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Biomedical subjects

D Pullen

Publications and source records attributed to D Pullen.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Medical care of doctors.

AIM: To describe doctors' attitudes towards their own medical care. METHODS: Postal survey asking 2564 doctors about their access to, and use of, medical services. The sample, 14% of all New South Wales doctors, was randomly selected from the NSW Register of Medical Practitioners. To ensure anonymity, non-respondents were not followed up. RESULTS: The response rate was 44%. Only 42% of respondents had a general practitioner and most had self-prescribed medication. Nineteen per cent reported marital disturbances, 18% emotional disorders, 3% alcohol problems and 1% drug abuse, but not many had discussed these problems with their doctor. Twenty-six per cent had a condition warranting a medical consultation but felt inhibited about consulting a doctor. CONCLUSION: Many doctors lack adequate medical care. RECOMMENDATIONS: We recommend that doctors have their own general practitioner, avoid "corridor consultations" and not self-prescribe drugs that affect mental function. Teaching of appropriate help-seeking responses should be part of medical education.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Procedures to enhance withdrawal of xenobiotics from chickens.

Egg- and meat-type chickens were fed diets containing 1 or 10 ppm of fireMaster (FF-1), a commercial mixture of polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), predominantly 2,4,5,2',4',5'-hexabromobiphenyl (6BB-4) and 2,3,4,5,2',4',5'-heptabromobiphenyl (7BB-8). These congeners account for approximately 65 and 14%, respectively, of the total mix. In three experiments, colestipol hydrochloride, a bile acid-binding resin, and mineral oil, alone or in combination with restricted feeding, were examined as procedures to enhance the removal of the PBBs. The combination of 50% dietary restriction plus a 10% dietary concentration of colestipol or mineral oil reduced body burdens of PBBs about 70% within 21 d for chickens previously fed 10 ppm PBBs. The use of feed restriction, colestipol, or mineral oil produced only borderline effects for hastening withdrawal. Chickens not treated showed only a 3% loss of PBBs during the withdrawal period. Colestipol at 2.5% in the diet in combination with feed restriction was not consistently effective in removing body burdens of PBB from chickens previously fed 1 or 10 ppm PBBs, indicating a dose-response effect. Chickens previously fed 1 ppm eliminated up to 40% of the PBBs in 21 d without any treatment, as compared to the 3% loss occurring after feeding with 10-ppm concentrations.

Adipose Tissue↗

Lemierre's syndrome: are we underdiagnosing this life-threatening infection?

Over a period of 12 months 3 patients presented with severe tonsillitis and subsequently grew Fusobacterium necrophorum (literally-spindle-shaped rod which brings death!) from blood cultures. Two patients responded well to antibiotics and were discharged within 4 days of admission. The third case had a longer history of symptoms and following investigations of a minor but unusual neck swelling was found to have thrombosis of the external and internal jugular vein. This is the first stage in the potentially fatal dissemination of this virulent organism which manifests clinically as Lemierre's syndrome. We describe the clinical histories and discuss whether cases are unrecognised because of the prompt clinical response to penicillin and metronidazole. We stress the importance of taking blood cultures and careful examination of the neck in all patients presenting with a severe tonsillitis.

Adult↗