PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Cook

Publications and source records attributed to A Cook.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Is delayed treatment justified in carcinoma of the prostate?

We report a retrospective survey of 263 patients with prostate cancer presenting between 1975 and 1979, with a minimum follow-up period of 5 years. We have evaluated the effects of anti-cancer therapy on survival and disease-free interval. The mean survival time of all patients was 39.6 months. Of 91 patients (37.7%) with demonstrable bone metastases at presentation, 64 (70.3%) have died of prostatic cancer, the mean duration of survival being 25 months. There was no difference in terms of response to treatment or of duration of symptom-free life between patients treated by immediate hormone manipulation and those in whom treatment was delayed. Of 115 patients without metastases at presentation, 42 (36.5%) received no anti-cancer treatment. Thirty-seven (32.2%) have died of unrelated causes and 39 (33.9%) are alive and well. Neither survival nor subjective response to treatment was adversely affected by delaying treatment.

Bone Neoplasms↗
PubMed1985

Appraising your suture distribution system.

Devoting study to a minute part of its supply system has paid off in big dividends for Hutchison Hospital, an acute care hospital in central Kansas with 230 beds and an occupancy rate of 71%. In this article the author explains why other hospitals may find it profitable to take a close look at their suture distribution systems.

Equipment and Supplies, Hospital↗
PubMed1984

Traditional treatment of colon injuries. An effective method.

Several recent reports have described management of penetrating colon wounds with primary closure, exteriorization, and early return to the abdominal cavity. Since this procedure was not the technique practiced at our institution, we reviewed our five-year experience with 207 patients with such wounds to determine whether a change in methods was warranted. The patients, predominantly young and male, were often victims of gunshots or stabbings. Associated injuries (intra-abdominal, 64%; extra-abdominal, 35%) were frequent. Overall mortality was 4% and included three patients who died within 24 hours of admission. Morbidity was 43%, including 17% related to colon injury. All documented colostomy closures were without mortality. We concluded that management of penetrating colon injuries by traditional methods yields low morbidity and mortality. A comparison of our results with those obtained using alternative techniques convinced us that the continued use of traditional methods in treating colon trauma is warranted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Structural and biochemical differentiation of the mammalian small intestine during foetal development.

Microscopical studies showed that initial differentiation of the guinea-pig small intestine occurs between days 35 and 55 of foetal development. Changes observed at this time include formation of villi (by day 42), elaboration of submucosal duodenal Brunner's glands (by day 49) and the appearance of a well-developed microvillus membrane (by day 56). Different microvillus membrane-associated hydrolases appear at different stages of foetal and postnatal development. The 'early' enzymes such as aminopeptidase, alkaline phosphatase and sucrase show a sharp increase and reach their maximal levels between days 35 and 50, whereas the late enzymes such as dipeptidyl peptidase IV and lactase increase gradually between days 35 and 50, and reach maximal activity between days 50 and 60. A combination of techniques involving precipitation with Mg2+ followed by fractionation on sucrose density gradients has enabled us to prepare, for the first time, a 21-fold enriched microvillus membrane fraction from the foetal intestine. Polypeptide analysis of this membrane fraction by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed the presence of developmentally specific polypeptides at different stages of foetal and postnatal development. Three polypeptides of molecular weights 205 000, 80 000 and 47 000 are major microvillus membrane components at the 40-day foetal stage. Two other polypeptides of molecular weights 60 000 and 131 000 are major microvillar components at 56-day and older foetal stages as well as at the 3-day neonatal stage. The adult microvillus membrane contained 112 000 and 122 000 Mr polypeptides as major components. The above results were confirmed using two-dimensional isoelectric focussing-sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic techniques.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Fertility after childbirth: pregnancy associated with breast feeding.

