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Biomedical subjects

K P Lumley

Publications and source records attributed to K P Lumley.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Allergy to flour and fungal amylase in bakery workers.

The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and skin prick test findings in a group of 383 employees in a plant bakery population who had the greatest regular exposure to ingredient dusts. The prevalence of positive skin prick tests to fungal amylase was 16%, in contrast to 6% to wheat flour, suggesting that the principal sensitiser is fungal amylase and not flour. Furthermore, the findings suggest that symptomatic allergy to bread-baking ingredients is uncommon (3.1%). In comparison, occasional short-lived symptoms which do not appear to have an allergic aetiology are relatively prevalent (17.2%). Where sensitisation to ingredients arises, fungal amylase present in bread improvers is the principal allergen.

Amylases↗
PubMed1996

Work-related asthma in a population exposed to grain, flour and other ingredient dusts.

The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence and causation of work-related asthmatic symptoms in a population exposed to grain, flour and other ingredient dusts. Where workers complained of asthmatic symptoms which were the result of dust exposure, follow-up aimed to identify whether the symptoms were the result of sensitisation or of non-specific irritation. A questionnaire was presented to 3,450 workers who had exposure to dust during the course of flour milling (528), bread baking (1,756), cake baking (209) and other activities in food preparation (957). Those with positive responses were followed-up by taking a formal history, examination, skin prick testing and serial peak flow measurement. The overall prevalence of work-related asthmatic symptoms was 4.4% (153 out of 3,450). In the group who were followed-up (128 out of 153), non-specific respiratory irritation was thought to be the cause in 90 (2.6%), whilst sensitisation was responsible for symptoms in 12 (0.3%). Of the 12 cases due to sensitisation, the agents responsible were: fungal amylase (10 cases, all associated with bread baking), flour (one case, associated with flour packing), and grain (one case, associated with flour milling). Non-specific irritation is considerably more common than sensitisation as the cause of work-related asthmatic symptoms in flour milling, baking and other flour-based industries. The prevalence of sensitisation to flour is very low (less than 1 in 1,000) in all these industries. The principal sensitiser encountered in modern plant bakeries appears to be fungal amylase. The most important source of exposure to fungal amylase is probably the debagging, sieving, weighing and mixing of bread improvers.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

A proportional study of cancer registrations of dockyard workers.

Evidence of an occupational effect due to asbestos exposure was sought by comparing cancer registrations for dockyard workers with those for Plymouth men in the same age groups for 1960-69. The results show a significant excess of pleural tumours in the dockyard group but no significant excesses at other sites. Registrations for pleural mesothelioma were recorded for men with many dockyard occupations and the observed mean interval between first exposure to asbestos and registration for a pleural tumour (37.6 years) indicates that cases of pleural mesothelioma may be expected to occur among these workers for many years, even though crocidolite is no longer used in naval ships. A trend of increasing annual excess of stomach and gastrointestinal registrations was observed in the dockyard group. No cases of peritoneal mesothelioma were recorded but it is likely that some did occur which were diagnosed as cancers arising from other sites. This may account for some of the excess of gastrointestinal registrations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Physiological changes in asbestos pleural disease.

This paper reports the findings of a study of lung function at rest and during progressive sub-maximal exercise in a group of men with varying degrees of asbestos-related pleural abnormality. The results show that pulmonary fibrosis is accompanied by more adverse functional change than pleural abnormality, diffuse pleural thickening is associated with more functional abnormality than non-calcified pleural plaques, and pleural calcification is not associated with significant functional defects. The relationship between lung function and asbestos exposure in this selected group is discussed. It is also suggested that VE1-0 is as useful an index of the ventilatory cost of exercise as VE1.5.

Adult↗