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Biomedical subjects

E M Foster

Publications and source records attributed to E M Foster.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1978

Psychiatric illness in the elderly. A comparison of GP records and survey findings.

The GP records of 200 elderly people living at home were scrutinized and estimation made of physical and psychiatric disability. These estimations were compared with those made independently by a psychiatrist interviewing the subjects at home. There was a reasonable agreement between the two assessments of functional disorder and between the two assessments of physical disabilities. Whereas the survey psychiatrist's diagnoses of mental disorder correlated positively with the presence of physical illness, this did not hold for those considered to have evidence of psychiatric illness using GP records alone. The duration of a positive psychiatric history obtained from GP records was consistent with a discrimination between late onset (recent) and chronic neurosis.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

Management of the demented elderly patient in the community.

Eighty-three consecutive patients with organic mental disorder were studied on their first admission to a psychiatric day hospital assessment unit in a general hospital. They were evaluated medically, psychiatrically and by social work, re-evaluated after 3 months, and again after 12 months or at death. The types of care, and the number of days in each setting, were recorded. Nearly three-quarters were dead or in institutions by 12 months: those initially living with spouses did worst, and those with their children did best, while those on their own became long-stay residents in institutions. Family support seeemed the most important factor determining continued life in the community, and increased help to families from social services appeared to be needed. The value of earlier psychiatric diagnostic and earlier treatment of physical ills is also discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

Foodborne hazards of microbial origin.

Foods can serve as vehicles of many pathogenic and toxigenic agents of disease. Bacterial agents comprise three groups: 1) those that grow in the food and produce an active toxin before consumption (e.g., clostridium botulinium); 2) those that merely exist as contaminants in the food but are able to initiate infection when swallowed (e.g., Salmonella spp.); and 3) those that multiply and produce large numbers of vegetative cells in the food, then release an active enterotoxin when they sporulate in the gut. A few parasitic (e.g., Trichinella spiralis) and viral agents (e.g., hepatitis A) also can be transmitted by food. Botulinum poisoning is the deadliest foodborne disease. The potential danger of botulism from cured meats is a major factor in the argument over use of nitrites as meat curing agents. A new disease called infant botulism has been recognized since 1976. Apparently it is not foodborne but results from intraintestinal growth of C. botulinum in very young infants. Salmonellosis is the most important of the foodborne diseases from the standpoint of overall human health. The primary vehicles are contaminated raw meat, poultry, and eggs. Faulty food handling practices are responsible for most food poisoning in the United States.

Bacillus cereus↗
PubMed1977

Cognitive function and length of survival in elderly subjects living at home.

177 people aged 65 or over, chosen at random from larger representative samples of elderly people living at home in Newcastle upon Tyne, were given the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) or a shortened form of it, and followed up for 7 years or till death. Discriminated function analysis showed that the power of the test score to predict death occurring within 2 years was not explained away by its correlations with age, sex, social class or physical disability. Exclusion of clinically diagnosed chronic brain syndromes reduced but did not abolish the relationship found to exist between test score and outcome. The ascertainment of impaired cognitive functioning has important applications in the assessment of prognosis and in the planning of care of elderly people.

Aged↗
PubMed1976

The characteristics of old people receiving and needing domiciliary services: the relevance of psychiatric diagnosis.

A sample of 447 people aged 65 years and over, randomly selected from electoral rolls, were visited in their homes, independently, by a medical social worker and a psychiatrist. Twelve per cent were receiving domiciliary services from the Local Authority and a further 20% were considered to require them. The types of services received and recommended are described and the medical, social and psychiatric services of those receiving services, in need of them, and the remainder are compared. The high priority for the support of persons with chronic brain syndrome and their relatives is emphasized. Functional psychiatric symptoms were found by the psychiatrist, in a high proportion of those considered by the medical social worker to need services. Psychiatric assessment and treatment which might reduce the need for social services in some cases, would be greatly assisted by the development of a reliable screening device for the use of the primary care team.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1970

Unde et quo.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Congresses as Topic↗
PubMed1968

Survival and outgrowth of Clostridium botulinum type E spores in smoked fish.

Chub injected in the loin muscle with 10(6)Clostridium botulinum type E spores were smoked to an internal temperature of 180 F (82.2 C) for 30 min, sealed in plastic bags, and incubated at room temperature (20 to 25 C) for 7 days. Viable type E spores were found in practically all such fish. Toxin formation by the survivors in the smoked fish was dependent on the brine concentration of the smoked fish. A brine concentration of 3% or higher, as measured in the loin muscle, inhibited toxin formation. Six different type E strains gave similar results. Only a few hundred of the million spores in the inoculum survived the smoking. Moisture in the atmosphere during smoking did not reduce the incidence of fish with type E survivors.

