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George Visick

Publications and source records attributed to George Visick.

2 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

The proportional Venn diagram of obstructive lung disease: two approximations from the United States and the United Kingdom.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The nonproportional Venn diagram of obstructive lung disease (OLD) produced for the 1995 American Thoracic Society guidelines has not been quantified. We aim to quantify the proportion of the general population with OLD and the intersections of physician-diagnosed asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema in the United States and the United Kingdom, and to examine the relationship to obstructive spirometry. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: We analyzed data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) III survey (1988 to 1994) and the UK General Practice Research Database for the year 1998. RESULTS: The areas of intersection among the three OLD conditions produced seven mutually exclusive disease groups. The asthma-only group was the largest proportion of OLD patients, accounting for 50.3% and 79.4% of all OLD patients in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively, and decreased with increasing age. Overall, 17% and 19% of OLD patients in the United States and in the United Kingdom, respectively, reported more than one OLD condition, and this percentage increased with age. According to the spirometry data from NHANES III, only 37.4% of emphysema-only patients had objective airflow obstruction. The prevalence of airflow obstruction was significantly higher among participants with combinations of emphysema and chronic bronchitis (57.7%), with emphysema and asthma (51.9%), and with all three OLD diseases concomitantly (52.0%). CONCLUSION: Concomitant diagnosis of asthma, chronic bronchitis, or emphysema is common among OLD patients from the general population, particularly in adults aged > or = 50 years.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Association between migraine and asthma: matched case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Earlier studies have suggested a link between asthma and severe headache, and also between migraine and wheezing illness. Recent analysis have also shown an increase of asthma among cases with a prior history of migraine but without a history of hay fever, allergic rhinitis or eczema. AIM: To examine whether there is an association between migraine and asthma in the United Kingdom. DESIGN OF STUDY: Matched case-control study using the General Practice Research Database (GPRD). SETTING: Practices in the United Kingdom providing data on 5,110,619 patients to the GPRD. METHOD: The subjects were the patients with one or more diagnoses of migraine plus treatment for migraine. Each case was matched by general practice, sex, and age, with one control who had never been given a diagnosis of migraine. Case and control groups were compared for prevalence of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, respiratory symptoms treated with inhalers or hay fever. Investigations were carried out to determine whether the association between migraine and asthma was stronger among patients with hayfever or those without hayfever, and whether patients with migraine had an increased prescription of other (non-migraine and non-asthma) medications. RESULTS: Among 64 678 case-control pairs, the relative risk of asthma in patients with migraine was 1.59 (95% CI = 1.54 to 1.65) among definite cases, and 0.75 (95% CI = 0.67 to 0.83) among those whose selection as case included beta-blocker prophylaxis. Among definite migraine cases, relative risks of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, respiratory symptoms, eczema, and hay fever (pollinosis), were all raised (at 1.22, 1.85, 1.55, and 1.67, respectively). The association between migraine and asthma was stronger in patients without a diagnosis of hay fever, than in those with hayfever (relative risk = 1.32 and 1.19, respectively). The relative risk of prescription for a range of non-migraine, non-asthma medications was raised, the exception being anti-diabetic medication. CONCLUSION: This large case-control study provides evidence for an association between migraine and asthma. Frequent attendance at a general practice surgery may confound this association. However, if the association is real, its elucidation may help the understanding of disease mechanisms shared by migraine and asthma.

Asthma↗