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Biomedical subjects

A J Martin

Publications and source records attributed to A J Martin.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Asthma from childhood at age 21: the patient and his disease.

Information was obtained from 336 21-year-olds who had begun wheezing before the age of 7 about their knowledge of asthma and its effect on their current life style. Two-thirds of the subjects were still symptomatic. A control group of 62 subjects was available for comparison. Knowledge about asthma was poor, particularly among those with less troublesome symptoms. Half of those with frequent episodic asthma and one-third with persistent asthma did not regard excess use of bronchodilator aerosols as potentially dangerous. Over three-quarters of those with persistent asthma were not receiving adequate treatment. One-third of third of those with persistent asthma were missing substantial time from work because of respiratory illness, and a similar proportion were restricting sporting activities. The incidence of smoking was disturbingly high in all asthma groups. The higher the number of cigarettes ever smoked and the higher the current tobacco consumption the less satisfactory was the progress of asthma. Both cigarette smoking and severity of asthma contributed to chronic production of sputum. Children and teenagers with asthma should be educated to seek more appropriate medical help and thereby reduce morbidity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Lysine vasopressin in Alzheimer disease.

The effects of lysine vasopressin on memory and cognitive deficits in Alzheimer disease was investigated. In a double-blind study, seven patients were given 16 units of lysine vasopressin per day for 10 days and were compared with seven different patients receiving placebo. No significant difference in performance between the vasopressin and placebo-treated groups was found in tests designed to evaluate learning, memory, and perception. However, significantly greater improvement in reaction time was seen in the vasopressin-treated group, although this effect was delayed and may have been contributed to by factors other than drug activity.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1981

Natural history of allergy in asthmatic children followed to adult life.

This is a prospective study of wheezing children, who were followed up from the ages of seven to 21 years. Allergy factors were documented in all subjects. Hay fever and positive reactions to skin allergy tests were more prevalent in 21-year-old subjects with severe asthma. However, 50% of subjects who had ceased wheezing has hay fever, and 65% had at least one positive skin test reaction. The number of asthmatic subjects with hay fever and positive skin test reactions progressively increased between the ages of seven and 21 years. Eczema was significantly associated only with severe asthma. More 21-year-old subjects with severe asthma wee breast-fed in infancy for longer periods than in the control group and in groups with mild to moderate asthma. Further investigation is needed before the hypothesis that breast feeding protects against the development of allergic phenomena can be accepted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

The effect on growth of childhood asthma.

The effect on growth of asthma has been documented in a prospective study from age 7 to 21 years in a randomly selected group of 342 subjects. These subjects covered the whole spectrum of childhood wheezing. Growth suppression was first noted at 10 years of age in the more severely affected groups and was most marked at 14 years of age. By 21 years of age, all groups had achieved a height and weight not significantly different from control subjects. Growth delay occurred in children with more persistent asthma even if they had never received oral corticosteroid therapy but growth was more delayed in those receiving oral steroids. The effect of steroids was most significant in those with frequent episodic asthma whose asthma alone was probably not sufficiently severe to retard growth.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Breast-feeding and respiratory syncytial virus infection.

The pattern of breast-feeding in 127 infants admitted to hospital with respiratory syncytial virus infection was compared with that in 503 age-matched controls. Thirty per cent of children with infection had been breast-fed compared with 49% of controls. The approximate relative risk of being admitted to hospital with respiratory syncytial virus infection if not breast-fed was 2.2. Several other factors were also considered, including an assessment of maternal care and home environment; the mother's age, marital state, and smoking habits; the number of siblings; and gestation. Adverse factors were all associated with an increased risk of admission with infection, but breast-feeding still appeared to provide protection after controlling for these other factors in turn. These findings provide further support for encouraging mothers to breast-feed their infants and should prompt further studies into the immune status of mothers and into the nature of the protective factors in their breast milk.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1980

The natural history of childhood asthma to adult life.

A randomly selected group of 331 children who had started to wheeze in childhood and a control group of 77 children were prospectively studied clinically and physiologically from 7 to 21 years of age. Most subjects improved during adolescence and about 55% of those whose wheezing had started before 7 years and stopped before adolescence remained wheeze free. Forty-five per cent of subjects who had apparently ceased to wheeze at 14 years had minor recurrences of wheezing between 14 and 21 years of age. Fewer than 20% of those with persistent symptoms in childhood had become totally wheeze free during adolescence, although there was amelioration in symptoms. Girls did less well during adolescence than boys, so that there was no longer an increased preponderance of boys with increasing severity of asthma. Normal growth was achieved in all grades despite the persistence of symptoms in many cases. At 21 years of age features of airways obstruction were often found during an interval phase, especially in those who had more persistent symptoms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Protective effect of inhaled salbutamol powder in children assessed by histamine challenge.