Clostridium botulinum↗
PubMed1968

Role of curing agents in the preservation of shelf-stable canned meat products.

Experiments were conducted to gain a better understanding of the mechanism by which sodium chloride, sodium nitrate, and sodium nitrite supplement the action of heat in preserving canned cured meat products. Heated spores of putrefactive anaerobe 3679h were less tolerant of all three curing agents in the outgrowth medium than were unheated spores. When the curing agents were added to the heating menstruum, but not to the outgrowth medium, sodium chloride and sodium nitrate tended to protect the spores against heat injury, but sodium nitrite did not. When the spores were both heated and cultured in the presence of the curing agents: (i) nitrate and salt increased the apparent heat resistance at low concentrations (0.5 to 1%) but decreased it at concentrations of 2 to 4%; (ii) nitrite was markedly inhibitory, especially at pH 6.0. At the normal pH of canned luncheon meats (approximately 6.0), nitrite appears to be the chief preservative agent against spoilage by putrefactive anaerobes.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1968

Effect of sodium nitrite, sodium chloride , and sodium nitrate on germination and outgrowth of anaerobic spores.

The effects of meat-curing agents on germination and outgrowth of putrefactive anaerobe 3679h (PA 3679h) spores were studied in microcultures. Nitrite concentrations up to 0.06% at pH 6.0 or between 0.8 and 1% at pH 7.0 allowed emergence and elongation of vegetative cells but blocked cell division. The newly emerged cells then lysed. With more than 0.06% nitrite at pH 6.0 or more than 0.8 to 1% at pH 7.0, the spores lost refractility and swelled, but vegetative cells did not emerge. Even as much as 4% nitrite failed to prevent germination (complete loss of refractility) and swelling of the spores. Sodium chloride concentrations above 6% prevented complete germination (i.e., the spores retained a refractile core). In the presence of 3 to 6% sodium chloride, most of the spores germinated and produced vegetative cells, but cell division was often blocked. Sodium nitrate had no apparent effect on germination and outgrowth at concentrations up to 2%.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1968

Nitrite-induced germination of putefactive anaerobe 3679h spores.

Sodium nitrite alone has been shown to stimulate germination of PA 3679h spores. The process was accelerated by using increased concentrations of sodium nitrite, a low pH, and a high temperature of incubation. At low concentrations of nitrite (0.01 to 0.2%), the delay of 36 to 48 hr occurred before germination commenced at 37 C. However, with 3.45% nitrite at 45 C and pH 6.0, most of the spores germinated within 1 hr. At pH 7.0, the germination rate decreased markedly, and at pH 8.0 it was nil. The greatest acceleration in germination rate occurred near 60 C. Hydroxylamine was completely inhibitory to nitrite-induced germination. Sodium nitrite, in turn, inhibited germination by l-alanine, the degree of inhibition being influenced by nitrite concentration and pH.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1968

Possible origin of the high incidence of Clostridium botulinum type E in an inland bay (Green Bay of Lake Michigan).

Bottom and shoreline sediments of Green Bay, northern Lake Michigan, and rivers of the Green Bay drainage basin, as well as soils of the surrounding land mass, were examined for Clostridium botulinum type E. Detection was based on identification of type E toxin in enrichment cultures and was influenced by many factors. Testing smaller amounts of sample in multiple cultures was more productive than examining large inocula in fewer cultures. Incubation at 30 C was unsatisfactory, but 14 days at 20 C or 7 days at 25 C gave good results. Mild heating (60 C for 30 min) of specimens reduced the incidence of positive findings. Freezing enrichment cultures prior to testing for toxicity eliminated many nonbotulinal toxic substances that killed mice. A control culture inoculated with type E spores was employed to show whether a specimen contained factors which could mask the presence of type E. Samples from 708 stations were tested in 2,446 cultures. Type E was found in nearly all underwater specimens of Green Bay and northern Lake Michigan but was present less frequently in samples taken along their shores. The incidence was still lower in the rivers emptying into Green Bay with the organism being rare on the shores of these rivers and in the soils of the land mass proper. Samples from the upper reaches of the rivers practically never contained type E. Runoff could deposit type E spores in Green Bay, but this is not considered to be the major factor in the high incidence of the organism. Multiplication in the bay itself is indicated.

Animals↗