During studies on the resumption of fertility postpartum in 12 breast feeding mothers who were using no contraception, eight pregnancies occurred. In seven cases these pregnancies occurred while the mothers continued to breast feed while in one it occurred within 2 weeks of weaning. In two cases pregnancy occurred prior to first postpartum menstruation but followed an abrupt decline in suckling frequency and duration resulting in resumption of follicular development and ovulation. In the remaining six cases, pregnancy was preceded by between 1 and 7 menstrual cycles, the majority of which (13/19) had deficient luteal phases or were anovular (4/19). In all mothers a significant decrease in the suckling frequency and duration observed during lactational amenorrhoea had occurred prior to the resumption of ovulation and conception. No mother conceived with a suckling frequency of greater than three times per day although some mothers ovulated without conceiving when suckling four times per day. The results suggests that if a breast feeding mother wishes to rely upon the infertility associated with lactational amenorrhoea, she must suckle at least five times per day with a total suckling duration of more than 65 min per day (more than 10 min per feed). Any reduction below either of these limits may result in a return of fertility.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Fertility after childbirth: infant feeding patterns, basal PRL levels and post-partum ovulation.

The infant feeding patterns at the time of first ovulation after childbirth were determined in a longitudinal study of twenty-seven mothers who chose to breast feed their babies. Fourteen mothers suppressed ovulation throughout lactation and thirteen ovulated while still breast feeding. Those who ovulated while breast feeding had all introduced two or more supplementary feeds/day, reduced suckling frequency to less than six times/day and reduced suckling duration to less than 60 min/day at the time of first ovulation. Basal PRL levels had fallen to below 600 microunits/l in all but one of the mothers at first ovulation. Those mothers who suppressed ovulation for more than 40 weeks post-partum (late ovulation group) were compared with those who ovulated between 30 and 40 weeks post-partum (middle group) and with those who ovulated before 30 weeks post-partum (early group). The late ovulation group breast-fed for longest, suckled most intensively, maintained night feeds for longest and introduced supplementary feeds most gradually. This study suggests suckling may be the most important factor inhibiting the return of ovulation during lactation and that policies which encourage increased suckling frequency and duration will maximize the contraceptive effects of breast feeding.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Fertility after childbirth: adequacy of post-partum luteal phases.

Normal ranges of urinary pregnanediol and total urinary oestrogen were determined from weekly estimations in twenty-seven cycles from seven normally menstruating control women and compared with the levels in the cycles of twenty-seven breast feeding and ten bottle feeding mothers. During lactation, the luteal phase pregnanediol levels were within normal limits in thirteen of forty-nine (27%) cycles, the remainder of the luteal phases being deficient (31%) or absent (42%). The proportion of normal luteal phases remained low during first cycles after lactation in six of twenty-three (26%) but rose to twenty-four of thirty-one (77%) in subsequent cycles. In bottle feeding mothers, the luteal phases of first post-partum cycles were deficient in two of ten (20%) and absent in eight of ten (80%). In second post-partum cycles, the majority of luteal phases were deficient (eight of ten, 80%) and it was not until third post-partum cycles that seven of eight (88%) had luteal phase pregnanediol levels in the normal range. Cycles during lactation and first cycles after lactation had significantly lower mean urinary pregnanediol and total urinary oestrogen levels than both the control cycles and the later cycles after lactation. Similarly, first post-partum cycles in bottle feeders had lower urinary pregnanediol and total urinary oestrogen levels than controls. This study shows an increased frequency of abnormal luteal phases during the early post-partum menstrual cycles of both breast and bottle feeding mothers which may be associated with defective development of the follicle.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Effect of supplementary food on suckling patterns and ovarian activity during lactation.

Patterns of infant feeding, basal prolactin concentrations, and ovarian activity were studied longitudinally in 27 breast-feeding mothers from delivery until first ovulation. Suckling frequency (6.1 feeds/day) and suckling duration (122 mins/day) reached peak values four weeks post partum and remained relatively constant until the introduction of supplementary food at a mean of 16 weeks post partum. There were subsequently sharp declines in both the frequency and duration of suckling, both of which correlated closely with basal prolactin concentrations. None of the 27 mothers ovulated during unsupplemented breast-feeding, but within 16 weeks of introducing supplements ovarian follicular development had returned in 20 and ovulation in 14 mothers. The mothers who ovulated within 16 weeks of giving supplements had reduced frequency and duration of suckling more quickly and weaned more abruptly than those who continued to suppress ovulation. These data suggest that the introduction of supplementary food may exert an important and hitherto unrecognised effect on the timing of first ovulation by reducing the frequency and duration of suckling episodes.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The effects of sterilisation: a comparison of sterilised women with the wives of vasectomised men.

