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Biomedical subjects

D Pedersen

Publications and source records attributed to D Pedersen.

50 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Health and traditional medicine cultures in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In this article, the authors summarise the origins and development of traditional medicine cultures in the Latin American and Caribbean regions, beginning with an overview of terminology and definitions related to 'medicine' and 'medical systems'. A short look is taken at original medicine cultures and at how they syncretised with colonial European medicine to give birth to a mosaic of lay and traditional medicine practices still in evidence in the New World today. A review is then made of the latest and main bibliographic sources in traditional medicine for the region, which are then analysed briefly. The main body of the paper deals with the different research approaches to traditional medicine cultures of which seven are discussed here. The authors conclude by stressing the need for closing the gap between the social and medical sciences in order to reach a better understanding of the health needs of the population. Biology and culture are at the centre of the discussion between medicine and anthropology where two trends dominate, viz. the socio-cultural and the biomedical models. The main task for ethnomedical researchers in the Latin American region is to work towards the creation of a bio-sociocultural model in an attempt to enrich systems qualitatively in the development of more humane and efficient interventions, both in the clinical field as in the field of health policies and strategies.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed1985

A comparative study of various electrodes in electromyography of the striated urethral and anal sphincter in children.

The series comprised 41 children aged 6 to 14 years consecutively referred with recurrent urinary tract infection and/or enuresis. Carbon dioxide cystometry was carried out in the supine and the erect position and combined with simultaneous electromyography (EMG). The external urethral sphincter was examined with a ring electrode mounted on a urethral catheter, while recordings from the striated anal sphincter were based on an anal plug electrode and perianal electrocardiographic (ECG) skin electrodes: 211 EMG and cystometric examinations were performed and all three methods gave satisfactory results. Correlation between them was good, as was reproducibility. Perianal surface ECG electrodes are recommended for the evaluation of functional disturbances of the external sphincter. They are painless, easy to use, and are well tolerated by the patient.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Traditional medicine in Ecuador: the structure of the non-formal health systems.

This paper summarizes the main findings of a four village study, carried out during 1979 and 1980 in the highlands and lowlands of northwest Ecuador concerning Western and traditional medicine practices and their relationship with the health status of the people. The methodology used was based on a census and cross-sectional survey on morbidity, mortality and healthy-seeking behaviour; on structured an open-ended interviews with healers, traditional midwives and local medical personnel; and on case studies and follow-ups of individual cases of illness, as defined by the population. Morbidity and mortality data show that the health situation is similar or worse in those villages with local medical services than in those with remote access to hospital facilities. The reported consultation and follow-up of actual cases revealed the existence of complex social networks for disease interpretation and management which combine Western and traditional medicine practices, religious and lay family healing procedures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Impact of coal-coking effluent on sediment microbial communities: a multivariate approach.

The functional response to and recovery from coal-coking waste effluent was evaluated for sediment microbial communities. Twenty estimates of microbial population density, biomass, and activity were measured five times during a 15-month period. Significant effects on microbial communities were observed in response to both wastewater contamination and diversion of the wastewater. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant analysis indicated that accurate differentiation between uncontaminated and contaminated sediments required a minimum of nine estimates of community response. Total viable population density, ATP, alkaline phosphatase, naphthalene, and phenanthrene mineralization rates were found to be highly weighted variables in site discrimination. Lipid and glucose mineralization, nitrogen fixation, and sediment protein also contributed significantly to explaining variation among sites. Estimates of anaerobic population densities and rates of methane production contributed little to discrimination among sites in the environment examined. In general, total viable population density, ATP, and alkaline phosphatase activity were significantly depressed in contaminated sediments. However, after removal of this contamination, the previously affected sites demonstrated greater temporal variability but a closer approximation of the mean response at the control site. Naphthalene and phenanthrene mineralization did not follow the general trend and were elevated at the contaminated sites throughout the investigation. Results of the investigation supported the hypothesis that multiple functional measures of microbial community response are required to evaluate the effect of and recovery from environmental contamination. In addition, when long-term effects are evaluated, select physiological traits, i.e., polyaromatic hydrocarbon mineralization, may not reflect population and biomass estimates of community response.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1981

Absorption of doxorubicin hydrochloride during bladder washings in treatment of noninvasive bladder tumors.

The absorption of doxorubicin hydrochloride (Adriamycin) in or through the urothelium has been determined as the difference between the instilled amount and the amount recovered after complete drainage of the bladder in 9 patients suffering from superficial urinary bladder tumors (grade I-II). A total of 22 absorption experiments were done. The relative deficit was found to be between 0 and 16 per cent (median 4 per cent). One of the reasons for the variations in the relative deficit was probably intravesical bleedings. One hundred seventy-two mumol. (100 mg.) doxorubicin was dissolved in 100 ml. isotonic saline, and the instilled liquid was retained in the bladder for one hour. No patient showed any sign of systemic side effects caused by doxorubicin. The results seem to indicate that it is possible to use a dose for intravesical instillation which is five times as high as the maximum dose for intravenous administration.

Absorption↗
PubMed1981

Methanogenesis in freshwater sediments: inherent variability and effects of environmental contaminants.

Temporal and spatial variability of methanogenesis and the effects of environmental contamination on methanogenesis were examined in freshwater sediments. Temporal and spatial variation was found to be significant in uncontaminated freshwater reservoir sediments. The relative concentration of organic matter and temperature explained approximately 43% of the total variability. Known environmental contaminants marginally inhibited methanogenesis and only a coal conversion effluent and phenanthrene, 100 mg L-1, demonstrated statistically significant inhibition of methanogenesis under acute dosing conditions. Methyl viologen, a potent inhibitor of pure culture methanogenesis, inhibited sediment methanogenesis at high concentrations, i.e., 2570 mg L-1, indicating that the sediment environment protected the methanogenic population from the toxic effects of the environmental contaminants.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The value of provoked expectoration in obtaining sputum samples for cytologic investigation. A prospective, consecutive and controlled investigation of 134 patients.

A prospective controlled investigation in 134 consecutive outpatients compared the cytologic adequacy of sputum samples obtained by spontaneous and provoked expectoration. Inhalation of nebulized 10% sodium chloride was used for provoked expectoration. A significantly higher number of adequate samples was produced after provocation, as judged by the presence of alveolar macrophages (X2 = 5.63; p less than 0.02). The improvement in sample adequacy was limited to the nonsmokers and ex-smokers in the study. This result, together with the relatively high cost of cytologic sputum examinations, indicates that provoked expectoration should at least be applied to the collection of sputum samples from nonsmokers and ex-smokers.

Humans↗