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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

History, etymology, and fallacy: attitudes toward male masturbation in the ancient Western world.

This article examines the attitudes toward male masturbation in the ancient western world. More specifically, this work deals with ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. By comparing each epoch and geographic region, intolerance of autoerotic activity can be seen. Although there is a pattern of intolerance, the act of masturbation is always viewed provisionally. In addition, by examining these three periods of history not only can attitudes be scrutinized, but also it can be seen quite clearly that there was no golden age of sexuality: The attitude of accepted and encouraged unlimited and varied sexual practices does not exist in the ancient western world. As in many other cultures in various stages of history, procreative sexuality is the dominating theme. Thus, current attitudes of sex are derived from, and still survive due to the influence of, ancient western civilization.

Attitude↗
PubMed2000

[Spread of Chinese variolation art to the western world and its influence].

Smallpox inoculation or variolation is a great invention of medicine in ancient China. In this paper, we introduced the process of spread of smallpox inoculation technique from China to western world (mainly to England), and reviewed the royal experiment of smallpox inoculation on human being and its influence on the prevention of smallpox in western countries. The spread and practice of smallpox inoculation in western world was an important event in the history of intercommunication between eastern and western medicines, which is worth emphasizing and further studying.

China↗
PubMed2001

Histologic tumor type is an independent prognostic parameter in esophageal cancer: lessons from more than 1,000 consecutive resections at a single center in the Western world.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the changing pattern in tumor type and postoperative deaths at a national referral center for esophageal cancer in the Western world and to assess prognostic factors for long-term survival after resection. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: During the past two decades, the epidemiology and treatment strategies of esophageal cancer have changed markedly in the Western world. The influence of these factors on postoperative deaths and long-term prognosis has not been adequately evaluated. METHODS: Between 1982 and 2000, 1,059 patients with primary esophageal squamous cell cancer or adenocarcinoma had resection with curative intention at a single center. Patient and tumor characteristics and details of the surgical procedure and outcome were documented during this period. Follow-up was available for 95.8% of the patients. Changing patterns in tumor type and postoperative deaths were analyzed. Prognostic factors for long-term survival were assessed by multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of adenocarcinoma in patients with resected esophageal cancer increased markedly during the study period. The postoperative death rate decreased from about 10% before 1990 to less than 2% since 1994, coinciding with the introduction of a procedure-specific composite risk score and exclusion of high-risk patients from surgical resection. In addition to the well-established prognostic parameters, tumor cell type "adenocarcinoma" was identified as a favorable independent predictor of long-term survival after resection. The independent prognostic effect of tumor cell type persisted in the subgroups of patients with primary resection and patients with primary resection and R0 category. CONCLUSION: Esophagectomy for esophageal cancer has become a safe procedure in experienced hands. Esophageal adenocarcinoma has a better long-term prognosis after resection than squamous cell carcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1997

Population density and cancer mortality by gender and age in England and Wales and the Western World 1963-93.

The aetiology of malignant disease is multi-factorial, including contributory environmental factors. Based upon the premise that increases in the density of population will be coterminous with a worsening of the environment, it is hypothesised that such changes should be reflected in an increase in cancer mortality in general and in elderly populations. By focusing upon changes in the elderly (+75) deaths between two time periods, the study corrects for age factors related to cancer mortality. The study tests this hypothesis via correlations between population density and malignancy death rates in general and elderly age bands over a thirty year period. It was found that there were positive and significant correlations between population density and malignancy mortality rates in the Western World, especially amongst men, but all correlations strengthened in the direction hypothesised. The findings were not an artefact of longevity, further research is required to give a better understanding of these findings.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

New patterns of suicide by age and gender in the United Kingdom and the Western World 1974-1992; an indicator of social change?

Between 1974 and 1992 male suicide increased in the United Kingdom and in most countries of the Western World. At the same time there were substantial reductions in female suicide in many countries. However, these results mask significant changes related to age in both genders. In most countries there was a disproportionate rise in younger male suicides (< 35 years); with two disproportionate peaks in younger (25-34 years) and elderly (75 + years) female suicides. The implications of these changes are briefly discussed within the context of changing socio-economic expectations.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Youth suicide and gender in Australia and New Zealand compared with countries of the Western world 1973-1987.

