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Biomedical subjects

J B Davies

Publications and source records attributed to J B Davies.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Alcohol problems among women in a general hospital ward.

This paper reports a study which was conducted to establish the utility of a screening procedure consisting of a structured interview and blood tests (GGT and MCV) to detect early problem drinking in female patients in a short-stay general hospital ward. The proportion of women identified by the interview schedule was found to be greater than has been reported in general practice and some other studies of female problem drinking. However, most of the blood tests were normal for this group. Excessive alcohol consumption was significantly associated with attempted suicide by drug overdose.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1991

The impact of school-based drug education.

Outcome evaluation of the impact of drug education on a representative sample of 1197 pupils revealed no effects of drug education on drug-related behaviour or drug-related attitudes. However, drug education raised levels of drug-related knowledge. The long term implications of these findings would require further study. Comparison of process and outcome measures indicated that, with the exception of knowledge, teachers' positive views of drug education were misplaced. Critical aspects of good practice are discussed, both at the level of the individual teacher and in terms of whole-school factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Bladder augmentation and replacement. Urodynamic and clinical review of 25 patients.

Bladder augmentation has a role in the management of patients with neuropathic bladder dysfunction and in urinary undiversion. Several reports attest to its clinical value, but there have been few detailed urodynamic studies of its effects. We have carried out a prospective review over a 4-year period of 25 patients undergoing bladder augmentation or substitution assessed by conventional and ambulatory urodynamic studies. All patients had a detubularised reservoir made of ileum in 6, and of the ileocaecal segment in the remainder. Six patients also had an artificial sphincter fitted and 2 underwent colposuspension. There was no mortality. After operation, bladder capacity increased from 122 +/- 91 ml to 659 +/- 431 ml and there were significant decreases in the pressure rise during filling and increases in bladder compliance. Hyper-reflexia was present in 74% before operation and 23% after operation. Regular phasic activity was observed in 77% of patients at the end of filling after operation, probably due to bowel activity despite detubularisation. Four patients described urge incontinence associated with this activity. After operation, one man had persistent major stress incontinence. He has since undergone insertion of an artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) and is now completely dry. Of the remainder, 10 patients had minor, infrequent defects in continence, 9 patients with leakage when the bladder was full and 4 with occasional leakage at night. With the exception of the patient with major stress incontinence, all but one felt the operation had been worthwhile--40% reporting complete success and 52% excellent improvement. Reconstruction of the neuropathic lower urinary tract is a major surgical procedure, but the final clinical outcome is very satisfactory.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The 1990s: decade of the stimulants?

Does the media fan fake panics, forecast possible issues, create real problems, or detect problems at an earlier stage than treatment resources? A study of the relationship of tabloid news coverage of MDMA (Ecstasy) to drug treatment service demand found that treatment agencies were more concerned about amphetamine use but conversely tabloid coverage centred on ecstasy. Casual enquiries to a few drug agencies one year later discovered reports of increased numbers of clients presenting for ecstasy and reports of the drug's increased availability. The relationship between media coverage and changing drug availability and drug use is unclear. Short-term studies are unreliable, and interpretation of the relationship between drug use and media coverage runs a permanent risk of generating contradictory conclusions. The need for long-term serious study of the relationship between the media and drug use is stressed.

Central Nervous System Stimulants↗
PubMed1979

Displacements of Simulium damnosum and strategy of control against onchocerciasis.

Regular aerial treatment of 14 000 km of watercourses has achieved and maintained, over an area of 700 000 km2 of West African savannah, a very high degree of control of the larvae of Simulium damnosum sensu stricto and S. sirbanum, the vectors of onchocerciasis in this area. However, particular and relatively restricted parts of this area, mainly in northern Ivory Coast and neighbouring parts of Upper Volta, experience regular and prolonged reinvasions by parous female vectors, which have already taken bloodmeals (and many of them carrying the parasites) and arrive from unknown sources probably hundreds of kilometres away, from directions probably between southwest and north. This reinvasion, now experienced in three successive years, represents the outstanding scientific, epidemiological and logistic problem still facing the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme. An outline is presented of the multidisciplinary investigations being undertaken to find a solution.

Africa, Western↗
PubMed1979

The prevalence and distribution of Mansonella ozzardi in coastal north Trinidad, W.I.

A day blood smear survey for Mansonella ozzardi in the north coast communities of Trinidad recorded a prevalence of 4.8% in 4,488 persons examined. Prevalence rates were highest in the four western-most communities, where the vector, Culicoides phlebotomus, is a severe nuisance problem. Prevalence rates increased with age and were higher in males than in females. Mean microfilaria densities were low in both sexes up to 50 years of age but in older males the density increased with age. Wuchereria bancrofti infections were detected in five of the ten communities surveyed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Entomological aspects of the first five years of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in the Volta River Basin.

The history and structure of the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme in the Volta River Basin are described. An outline of the vector control operations is given, and the techniques and organisation of the entomological evaluation network are described in detail. During the course of the evaluation and related studies undertaken between November 1974 and October 1978 almost 1.2 million S. damnosum females have been taken in over 52,000 man days of catching, and 674,000 flies were dissected. An assessment based on this effort using Annual Biting Rates and Annual Transmission Potentials shows that the transmission of O. volvulus has been reduced to below a defined maximum permissible level over most of the central part of the Programme Area. The difficulties encountered in the remainder, and at certain problem sites are outlined and relevant data given. The benefits to be expected from extending the area further southwards and the possibilities of later reductions in control activity are discussed.

Africa, Western↗
PubMed1979

Studies on the reinvasion of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in the Volta River Basin by Simulium damnosum s.I. with emphasis on the south-western areas.

The aerial larvicidng operation of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme of the World Health Organization which began in February 1975 resulted in a sharp reduction in Simulium damnosum numbers. However, at the onset of the rainy season the fly population increased in certain areas. Detailed surveys both on the ground and by helicopter did not reveal any significant failures of treatments that could account for the fly densities observed, and it was concluded that the flies must originate from sources outside the controlled zone. This reinvasion proved to be an annual occurrence which has been studied in detail between 1975 and 1978 in the south-western parts of the control zone. The methods used included full day catches by vector collectors carried out every day throughout the season, cytotaxonomic determination of larvae, detailed morphological examination of reared and biting adults and treatment of suspected source rivers with insecticide. The results indicate that the invasion takes place in a SW-NE direction across country for distances of 300 km or more along the track of the monsoon winds. It involves mainly the savanna cytospecies S. damnosum s. str. and S. sirbanum. The invading populations are composed of older parous flies, many of which carry infective 3rd stage larvae indistinguishable from those of Onchocerca volvulus. These females tend to bite close to the rivers and do not disperse as far as normal populations with a higher proportion of younger flies.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Assessment of orthoses by means of speed and heart rate.

Energy expenditure is an important parameter in the assessment of gait and orthotic treatment of heavily handicapped patients, since any orthosis which increases the effort required is likely to be discarded with consequently disturbing implications. Heart rate has been shown to be a reliable monitor of energy expenditure and is convenient because ECG can be telemetered by a miniature radio transmitter. Using a transmitter causes minimal interference with the patient, but care must be employed to obtain ECG signals free of artefact from subjects who are exercising. Means of reducing artefact are discussed, as are ways in which heart rate monitoring by radio telemetry is being used in the routine assessment of orthotic treatment of paediatric patients and the development of new orthotic devices.

Child↗
PubMed1977

The Salop Skate.

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Adolescent↗