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Biomedical subjects

J B Murchland

Publications and source records attributed to J B Murchland.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Retinal vascular changes after treatment with hyperbaric oxygen.

A healthy 44-year-old man, who accompanied patients with multiple sclerosis as an attendant into a pressure chamber for hyperbaric oxygen treatment at 203 kPa (2 atm) absolute pressure, used a spare 100% oxygen mask himself for one hour on two occasions, and later noticed a field defect in his left eye. The vasoconstrictive, and consequent possible ischaemic, effects of hyperbaric oxygen are discussed, and the sensitivity of the retinal vasculature to hyperbaric oxygen is emphasized.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Participation and needs among members of the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists.

A survey of Australian Ophthalmologists in relation to Continuing Education and related issues was carried out in 1979-80. 53% of College members responded. A small multi-choice question paper tested the level of competency of the group. Age, geographic distribution, and type of practice were recorded and related to presently available continuing education facilities. Future needs are assessed and questions raised regarding the direction of continuing education in the future. The level of ophthalmic knowledge appears to be satisfactory but decreases with age, along with attendance at education programmes. 25% of ophthalmologists consider themselves isolated. Future programmes should consider these factors. Views on undergraduate, general practitioner and community education are also summarised.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Diabetes and associated variables in the South Australian Aboriginal.

Diabetes of a predominant maturity-onset type has been identified as being up to ten times more prevalent in South Australian Aborigines than in Caucasians. On the evidence provided, nutritional status and obesity are thought to be dominant in the aetiology of the hyperglycaemia, although relative hyperinsulinaemia in full blood Aborigines suggests a significant racial genetic effect. It is suggested on these and other grounds that the diabetic genotype may represent a factor of previous survival advantage to the Aboriginal, now rendered deleterious by urbanization. The degree of hyperglycaemia, and its association with hyperlipidaemia, obesity, retinal arteriovenous changes and abnormal electrocardiographic findings, accentuates the significance of the diabetes, and underlines the serious need for ongoing nutritional education in these communities.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Blood pressures and electrocardiographic findings in the South Australian Aborigines.

Blood pressure measurements were recorded in 522 adults and 141 10-19 year-old full and part blood Aborigines in five communities. The means for systolic and diastolic blood pressures at 40 years were close to those reported for Europeans, although below this age, values tended to be lower, and above 40 years tended to be higher than those reported in the Tecumseh study. Hypertension, as defined by the Princeton criteria, was present in 29%, more often in the men (1-6 to 1-0), and eight subjects satisfied the criteria for hypertensive heart disease (HHD). 522 electrocardiograms were recorded on adult subjects at five Aboriginal communities and classified according to categories of the Minnesota code. Of the 210 abnormalities observed, minor T wave inversions and minor S-T segment depression were the most commonly encountered, and were more frequent in female subjects. Q wave changes typical of myocardial infarction was found in 5% of the tracings and occurred mainly in older men. If hypertension and certain ECG codes are assumed to be "risk factors" for the development of clinical ischaemic heart disease (IHD), the urbanized Aboriginal had a higher prevalence compared with Caucasian subjects of the Busselton study. "Probable" and "suspect" ECG changes of IHD, although mainly in the older subjects, were found to be associated with hyperglycaemia, as recognised in Western society. It is postulated that urbanized Aborigines are prone to cardiovascular degenerative disease to a similar or possibly larger extent than Caucasians.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Visual acuity and retinal changes in South Australian Aborigines.

Eye examinations were carried out a four Aboriginal reserves. Of 361 Aboriginal adults tested, 64 had a visual defect (visual acuity of 6/9 or worse) in each eye, a prevalence of 18%, with an additional 79 (22%) with a similar loss of acuity in one eye only; these were more frequently seen at the urbanized reserve of Koonibba. Only one full blood Aboriginal child within the less urbanized communities had a reduced visual acuity, whereas seven (10%) part blood children at a more urbanized reserve had reduced vision in both eyes, with a further nine (13%) in one eye only, not unlike figures quoted for South Australian school children. Vascular changes in the fundus oculi were observed and occurred more often when hypertension and/or hyperglycaemia were present. They consisted of arteriovenous crossing changes (26%), swelling of the retinal veins (3%) and altered light reflex (41%) and were not infrequently seen in the younger adult (20% of adults under 30 years had AV crossing changes and 46% had widened light streak). Analysis suggests that, although hypertension and hyperglycaemia are related to retinal vascular changes, other factors, as yet unidentified, are present in the Aboriginal population under consideration.

Adult↗