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B Walters

Publications and source records attributed to B Walters.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Pregnancy associated osteoporosis.

OBJECTIVE: Previous literature reports have suggested that osteoporosis associated with pregnancy is a rare event. We have examined the prevalence of this condition and compiled data on the largest group of such patients in the literature. PATIENTS AND DESIGN: With the help of the National Osteoporosis Society 35 women with pregnancy associated osteoporosis were identified. These women were matched with a control group from our already established computer data bank for age, weight, height and calcium status. Detailed questionnaires were sent to the osteoporotic sufferers enquiring about their present condition, past medical and drug history, and their menstrual, lactational and obstetric histories. They were also asked to complete a detailed dietary history to establish their calcium status. A questionnaire was also completed by the parents of these women and the parents of the control group, asking specifically about fracture history. RESULTS: Twenty-nine women had idiopathic osteoporosis associated with pregnancy, while in six, the condition may have resulted from drug therapy or associated diseases. Pain occurring late in the first full term pregnancy was the most common presentation. The natural history was for the condition to improve with time. There was a significantly higher prevalence of adult related fractures (P < 0.02) occurring at an earlier age in the mothers of these women compared to a control population. CONCLUSION: We have identified 35 women who have developed osteoporosis during or shortly after pregnancy and in only six of them could a recognized underlying cause be suggested. These findings would suggest that idiopathic osteoporosis associated with pregnancy may be more common than the current literature suggests. The higher prevalence of fractures in the mothers of our population compared to controls raises the question of a possible associated genetic factor in the aetiology of this condition.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Transfer of caesium from silage to cows milk: observations and models.

The transfer of radiocaesium from silage, contaminated as a result of the Chernobyl accident, to cows milk was studied in a feeding trial at Trawsgoed Experimental Husbandry Farm. Feed and milk samples obtained from the cows were analysed for Cs-137 and Cs-134 during the 124 days cows were fed contaminated silage and for a further 32 days when cows were fed uncontaminated material. The trial also involved the addition of bentonite supplements to the diet of some animals. Supplements of 250 g and 500 g sodium bentonite per day reduced Cs-137 transfer factors to milk to 0.63 and 0.33 of the control values respectively after 78 days of feeding. No effects of bentonite supplementation on the absorption of other elements were detected. The results for animals not given a supplement are compared with the cow-milk model implemented in the SPADE suite of codes, using both default parameters and input data and parameters derived from the feeding trial. The model overpredicted observed milk concentrations by a factor of 2 to 3. Reasons for this and alternative models are discussed. The sensitivity of the model to parameter selection is also emphasized.

Accidents↗
PubMed1989

Candidal antigenemia: a prognostic determinant.

We evaluated 98 hospital patients, debilitated by serious illness or major surgery with or without candiduria, for the development of candidal antigenemia with a commercially prepared antibody-coated latex particle assay. Group 1 (41 patients) had persistent Candida albicans candiduria (colony counts of more than 10,000 per ml.), group 2 (25 patients) had candiduria (more than 10,000 colonies per ml.) due to species other than Candida albicans and group 3 (32 patients) had no documented candiduria. Indwelling urinary catheters were present in 78 per cent of the patients in group 1, 80 per cent in group 2 and 66 per cent in group 3. In group 1 elevated candidal antigen titers of 1 to 8 or more occurred in 87 per cent of the patients with candiduria and other positive sites and in 31 per cent of those with candiduria alone (p less than 0.005), compared to 50 and 18 per cent, respectively, in group 2. In group 3 positive candidal cultures subsequently developed from other sites in 6 patients, 2 of whom had elevated titers. Patients with indwelling urinary catheters and candiduria had higher candidal antigen titers than patients without positive urine cultures. Increased mortality was noted in patients with elevated titers of 1 to 8 and urine cultures positive for Candida albicans plus other positive sites than in those with candiduria alone (100 versus 63 per cent, p less than 0.005). In groups 2 and 3 there was a higher mortality rate among patients with candiduria plus other positive sites. The sensitivity of elevated candidal antigen titers in the presence of candiduria and/or multiple positive culture sites was 62.8 per cent, with a specificity of 84 per cent and a predictive value of 68.7 per cent. We conclude that the commercial candidal antigen detection system was a useful laboratory adjunct in the evaluation of the debilitated patient with candiduria.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Dietary surveys on a population at Shipham, Somerset, United Kingdom.

The results are reported of three dietary surveys and crop sampling surveys carried out at Shipham in 1979. Concentrations of cadmium, lead and zinc in crops were higher than would normally be expected. Copper concentrations in crops were normal, and the results for mercury showed that mercury translocation from soil to crops was very low. Although cadmium dietary intakes were found to be greater than those expected from a normal UK diet, dietary lead and zinc intakes were normal. Dietary copper intakes at Shipham were a little lower than national average intakes. Four participants in the duplicate diet study, or 6% of the study population, had cadmium intakes higher than 0.4 mg per week.

Cadmium↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Measurement of radiocaesium, radiostrontium, and plutonium in whole diets, following deposition of radioactivity in the UK originating from the Chernobyl power plant accident.

Radionuclide contamination of whole diets as a result of the Chernobyl accident has been measured following the collection of individual diets from adults and children during 1 week in June 1986. The study was conducted in three different parts of the UK, to represent rural areas of both high and low deposition of Chernobyl fallout, and an urban area where the food supply was likely to be derived from a more diverse range of sources. The overall caesium-137 plus caesium-134 concentrations in the diets was less than 5 Bq kg-1 fresh weight, and ranged from less than 0.8 Bq kg-1 to 22 Bq kg-1, the highest levels being found in diets from the high deposition area. The isotopic ratios confirmed contamination to have been predominantly of Chernobyl origin. These levels of radiocaesium would have given rise to an average committed effective dose equivalent to age 70 of less than 0.4 microSv, with a range of less than 0.05 microSv to 1.9 microSv, from intakes in the study week. The opportunity was also taken to analyse the samples for weapons fallout contamination, that is, strontium-89/strontium-90 and plutonium-239/plutonium-240. No diet contained strontium above the reporting level of 0.2 Bq kg-1 but 18% of the diets contained plutonium above the limits of detection (0.1 mBq kg-1), the highest of these being 12 mBq kg-1, found in a diet from one of the low deposition areas.

Accidents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The assessment of radiocaesium intake from food using duplicate diet and whole-body monitoring techniques.

A duplicate diet study has been carried out on a group of Harwell employees in order to investigate the food types in which radiocaesium from Chernobyl was most likely to be found, and also the intake of radiocaesium in food with relation to observed whole-body levels. The duplicate diet study indicated that the highest levels of radiocaesium were in milk and meat or fruit and vegetables. Radiocaesium concentrations in food of all types are small compared to the most restrictive generalized derived limit. Daily intakes of radiocaesium measured by the diet study, of the order of 2-3 Bq day-1, generally agreed with values calculated from whole-body measurements. Committed does from radiocaesium have been estimated from dietary intakes to be in the range 3-29 muSv year-1, while whole-body measurements indicate a range of 6-18 muSv year-1; these doses are small compared to other sources of internal irradiation and to recommended limits.

Accidents↗