Biomedical subjects

W J MacLennan

Publications and source records attributed to W J MacLennan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Fractures in medieval Scotland.

The prevalence of fractures in medieval Scotland is assessed, particular attention being given to excavations of cemeteries beside three Carmelite cemeteries, at Aberdeen, Perth and Linlithgow, and another one at Whithorn Abbey. In the friaries the prevalence of fractures was 7.6% and in Whithorn it was 5.0%. These figures are comparable with an estimated prevalence of 7.2% for individuals between 0 and 65 years in present day Scotland. Males were more at risk of fractures than females, but a small group from both genders had been struck on the head by weapons. A study from a rural cemetery in England indicates that both male and female peasants had a much higher risk of fractures than their urban counterparts.

Female↗
PubMed1999

History of arthritis and bone rarefaction evidence from paleopathology onwards.

Review of medical and archaeological papers reveals that osteoarthritis has been common in humans and hominids since Paleolithic times. In the British Isles, there was a particularly high prevalence in remains from Romano-British and Saxon burials suggesting that, whatever genetic factors there may have been, there was an extremely high level of physical activity. The prevalence of the condition was lower in late Medieval times; and, in at least one study of subjects from the 18th and 19th centuries, lower than in the current population. In early times, there was a reduction in bone density when there was a change from hunter gathering to agriculture which may have resulted from a change physical activity. Severe cases of osteoporosis have been identified from individual skeletons dated to the Bronze Age. In the Early Medieval period of Nubia there was progressive bone loss in women. Multiple pregnancy, prolonged lactation and dietary deficiency may have been factors. Though women from the 18th and 19th centuries experienced post-menopausal bone loss, this was not as severe as in the present day.

Ancient Lands↗
PubMed1997

Evaluation of validity of British anthropometric reference data for assessing nutritional state of elderly people in Edinburgh: cross sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the appropriateness of two sets of commonly used anthropometric reference data for nutritional assessment of elderly people. DESIGN: Cross sectional study. SETTING: Two general practices in Edinburgh. SUBJECTS: 200 independently living men and women aged 75 or over randomly recruited from the age and sex register of the practices. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Weight (kg), knee height (cm), demispan (cm), mid-upper arm circumference (cm), triceps skinfold thickness (mm), arm muscle circumference (cm) body mass index (kg/m2), and demiquet (kg/m2) in men and mindex (kg/m) in women. RESULTS: Men and women in Edinburgh were significantly shorter than those in measured for the Nottingham reference data (demispan 0.79 v 0.80 (P < 0.05) for men and 0.72 v 0.73 (P < 0.01) for women). Comparison with data from South Wales showed that men and women from Edinburgh had significantly greater mid-upper arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, and arm muscle circumference. No one fell below the 10th centile of the South Wales data (the commonly used out off point for determining malnutrition) for these measures. CONCLUSIONS: Both sets of reference data commonly used in Britain may be inappropriate for nutritional screening of elderly people in Edinburgh. Contemporary reference data appropriate for the whole of Britain need to be developed, and in the longer term biologically or clinically defined criteria for undernutrition should be established.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Blood pressure and cognitive decline in healthy old people.

Both hypertension and cognitive decline are common in old age. We sought to examine the effects of blood pressure (BP) on rates of cognitive decline in a longitudinal study of community-resident healthy old people. A total of 603 initially healthy old people aged over 69 years were visited at home. Subject's age, years of full-time education, Social Occupational Classification, health status and medication use were recorded. Sitting systolic and diastolic BP was measured, and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and National Adult Reading Test (NART) administered. Follow-up was planned after 4 years: 69 subjects were dead, 15 were too unwell and 12 had moved away; 78 subjects either refused or failed to reply. Psychometric tests were administered to the remaining 429 (71.1%) after a median period of 4.20 years. Forty-two subjects had significant sensory impairment or interrupted testing. No significant differences in cognitive decline were found between those who had started medication (n = 163) and those remaining untreated (n = 224). Mean MMSE score change was 0.44 points (s.d. 2.07, P < 0.001). Entering all baseline variables into a stepwise regression analysis significant positive effects were found for initial MMSE score (beta = 0.50, P < 0.001), age (beta = 0.17, P < 0.001), systolic BP (beta = 0.16, P < 0.001) and period between testing (beta = 0.14, P = 0.004), and negative effect for NART-predicted IQ (beta = -0.16, P = 0.003).). We conclude that (1) older people exhibit faster age-associated cognitive decline as measured by MMSE; (2) people with higher NART-predicted IQs are relatively protected; (3) people with high systolic BPs are at greater risk of cognitive decline.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Age-associated cognitive decline in healthy old people.

BACKGROUND: disease often confounds the identification of risk factors for age-associated cognitive decline in elderly subjects. If the cognitive effects of ageing are to be distinguished from those of disease, healthy people need to be studied. METHODS: we examined the effects of incident disease and drug prescription on cognitive change in a sample of initially healthy old people in a longitudinal study and related these to age, education, social class and blood pressure. We screened general practice case notes of 10,000 patients aged 70 years and over resident in Edinburgh to identify potentially healthy subjects. We visited 1467 potential subjects at home and enquired directly about health problems and medications, administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and National Adult Reading Test and recorded educational attainment, occupation and blood pressure. RESULTS: 603 subjects (237 male, 366 female), mean age 75.7 years (range 70-88 years), reported no health problems and were taking no regular medications. Four years after the initial visit we determined the outcome of all 603 subjects and retested available survivors. Psychometric tests were then administered to the 429 (71.1%) available survivors after a median period of 4.2 years (69 subjects were dead, 15 were too unwell, 12 had moved away and 78 either refused or failed to reply). Forty-two subjects had significant sensory impairment or interrupted testing, 195 remained in good health, 29 reported or had documented disease but were on no regular medication and 163 were on regular medication for diseases diagnosed during the follow-up period. MMSE score declined by 0.3 points in the healthy group (P < 0.048). However, once a single outlier whose MMSE score fell from 29 to 22 was excluded, the mean decline for the remainder was non-significant at 0.2 points (P = 0.079). There was no significant difference in cognitive decline between those who had and those who had not started medication (P = 0.59). CONCLUSIONS: the study fails to support the hypothesis that cognitive decline can be attributed to age alone in healthy old people. If such a decline exists, we consider that it is unlikely to account for loss of more than 0.1 MMSE point per year.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Toxoplasma gondii--an unusual cause of myocarditis in old age.

We report the case of an 86-year-old man who was admitted with congestive cardiac failure and chronic renal failure. He was previously known to have a thoracic aortic aneurysm and chronic bronchitis. There was no history of myocardial infarction but his heart failure was assumed to be due to ischaemic heart disease. Despite treatment of the heart failure the patient died. At post-mortem he was found to have Toxoplasma gondii myocarditis.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

The prevalence and characteristics of dizziness in an elderly community.

A postal questionnaire was sent to 1000 subjects aged over 65 years randomly selected from the age/sex register of five group practices, 90% of subjects returning adequate information. Thirty per cent of responders reported dizziness; 27% of these had symptoms more than once per month and 37% had symptoms which lasted longer than 1 minute. Dizziness was most commonly provoked by postural change and head and neck movement. The prevalence of dizziness increased with age and was higher in women but these differences were not statistically significant. The prevalence of symptoms occurring more than once per month was significantly greater with increasing age (p = 0.0003). Dizziness was significantly associated with angina and previous myocardial infarction (p < 0.001) and antihypertensive therapy (p < 0.05) but not with current smoking, diabetes mellitus or previous stroke.

Aged↗