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Biomedical subjects

B Barrett

Publications and source records attributed to B Barrett.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Herbal knowledge on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast: consensus within diversity.

This article examines knowledge of medicinal plants, both among the people of Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast and among the scientific community. Data collected during an 809-household, five-community survey in 1990 and a ten-community botanical collection in 1991 are used to estimate the distribution of medicinal plant knowledge among the region's six ethnic groups. The list of 162 plants identified during this project is compared with other research results to provide the reader with a framework for understanding the distribution of medicinal plant knowledge. While a few plants are widely thought to have medicinal properties, the majority of identifications come from only one or two informants, demonstrating a pattern of consensus within diversity. Discussion focuses on the impact of methodology on the gathering of data, on the distribution and durability of medicinal plant knowledge, and on the proprietary nature of such knowledge.

Ecosystem↗
PubMed1995

Ethnomedical interactions: health and identity on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast.

This paper describes contemporary and historical interactions of medical belief and practice among the six ethnic groups of Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast--Mestizo, Creole, Miskitu, Sumu, Garifuna and Rama. The expansion of preventive medicine and primary care under the Sandanista-led government during the 1980s is presented, along with brief descriptions of counter-revolutionary attacks on the health care system. Traditional uses of medicinal plants and various forms of spiritual healing are then juxtaposed with the sporadic introduction of European and North American biomedicine throughout history. Next, the results of a health care survey carried out in 1990 are used to: (1) demonstrate the widespread use of the official health care system; and (2) show that traditional practices--use of herbal medicine, visits to spiritual healers, and home birth--are more prevalent among specific ethnic and socioeconomic strata of Nicaraguan Atlantic Coast society. Finally, I use these descriptions and survey results to argue for an understanding of health care behavior based on personal identity. I argue that a number of identities--ethnic, historical, political, socioeconomic and spatial (village, city, region or nation)--both situate and influence health care behavior, and thus mediate between the psychological and spiritual realms of illness and healing. Each individual chooses, variably and often subconsciously, to identify with any of a number these 'imagined communities' as he or she makes health care choices. These identity-influenced decisions are then manifested as specific health-related behaviors, forming the real-world data on which this argument is premised.

Chi-Square Distribution↗
PubMed1995

Survey of telephone contacts for a Regional Canadian Cancer Society District.

This is a descriptive of a census survey of telephone contacts to six unit offices of the Metro Hamilton District Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). The survey instrument was also designed to address two a priori hypotheses: that first-time contacts would be systematically different from the population of other callers; and, that some telephone contacts might represent a disguised need for emotional support. We also assessed satisfaction of CCS personnel with the outcome of telephone contacts. Over a four-day survey period, there were 946 telephone contacts of which 158 (17%) were patient related. First-time telephone contacts were more likely to be spouses or relatives/friends of patients as opposed to non-first-time contacts which were more likely to be patients (P = 0.01). A need for emotional support during telephone contact was more likely to be related to an underlying stressful prompting event for the call (P = 0.002). CCS telephone receptionist personnel were relatively less satisfied that callers' needs were met where emotional support was needed, as opposed to calls for service or information only. The results have implications for the orientation and continuing education of CCS personnel dealing with telephone contacts related to patients.

Canada↗
PubMed1994

Oral treatment with low molecular weight heparin normalizes blood pressure in hypertensive rats.

Increased calcium uptake in vascular tissue, leading to elevated cytosolic free calcium has been implicated in the pathophysiology of hypertension. This study examined the effect of oral low molecular weight heparin (Logiparin) on systolic blood pressure, platelet cytosolic free calcium and aortic calcium uptake in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Starting at age 12 weeks, spontaneously hypertensive rats were divided into three groups of six animals each. The drinking water of groups 1, 2 and 3 was replaced by 100% H2O, 0.5 mg (low dose) or 1 mg (high dose) low molecular weight heparin/ml H2O, respectively, for next 11 weeks. Six normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (age 12 weeks) on H2O and six on low dose heparin in H2O were used as controls. At age 23 weeks, increase in systolic blood pressure, platelet cytosolic free calcium and aortic calcium uptake in spontaneously hypertensive rats was significantly lowered by low dose LMW heparin as compared to spontaneously hypertensive rats on H2O, but was significantly higher than Wistar-Kyoto rats on H2O and LMW heparin. This dose of heparin did not have any effect on these parameters in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats. High dose LMW heparin normalized the elevated platelet cytosolic free calcium, aortic calcium uptake and systolic blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats, but it had a limited effect on adverse renal vascular changes. Oral low molecular weight heparin did not cause any abnormal hematological, biochemical or pathological changes in rats.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1993

Health care behavior on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast.

