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Biomedical subjects

G Waldron

Publications and source records attributed to G Waldron.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Coping with your coronary heart disease target.

The Scottish targets for coronary heart disease are examined in detail from the point of view of a Health Board. It is suggested that even though the target refers to the under 65 age group, further age/sex standardisation is needed for fair comparison. A least-squares regression technique is also recommended as a means of reducing the effect of atypical rates in baseline or target years. The targets adopted do not make it clear whether Health Boards should aim for a target in terms of the percentage fall, or should aim to be below an absolute level by the target year. The specific targets imply that resources will have to be concentrated in people of late middle age, particularly males, to the detriment of preventive activities in younger age groups. It seems necessary to emphasise that targets are not an end in themselves but merely an indicator of progress. Monitoring progress towards achieving the target could be achieved by assuming a linear fall in rate between baseline and target years, to produce annual intermediate targets. A health board's progress towards the final target can then be annually monitored by comparison of its regressed age-sex standardised rate with the intermediate target.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Asthma and the motorways--one District's experience.

BACKGROUND: Proposals to widen the section of the M25 motorway that passes through East Surrey caused considerable concern and claims that the traffic on the road was responsible for an increasing prevalence of asthma. This study was designed to ascertain the prevalence of asthma-related symptoms among schoolchildren in the District and determine whether there was an association with proximity to a motorway. METHODS: A total of 2387 children aged between 13 and 14 from 17 schools in East Surrey were invited to participate in a survey of the prevalence of asthma-related respiratory symptoms. The survey instrument used was the core asthma questionnaire of the International Survey on Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). The children were grouped according to electoral ward of residence and comparisons were made between urban and rural wards, and the presence or absence of a section of motorway. RESULTS: The prevalence of reported symptoms varied from 2.2 per cent reporting sleep disturbance on more than one night each week to 40 per cent reporting a wheezing episode at some time in their lives; 16 per cent reported a diagnosis of asthma. The overall prevalence of symptoms did not differ greatly from that reported in other similar studies. There was a decrease in the prevalence of asthma-related symptoms in areas close to motorways, which was statistically significant for two questions. This is unlikely to be due to the rural location of the motorways. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the motorways in East Surrey, in their present configuration, are not responsible for an increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms associated with asthma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The Nithsdale schizophrenia surveys. VIII: Do relatives want family intervention--and does it help?

Sixty-three relatives of 52 schizophrenics living at home were offered a package of treatments by professionals working in an everyday NHS setting: educational seminars, relatives' groups, and family meetings. Thirty-two relatives refused intervention. Of the 31 relatives who agreed, 14 attended neither the educational seminars nor the relatives' groups. Seventeen relatives had a mean of ten treatment sessions, but there was little change in their level of expressed emotion after intervention. The number of patients who relapsed was the same in the 18 months before and after intervention, although the total number of relapses fell after intervention.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

A multivariate investigation of postpartum mood disturbance.

The interrelationships of 'blues' and later postpartum depression with a number of biochemical, medical, and psychosocial variables have been examined in 52 subjects. The two syndromes shared only an impressive association with a prior history of gynaecological problems. Puerperal 'blues' was characterised in addition by associations with primiparity, tearfulness during pregnancy, and reduced plasma total tryptophan in the early puerperium. Depressive symptomatology up to nine months postpartum was related to an excess of male births and to an altered pattern of decline of non-esterified fatty acids immediately postpartum. In each case, the 'risk' variables were statistically independent and combined linearly. Stepwise discriminant analysis successfully discriminated 'blues' and depression from their respective non-cases. 'Blues and postpartum depression were only weakly related and, apart from gynaecological history, each was associated with separate and independent causative factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Tryptophan, cortisol and puerperal mood.

Plasma cortisol, free and total tryptophan were determined in 71 subjects on 8 occasions between 36 weeks gestation and 6 weeks post-partum. Affect was measured by rating scales and clinical interview. Twenty-eight subjects were judged to have experienced post-partum 'blues'. Seasonal variation occurred in the incidence of 'blues' and in cortisol and free tryptophan levels. Puerperally-depressed mood was correlated with high cortisol at 38 weeks irrespective of season. Free tryptophan was reduced in 'blues' subjects but only at the time of year when free tryptophan was normally high. Total tryptophan was low antenatally; a rapid rise on days 1 and 2 post-partum was superimposed on a slower return to normal. This initial peak was clearly absent in 37 per cent of subjects. Its absence was significantly related to occurrence of post-partum 'blues' and of complaints of depression in the ensuing 6 months. This finding is discussed in relation to the possible occurrence of an occult disturbance of tryptophan handling in subjects susceptible to depression.

11-Hydroxycorticosteroids↗