Based upon standardised mortality figures, between 1973-1987, Australian male suicide rose by 39%, and New Zealand male suicide by 53%. In both countries there were even greater increases in male youth suicides (15-24 years), 66% and 127% respectively. The female suicide statistics were more varied with a fall of -24% in Australia, but an increase of 26% in New Zealand. In both countries however, female youth suicide, relative to their general rates, increased. A comparison of youth suicide in the western world demonstrated that Australia and New Zealand were unique as they were the only countries in which male and female youth suicide levels were higher than their average rates.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Growth charts and the assessment of infant feeding practices in the western world and in developing countries.

Changes during the past ten years in infant feeding practices are described and it is demonstrated that with the growing popularity of breast feeding, plus the later addition of solids, dietary energy intakes are substantially lower than they were. These dietary changes would appear to be associated with alterations in the detailed pattern of growth. When exclusively breast-fed, babies, if anything, grow more quickly than growth standard rates, but after 3-4 months a relative deceleration in growth velocity becomes apparent. The anthropometric and dietary findings are discussed in relation to the use of growth charts for the assessment of the adequacy of infant feeding practices in the western world and especially in the Third World. A reanalysis of data indicates that diet-related growth faltering probably does not occur in many developing country situations until later than would be suggested by growth standards currently in use.

Anthropometry↗
PubMed1994

Hepatoma registry of the Western world. Repeat Hepatic Resection Registry.

The western HCC registry comprised data from 322 patients who underwent hepatic resection for HCC over a 50-year period. The majority of patients had lesions > 4 cm and were symptomatic at presentation. Lesions were mostly unicentric. Cirrhosis was not a prevalent problem, unlike the East. In the most recent decade, 1980-1989, we noted a significant decrease in operative mortality from 19% to 10% overall, and 15% to 4% in the noncirrhotic group. We identified four variables that resulted in poorer postresectional outcome: cirrhosis, regional nodal disease, multicentric disease, and tumor-free resectional margin < 1 cm. Although these factors are associated with a poorer outcome after resection, whether they should serve as contraindications to surgery should be determined by individual surgeons, taking into account the patient's overall status, concomitant risk factors, and treatment objectives.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Management of esophageal varices in the Western world--the state of the art.

The treatment by Western countries of bleeding from esophageal varices was reviewed from three definite viewpoints: prevention of first bleeding or prophylactic treatment, control of acute bleeding or emergency treatment, and prevention of rebleeding or elective treatment. Even though prophylactic surgery has been abandoned on the basis of several randomized studies, some authors still perform esophageal transection and report encouraging results. In emergency situations, the role of surgery has been limited by the prohibitive hospital mortality and by the introduction of vasoactive drugs and endoscopic sclerotherapy. Nevertheless, good immediate and long term results have been obtained in specialized centers in which bleeding patients undergo surgery no later than 8 hours after their admission. As regards the prevention of rebleeding, non selective portal decompression gives adequate protection against rebleeding, however, hepatoencephalopathy follows in considerable incidence. In order to avoid this complication, direct operations on varices have been performed, largely with good results. The Warren shunt offers results showing advantage over the non-selective shunt in the first postoperative period but later on, it behaves hemodynamically as a total shunt and the advantage is then cancelled. We report herein a review of the literature and also describe our personal experience with treating bleeding esophageal varices.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1999

Guidelines for severe community-acquired pneumonia in the western world.