Survey methods are used to investigate health behavior in five communities on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast. Eighteen health behaviors classified as 'biomedical' or 'traditional' are analyzed according to the ethnicity and educational level of the respondent. Household location (urban vs rural) and material wealth are also analyzed as predictors of health care behavior. Traditional behaviors are found to vary considerably among the six ethnic groups and among the various socioeconomic groupings. Biomedical behaviors are not found to be clearly related to ethnicity, wealth, or education.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Ascorbic acid concentration in amniotic fluid in late pregnancy.

Amniotic fluid and venous blood specimens were obtained from 34 pregnant women and analyzed for the ascorbic acid concentration. The mean amniotic ascorbic acid concentration of smoking pregnant women was less than 50% of that of non-smoking women. Pregnant women who smoked had a significantly lower serum and amniotic fluid ascorbic acid concentration than those who did not smoke. No differences were observed between the groups with or without premature rupture of the fetal membrane. The results suggest that ascorbic acid in the amniotic fluid reflects the ascorbic acid status in the blood of pregnant women and smoking had a greater effect in decreasing the ascorbic acid concentration in amniotic fluid than in serum.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Usefulness of biochemical screening of diabetic patients for hemochromatosis.

We assessed the prevalence of previously unrecognized hemochromatosis among patients in whom diabetes mellitus was diagnosed after the age of 30 yr, and we evaluated the positive predictive value of biochemical screening tests for hemochromatosis in diabetic subjects. Thirty-eight of 572 patients screened (6.6%) had a serum ferritin level greater than 324 micrograms/L; 16 patients had normal levels on repeat testing. Four patients' serum ferritin levels fell to less than 400 micrograms/L. Seven of 18 patients with a persistently elevated serum ferritin level did not undergo a liver biopsy because of a recognized cause of hyperferritenemia (carcinoma, alcoholism, or systemic lupus erythematosus). The diagnosis of hemochromatosis seemed certain in 1 of 3 patients who were not biopsied for technical reasons. Of 8 patients biopsied, 2 had hemochromatosis, 4 had fatty liver, 1 had hemosiderosis, and 1 had a chronic inflammatory cell infiltrate with no iron deposition. Of 4 patients with a raised transferrin saturation level, 2 had raised serum ferritin levels and hemochromatosis, 1 had raised serum ferritin and hemosiderosis on liver biopsy, and 1 had a normal transferrin saturation level on repeat testing. Two of 3 cases of hemochromatosis had other clinical markers of the condition. Therefore, routine screening of diabetic patients for hemochromatosis is not necessary, because patients with hemochromatosis will often have other clinical features of the disease. When screening diabetic patients for hemochromatosis, it should be remembered that a persistently raised serum ferritin level has a low positive predictive value (16.6%) and that a normal transferrin saturation level does not exclude the diagnosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Effects of supervised play in a hospital waiting room.

Thirty 5- to 10-year-old children and the adults accompanying them were observed in the waiting room of an outpatient neurology clinic. Half had appointments on days when supervised play was available to them in the waiting room. Results showed that children displayed less anxious behavior and the adults accompanying them were less irritable and spoke to the staff more when supervised play was available than when it was not.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Detection and quantitation of the beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin in serum by radioimmunoassay.

Qualitative and quantitative radioimmunoassays (RIA) specific for the beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) produced by Wampole Laboratories and Monitor Science Corporation were compared in a study involving the sera from 213 individuals. Qualitative assays from both manufacturers were found to be equivalent in clinical specificity (99.2%). However, the clinical sensitivity of the Wampole beta-Tec qualitative RIA (95.6%) was greater than that of the Monitor Science beta-CG qualitative RIA (89%) in detecting hCG in serum. In quantitative assays, the Wampole beta-Tec RIA gave serum values 1- to 10-fold higher than those obtained using the Monitor Science beta-hCG system when the same patient or control serum was assayed. Preliminary studies comparing two additional quantitative RIA kits (Serno hCG-beta and Bio-RIA hCG-beta rapid RIA) indicate that the results obtained with the quantitative Wampole and Monitor Science reagents are not peculiar to these two assay systems. Possible explanations of the cause of such aberrant results are presented. It is concluded that variable results can be expected when assaying the same serum sample with different RIA reagents for beta-hCG owing to the lack of an acceptable reference preparation for hCG that can be utilized by all commercial or private producers of such reagents.

Chemical Phenomena↗