Biomedical subjects

A U MacKinnon

Publications and source records attributed to A U MacKinnon.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1987

The origin of the modern epidemic of coronary artery disease in England.

A review of all the cases of the coroner's court for the Liberty of Ripon and Kirkby Malzeard in Yorkshire from 1855 to 1926, and those of 1981-83, showed that the number of deaths from acute coronary artery disease was very low in Victorian times, suddenly increased in the period 1906-10, and was very high in 1981-83. The population of the area was stable throughout the period at around 22 000. The number of postmortems for myocardial infarctions carried out in London hospitals was very low between 1907 and 1914, but greatly increased between 1917 and 1923. A study of autopsies in the City of London showed that the increase in the number of deaths from coronary artery disease began in 1909/10.

Coronary Disease↗

PubMed1982

Drugs in the aetiology of cancer: a retrospective study.

A retrospective study of the history of drug use in cancer patients, conducted in general practice and involving 972 patients, has suggested that concurrent treatment with barbiturates and benzodiazepines may involve a cancer risk. Concurrent usage of other drugs with barbiturates was investigated because barbiturates have been reported to alter the handling of other drugs by liver microsomes and to interact with chemical carcinogens in experimental animal systems. If the risk has a basis in fact, it may lie behind the recent report of a small cancer risk associated with barbiturate treatment, in a prospective study based on computerized prescription information in a defined population, raising the hope that our finding can be tested in a larger study. A possible risk associated with prolonged treatment with cortisone related drugs could not be excluded. Four per cent of the cancer patients had tumours at sites consistent with reported occupational hazards and a further 4% suspected site-hazard associations. Occupation and smoking did not contribute to the drug associations noted. Entry of cancer patients from general practice gave a true sample of cancer patients in the area, judged by the distributions of age, sex, marital status and cancer site. Choice of controls from consultations for a new complaint resulted in a group showing deviation in the types of patient similar to those reported for consultations in general practice.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1973