BACKGROUND: Recently, several guidelines (ATS 1993/IDSA 1998; ERS 1998; SWAB 1998) have been issued for the initial therapy of patients with community-acquired pneumonia. In patients who fulfil the criteria for severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP), it was advised to start with a macrolide (active against Legionella spp. and Mycoplasma pneumoniae) in combination with an agent active against both pneumococci and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by the ATS/IDSA guidelines, while the ERS suggested starting with a second or third generation cephalosporin, in combination with either a macrolide or second generation quinolon plus or minus rifampicin. In the SWAB guidelines, no recommendations for SCAP were made. METHODS: Sixty-two cases admitted to the intensive care units of a tertiary-care university hospital with SCAP between 1992 and 1996 were studied retrospectively. The causative pathogens, clinical and laboratory characteristics of severity, antibiotic therapy and mortality were analysed. Immunocompromised patients, patients using immunosuppressive agents and patients with a malignancy were excluded. RESULTS: Indices of severe illness were widely seen and 37% developed shock while 45% required vasoactive drugs. Bilobular or multilobular abnormalities were seen in 34% of the patients. Forty-five patients (73%) required artificial respiration and 54 (87%) had an underlying disease. The overall mortality was 42%. In 41 patients (66%), a pathogen was isolated. The most frequent causes of SCAP in this study were Streptococcus pneumoniae (22 cases or 35%), Haemophilus influenzae (seven cases or 11%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (four cases or 7%), and other Enterobacteriaceae (twice in combination with pneumococci and once with H. influenzae). Legionella pneumophila was identified in three cases. In patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumococci were the most important pathogens six cases or 27%), followed by P. aeruginosa (14%) and H. influenzae (14%). CONCLUSIONS: The guidelines for the management of SCAP issued by the ATS and IDSA in 1993 are only partially adequate in the Dutch setting. Coverage of P. aeruginosa would seem useful, given the fact that isolation of this pathogen has been shown to be a predictor of mortality, but only in patients with severe COPD or structural disease of the lung, and especially in patients in whom the Gram stain reveals Gram-negative rods, as is also suggested in the revised IDSA guidelines (1998). Risk factors for P. aeruginosa could be added to the ERS guidelines. Including SCAP as a separate entity in the SWAB guidelines may be useful.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Attitudes towards detection and management of hepatic metastases in the Western world.

In order to obtain insight in attitudes towards detection and management of hepatic metastases of colorectal origin, a questionnaire was sent to hospitals in 13 Western countries. Response rate was 98.0% (n = 284). In almost all hospitals (98%) some method of follow-up was employed. Carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) determinations were performed in 84% of all hospitals: most frequently in Germany and the U.S.A., but only in 50% of the British hospitals. Hepatic resection for liver metastases was performed in 95% of all hospitals. Resectability criteria varied considerably among the countries. In the majority of German and American hospitals multiple hepatic metastases were considered resectable (including bilobar disease in 58% of German hospitals). In the majority of British and Dutch hospitals only solitary metastases were considered resectable, or liver resections were not performed at all. The mean reported number of liver resections annually per hospital, reflecting these attitudes, was 11.2 and 7.2 for German and American hospitals, and 2.1 and 1.8 for British and Dutch hospitals respectively. When irresectable hepatic metastases were diagnosed, some form of chemotherapy was applied in 74% of hospitals. Hepatic artery infusion of chemotherapeutics was performed most frequently. The mean reported number of medically treated patients annually per hospital was 34 for Germany, 18 for the U.S.A., and 12 and 9 for Great Britain and the Netherlands respectively. Adjuvant chemotherapy was performed after liver resection in 30% of all hospitals, most frequently in German and American hospitals. Considerable disparity was observed in attitudes towards detection and in management of hepatic metastases among Western countries. On the basis of the reported 1421 liver resections and 3590 medically treated patients (annually) it is concluded that selection of the best detection and treatment policies is obviously hampered by insufficient clinical data and inconclusive evidence of purported optimal approach. To determine the optimal policy useful information can only be provided by inclusion of patients in prospective randomized trials.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1990

Suicide, unemployment and gender variations in the Western world 1964-1986. Are women in Anglo-phone countries protected from suicide?

The gender related suicide and unemployment rates for 1964-1986 from twenty-three Western countries were reviewed. A statistically significant correlation was found for both genders for the 1974-1986 period, which saw major rises in both suicide and unemployment in many Western nations. This was in contrast to a non-significant correlation for 1964-1973. As unemployment reached a critical level the statistical link with suicide became stronger. This suggests that unemployment is a contributing factor in increased suicide. Major gender changes occurred, in particular rises in female suicide rates, though these were not uniform. Whilst the expected greater male/female ratio for suicide was confirmed, there were significant variations between countries, with the ratio widening particularly amongst anglo phone nations. This indicated differential gender changes in patterns of suicide. The possibility of some 'protective' mechanism against suicide for women in anglo phone countries is discussed.

Adult↗