A double-blind placebo-controlled trial of 100, 400, and 800 micrograms inhaled salbutamol powder was conducted on 12 children. The protective effect at 10 minutes, two hours, and four hours was assessed by histamine challenge. At 10 minutes there was good protection with all doses, but by four hours there was significant protection only with 800 micrograms (p less than 0.01). Salbutamol powder may need to be taken at least every four hours for complete protection. There was a dose-related effect with a single dose of up to 800 micrograms; increasing the dose increased the effect and duration of action. Currently advertised dose regimens of salbutamol powder for children (200 micrograms three or four times a day) are apparently submaximal. Histamine challenge is a satisfactory method of assessing the proective effect of a drug in asthmatic children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Gentamicin and tobramycin compared in the treatment of mucoid pseudomonas lung infections in cystic fibrosis.

18 children with cystic fibrosis and mucoid pseudomonas lung infection were treated with courses either of gentamicin plus carbenicillin, or tobramycin plus carbenicillin, with 2 children each receiving two courses. 10 courses of gentamicin at a dose of 9 mg/kg per day plus carbenicillin at 800 mg/kg per day, and 10 courses of tobramycin at 9 mg/kg per day plus carbenicillin at 800 mg/kg per day were given. There was clinical and x-ray improvement in both groups of children, but there was no difference between the therapeutic benefit of either regimen. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was not cultured at the end of treatment after 15 of the 20 courses, but it returned in all but one patient within 3 months. Neither ototoxicity nor renal damage with these high doses of aminoglycoside was detected. P. aeruginosa had not been eliminated when 9 of these patients earlier had received courses of gentamicin in a dose of 6 mg/kg per day plus carbenicillin at 800 mg/kg per day. The results show that P. aeruginosa can successfully be eliminated or suppressed with high-dose aminoglycoside plus carbenicillin, but such elimination is usually short lived.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Lung function in young adults who had asthma in childhood.

Pulmonary function was measured in 277 subjects at 21 yr of age who had wheezed before the age of 7 yr, and in a control group that had been followed prospectively for 14 yr. The wheezing group covered the whole spectrum of childhood asthma. Subjects who had minor wheeze in childhood and who had been wheeze-free for at least 3 yr were, as a group, indistinguishable from the control group. There was an increasing incidence of abnormality with increasing frequency of wheezing. Subjects with chronic asthma had a large vital capacity relative to body size at 14 yr of age, but this abnormality was no longer present at 21 yr of age. Bronchial lability to exercise was not a constant finding, and its frequency and severity were related to the frequency of wheezing and baseline pulmonary function. It was estimated that about 60% of the subjects who had ceased wheezing had abnormal bronchial reactivity to inhaled histamine. These subjects should probably not be considered to have "grown out" of asthma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Displacement electrophoresis in gel as a technique for separating proteins on a preparative scale.

A preparative displacement electrophoresis apparatus has been developed for the fractionation of proteins and other macromolecules. The separation is carried out down a vertical annular gel which is supported by a cylindrical glass cooler. The gel is protected from evaporation by a heavy inert insulating liquid with the terminating electrolyte floating on it. Very high potential drops and instabilities in the terminating electrolyte are avoided by continuously lowering the level of the inert liquid during the course of the separation. Fluorescent mobility markers have been synthesized, which make it possible to follow the progress of the separation and to divide the gel into fractions, once the separation is complete.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Epidemiology of respiratory viral infection among paediatric inpatients over a six-year period in north-east England.

During a 6-year, hospital-based study at Newcastle upon Tyne five consecutive winter epidemics of respiratory syncytial (R.S.) virus infection occurred; the virus was identified in 1428 cases, showing that 1 in 50 live-births were admitted to hospital with R.S. virus infection. Epidemics were inversely related to temperature and to number of hours of sunshine. Parainfluenzaviruses, the second largest group of pathogens, were identified in 543 cases; most infections by this group were due to parainfluenzavirus type 3, which accounted for admission to hospital of 1 in 300 live-births. Epidemics of parainfluenza type 3 showed a summer peak (there was often a second peak in autumn) and a positive correlation with temperature and number of hours of sunshine. Epidemics of parainfluenza 1 and 2 occurred together, but only every 2 years. Influenza A epidemics occurred every winter; they coincided with, and had the same climatic correlations as, epidemics of R.S. virus infections. Influenza A was the second most frequently identified virus, and was associated with the admission to hospital of 1 in 100 to 1 in 500 live-births. Knowledge of the epidemiology of respiratory viral infections may help in the planning of preventative measures.

Adolescent↗