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Biomedical subjects

J W Gerrard

Publications and source records attributed to J W Gerrard.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Sex-linked determinants for IgM?

Evidence for a sex-linked determinant of immunoglobulin M levels was sought using correlational and commingling analyses in a sample of 174 randomly selected nuclear families. While mean IgM levels in females were approximately 25% higher than that in males, the pattern of familial correlations did not follow the expectations under a sex-linked model, and there was no commingling in the distribution of IgM levels as expected when a trait is under the influence of a major gene.

Canada↗
PubMed1989

Commingling in the distributions of immunoglobulin levels.

Commingling in the distributions of five immunoglobulins from a Canadian sample of 810 Caucasians and IgE from a US sample of 935 Caucasians was investigated. For both the Canadian and US samples significant commingling was found in the child's but not the adult's IgE distribution. Contrary to expectations based upon the major gene hypothesis for IgM, we found no evidence for commingling in the IgM distribution. Finally, the distributions of IgA, IgD and IgG all evidenced significant commingling that may be the result of a single gene effect or the operation of a discrete environmental effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Oral cromoglycate: its value in the treatment of adverse reactions to foods.

Thirty-two patients who reacted adversely to foods were given oral cromoglycate and placebo separately for two periods of seven days each. Adverse reactions were prevented by cromoglycate alone in 24. The symptoms responding to cromoglycate affected not only the gastrointestinal tract but also the skeletal, vascular and nervous systems.

Child↗
PubMed1979

Cow's milk allergy: a critical review.

Foods which are ingested frequently, and cow's milk in particular, are a common cause of delayed-in-onset allergy. Difficulty in diagnosing milk allergy is encountered because: (1) skin tests are unreliable; (2) the symptoms of milk allergy are frequently delayed in appearing, thereby obscuring their connection with the previously ingested food; (3) when such symptoms do appear, they often fail to suggest allergy as etiologic; and (4) the offending antigen may be present in a milk product not obviously associated with milk per se such as sherbet or cheese. Contrary to common belief, most milk (and other food) allergy is not reagin (IgE) mediated. Milk allergy is not confined to infancy, but is frequently seen in children and adults, often persisting as an allergy which had supposedly been "outgrown." Since milk allergy is often a familial disorder, its presence in a patient can assist the physician in possibly discovering it in other members of the family. A two or three-week trial elimination of milk, in conjunction with written dietary instructions for the patient, is presently the only reliable diagnostic procedure.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Nonsmoking grain handlers in Saskatchewan: airways reactivity and allergic status.

This study was carried out to determine whether respiratory disease in Saskatchewan grainhandlers was or was not due to hypersensitivity to grain dust. Sixty nonsmoking grainhandlers, half of whom had low FEV1/FVC ratios and half of whom had high, were studied. The findings in grainhandlers were compared with those in 30 age-matched, nonsmoking teachers. In the group of grainhandlers with low FEV1/FVC ratios, one had developed asthma associated with exposure to grain dust. The majority were healthy, had FEV1/FVC ratios of 70% or greater, and had less evidence of allergic respiratory disease than had age-matched teachers. The studies suggest that non-atopic, nonsmoking men can work in grain elevators without developing respiratory disability, though they may develop a small but significant increase in nonspecific bronchial reactivity to histamine.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗
PubMed1978

Oral cromoglycate in treatment of adverse reactions to foods.

20 subjects with adverse reactions to foods were given oral cromoglycate and placebo separately for seven days each. While on each medication they were given, for four consecutive days, a food to which they were sensitive. Adverse reactions were prevented in 14 subjects. These results suggest that oral cromoglycate is of value in the treatment of some patients with adverse reactions to foods.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1978

A genetic study of immunoglobulin E.

Path analysis gives evidence of genetic heritability (.425) for serum IgE levels. Complex segregation analysis indicates, in addition to significant polygenic heritability, a major regulatory locus RE, with homozygotes re/re maintaining persistently high levels of IgE. The gene frequency of re is .489, and the displacement is 1.67 standard deviations.

Female↗
PubMed1977

Immunoglobulin levels in white and metis communities in Saskatchewan.

Serum-immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD, IgE) have been studied in white and metis (Cree Indian) communities in Saskatchewan. The levels of IgG, IgA, IgD and IgE were higher in the metis than in the whites. Both IgG and IgM were higher in females than in males. IgG and IgA levels rose progressively with age. IgM levels rose rapidly during the first year to almost adult levels, and then fell gradually after the age of 30. IgE levels also rose rapidly during the first 3 years of life, were higher on average in children than in adults, and fell to adult levels at puberty. Low levels of IgA were associated with high levels of IgG; they were not associated with either high levels of IgE or an increase in the prevalence of asthma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Serum IgE levels in forty families studied for two or three years.

Serum IgE levels have been measured over two to three years in 210 individuals. In one-fifth IgE levels remained remarkably constant, in one-quarter they rose and in half they fell. A rise was usually associated with the development of fresh atopic disease, exacerbation of established disease or dependence on symptomatic treatment. A fall was associated with a diminution in the severity of symptoms occurring spontaneously as a result of good environmental control or of appropriate immunotherapy. Sequential IgE levels provide confirmatory evidence of the success of either environmental control or of immunotherapy.

Family↗
PubMed1976

The familial incidence of allergic disease.

The familial incidence of asthma, hay fever, recurrent rhinitis, recurrent bronchitis, eczema and urticaria was studied in 176 normal families. When these diseases, with the exception of urticaria, were present in a parent there was an increase in prevalence of the same disease in the child. This suggests that there is a heritable component in the end organ most easily sensitized in the allergic response.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Serum IgE levels in white and metis communities in Saskatchewan.

Serum IgE levels and the prevalence of certain atopic diseases have been studied in 819 individuals in 176 white families living in central Saskatchewan and in 275 individuals in 58 Metis families living in northern Saskatchewan. The geometric mean serum IgE level in the white community (81.3) u/ml) was lower than that in the Metis community (275.4 u/ml). The prevalence of asthma, eczema and urticaria was greater in the white than in the Metis community and contrasted with the increased prevalence of helminth infestation as well as of other untreated viral and bacterial diseases in the Metis community. It is suggested that atopic disease is the price paid by some members of the white community for their relative freedom from diseases due to viruses, bacteria and helminths.

Adolescent↗