In a follow-up study, women sterilised by tubal diathermy were compared with a matched group of wives of vasectomised men. Semi-structured interviews were given to a random sample drawn from a representative population. The couples were young with small families and did not have a high proportion of unplanned pregnancies or terminations. They had previously used contraception, mainly the pill or sheath. Most couples were entirely satisfied with the operation. Both groups showed an increase in pre-menstrual symptoms but there was only slight evidence that menstrual loss was affected by female sterilisation. The vasectomy couples had a higher frequency of sexual intercourse, few sexual problems and tended to have more satisfactory marriages. They had had more discussion of their decision to have the operation and the implications of counselling are considered.

Coitus↗
PubMed1981

How long should a breast feed last?

Patterns of milk flow were studied in 50 mothers who were breast-feeding normal birth-weight babies on days 5-7 of the puerperium by progressive test weighing at 5-min intervals during two consecutive feeds. Compared with a regime in which mothers attempted to feed for 10 X 10 min on alternate breasts, a regime of 5 X 5 X 5 X 5 min increased the amount of milk taken in the first 10 min did not influence the final milk intake of the suckling-induced prolactin release. The wide variation of breast-feeding patterns between mothers was demonstrated in respect of the duration of the feed (mean 17.3 min; S.D. +/- 3.1; range 7-30 min), the initial rate of milk flow (mean 6 g/min; S.D. +/- 4.2, range 1-14 g/min) and the final milk intake (mean 70.9 g; S.D. +/- 20.5, range 42-125 g). The advice to breast-feed for 20 min was in appropriate for the majority of mothers because the nutritive feeding time was 15 min or less in 75% of the feeding episodes. The milk intake correlated with the initial rate of milk flow but not with the duration of the feed, the infant's birth weight, or the time since the last feed. It is suggested that the duration of a breast feed should be determined by the infant's response and not by an arbitrary time schedule.

Body Weight↗
PubMed1981

In-111-labeled leukocytes in the diagnosis of rejection and cytomegalovirus infection in renal transplant patients.

Indium-111-labeled (In-111) leukocytes have been shown to be useful in the localization of inflammatory processes, including renal transplant rejection. Using previously reported labeling methods, 63 studies with this agent have been performed in 53 renal transplant patients. Indications for study included suspected rejection or cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Studies were performed in 33 men and 20 women, with ages ranging from 6 to 68 years. Autologous cells were normally used for labeling, although leukocytes obtained from ABO-compatible donors were used in three subjects. Rectilinear scanner and/or scintillation camera images were obtained at 24 hours after intravenous administration of 0.1 to 0.6 mCi of In-111-leukocytes. There was abnormal uptake of In-111-leukocytes in the transplanted kidney in 11 of 15 cases of rejection. In three additional cases of increased transplant uptake, CMV infection was present in two. Abnormal lung uptake was present in 13 of 14 patients with CMV infection. In four additional cases, increased lung uptake was associated with other pulmonary inflammatory disease. Increased lung activity was not seen in patients with uncomplicated transplant rejection. These results suggest that In-111-leukocyte imaging may be useful in the differential diagnosis of rejection versus CMV infection in renal transplant patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Characterisation of a chromatin fraction bearing pulse-labelled RNA. 1. Nascent RNA, RNA polymerase B and transcribed DNA sequence content.

We have further characterised a fraction of polynucleosomal chromatin from mouse cells which is enriched in transcribing regions, after separation by multistep partition in a dextran /poly(ethylene glycol) two-phase mixture [Faber, A. J. (1972) Methods Cell Biol. 16, 447--457]. This fraction contains an average of 16% of the total DNA and 63% of the 3-min pulse-labelled RNA in chromatin which, by a number of criteria, represents nascent RNA transcripts. Of the total transcribing RNA polymerase B molecules in chromatin, 52% are found in this fraction by titration with radioactive alpha-amanitin. About 28% of the single-copy DNA sequences in this fraction hybridise to nuclear polyadenylated RNA, compared with only 1.5% of the single-copy sequences in the remaining (nontranscribing) chromatin fraction.

Animals↗