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Biomedical subjects

F J Erdtmann

Publications and source records attributed to F J Erdtmann.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1985

The Army Weight Control Program: a comprehensive mandated approach to weight control.

The Army Weight Control Program is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and mandated approach to weight control, designed to assist, educate, and motivate overweight individuals to reach their ideal body weight. The program objective is to ensure that Army personnel are able to meet the physical demands of their duties under combat conditions and is based on the assumption that the individual is ultimately responsible for exhibiting high standards of professional appearance. The history and the program philosophy are described. The Army Weight Control Program utilizes height-weight tables as an initial screen, followed by skinfold measurements, to identify overweight soldiers. Individuals who exceed established age and sex adjusted body fat standards (20% to 26% for men and 28% to 34% for women) and who do not have a pathological cause for their obesity are enrolled in the mandatory Army Weight Control Program. Entry into the program results in the withholding of favorable personnel actions. Noncompliance with established monthly weight-loss goals for a period of 6 months may result in separation from the Army. The rationale for the procedures and the methodologies of the program are reviewed and discussed. It is concluded that studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of mandatory weight-control programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Lack of association of swine flu vaccine and rheumatoid arthritis.

On the basis of available incidence rates, about 22,000 new cases of definite rheumatoid arthritis would have developed fortuitously among the 45 million recipients of the swine flu vaccine during the year after the immunization program. No excess has been detected. Proportional morbidity studies among all Mayo Clinic patients and among the active-duty personnel of the US Army showed no increase in the number of cases of rheumatoid arthritis after administration of the swine flu vaccine. These results do not support the claims based on anecdotal reports of an association of the vaccine with rheumatoid arthritis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Etiology of viral hepatitis in American soldiers.

To define better which types of hepatitis are prevalent among American soldiers, the authors studied 413 separate episodes of acute viral hepatitis among 412 soldiers admitted to US Army hospitals during 1978-1979. Most soldiers (68.8%) had acute hepatitis B (estimated annual hospitalization rate: 5.41/1000 soldiers in West Germany, 2.51/1000 in South Korea, less than 1/1000 in the United States). Subtype ayw was predominant in Germany, whereas adr was predominant in South Korea. Hepatitis B was more often associated with contact history or parenteral use of drugs in West Germany than in South Korea (p less than 0.001). Non-A, non-B hepatitis accounted for 27% of cases in West Germany (2.16/1000), but only 3% in South Korea (0.11/1000); hepatitis A only 15% in South Korea (0.48/1000) and 1% in West Germany (0.08/1000). These findings indicate that hepatitis B is the most prevalent form of viral hepatitis among US soldiers worldwide but also suggest substantial differences in the epidemiology of this infection in South Korea and West Germany. Such data will be useful in developing hepatitis B immunization policy within the military.

Adult↗