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Biomedical subjects

J Hersch

Publications and source records attributed to J Hersch.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Teen smoking behavior and the regulatory environment.

Professor Hersch argues that most state regulations aimed at fighting teen smoking have had little or no effect. She provides evidence that despite widespread age restrictions on purchasing tobacco, most teens do not consider it difficult for minors to purchase tobacco products within their community. She also presents evidence demonstrating a strong correlation between smoking rates and perceptions about the addictive nature of smoking. These findings suggest that facilitating greater awareness of the addictive power of cigarettes could be effective in curbing teen smoking. She explores the potential for parental restrictions on limiting teen smoking, but provides indications that parents are not well informed about their children's smoking behavior. Finally, she examines the recent FDA regulations, which, she says, are merely a continuation of the traditional methods of attacking adolescent smoking, and are unlikely to have a significant effect.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Pediatric sedation: short-term effects.

A prospective investigation on the short-term effects of various sedation regimens on 549 nonhospitalized magnetic resonance (MR) patients was performed. The drugs evaluated were chloral hydrate, pentobarbital, midazolam, and diazepam (fentanyl was used for enhancement after any of these drugs). The overall safety and efficacy were quite good with all the regimens. Overall, 84% of children slept less than 8 h after the examination, 90% were drowsy and/or unsteady for less than 8 h after they awoke, and 97% resumed their usual activities by 24 h. Significant hyperactivity was seen only with pentobarbital and occurred in 8.4% of children over 8 years of age. The multiple-dose regimen of pentobarbital and fentanyl had a significant short-term effect on the children less than 8 years of age, with 35% sleeping longer than 8 h after the MR. Ten children who had needed the multiple-dose pentobarbital regimen or who had failed prior pentobarbital sedation presented for repeat sedation. Midazolam was effective in 9 of these 10 children.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1991

Blood transfusion reactions. Which are life-threatening and which are not?

Adverse reactions occur acutely or some time after the fact in 20% of all blood transfusions. Since reactions are so common, it is important to recognize quickly whether the reaction is easily correctable or serious enough to force discontinuation or modification of treatment. The authors present a practical discussion of the topic, classifying reactions in terms of clinical presentation rather than pathophysiologic description.

Blood Group Antigens↗
PubMed1985

The efficacy of cellulosic ophthalmic inserts for treatment of dry eye.

Fourteen patients with dry eye signs and symptoms were treated with a cellulosic ophthalmic insert and conventional artificial tear drops in a cross-over study. Each subject rated symptoms before the study and after each treatment period. At the conclusion of the study, subjects chose which of the two treatments they preferred. Thirteen people preferred the artificial tear drops, and more symptoms were alleviated by them. Tear breakup time was not significantly changed by either treatment. The insert was not well received due to subjective blurring of vision and ocular irritation. Other studies have shown patient preference for the insert, but this may be due to patient selection.

Adult↗