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Biomedical subjects

M E McDowall

Publications and source records attributed to M E McDowall.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1988

Professional drivers in London: a mortality study.

A total of 3392 professional drivers in London were followed up in a prospective mortality study. There were significantly fewer deaths than expected from all causes (SMR 91, p less than 0.05), circulatory disease (SMR 75, p less than 0.05), and accidents (SMR 61, p less than 0.05). Lorry drivers showed excess deaths from stomach cancer (SMR 141, p less than 0.05), lung cancer (SMR 159, p less than 0.05), bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma (SMR 143, p less than 0.05), a pattern not evident among taxi drivers. Mortality from bladder cancers, leukaemia, and other lymphatic cancers were raised in taxi drivers, though the results did not achieve statistical significance. The importance of the findings is discussed.

Automobile Driving↗
PubMed1986

Mortality decline and widening social inequalities.

Mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) is higher in manual than in non-manual occupational classes and is higher in Scotland, Wales, and the North of England than in the South. Trends in these inequalities were examined in the light of the decline in CHD mortality in Great Britain. With the use of 1979/83 death rates as standard, mortality ratios (SMRs) for all causes, lung cancer, CHD, and cerebrovascular disease in 1979/83 were compared with SMRs in 1970-72. Despite the general fall in mortality the relative disadvantage of manual compared with non-manual classes has increased for each of these 4 cause groups. The regional differences in CHD mortality persist. Among men, in every region of Great Britain, CHD mortality has declined in non-manual classes. Only in Wales has there been an appreciable decline in CHD mortality in manual classes. Among women, lung cancer and CHD mortality have fallen in non-manual classes but have increased in manual classes. Differences in smoking between social classes are likely to be important. Other differences in behaviour may be important, but the effect of unemployment and increased income differentials should also be explored.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Mortality of persons resident in the vicinity of electricity transmission facilities.

Several studies have raised the possibility that exposure to electrical and/or magnetic fields may be injurious to health in particular by the promotion or initiation of cancer. To investigate whether the electricity transmission system presents a long term hazard to public health, the mortality of nearly 8,000 persons, identified as living in the vicinity of electrical transmission facilities at the time of the 1971 Population Census, has been followed to the end of 1983. All identified transmission installations within pre-defined areas were included in the study with the result that the greater part of the study group were believed to be resident near relatively low voltage sub-stations. Overall mortality was lower than expected and no evidence of major health hazards emerged. The only statistically significant excess mortality was for lung cancer (in women overall, and in persons living closest to the installations); this result is difficult to interpret in the absence of smoking data, and is not supported by other evidence but does not appear to be due to the social class distribution of the study group. The study did not support previously reported associations of exposure to electro-magnetic fields with acute myeloid leukaemia, other lymphatic cancers and suicide.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Testicular cancer mortality in England and Wales 1971-80: variations by occupation.

The occupations of all males aged 15 and over dying of cancer of the testis in England and Wales from 1971 to 1980 (2434 cases) have been examined in a case control study. Significant excess mortality was found in farmers (although not farm workers), food manufacture and preparation workers, and draughtsmen, although the results show little evidence of a major role for occupation in the aetiology of this cancer. The results may, however, aid the search for those factors in modern life that may have contributed to the sharp rise in incidence of this cancer in recent years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Occupation and cancer in London: an investigation into nasal and bladder cancer using the Cancer Atlas.

The Atlas of Cancer Mortality for England and Wales showed pronounced excesses of male mortality from nasal and bladder cancer in certain London boroughs. These excesses were investigated by case-referent studies using death certificate data for male deaths, 1968-78. Nasal cancer was found to be significantly associated with occupations involving heavy exposure to wood dust. Bladder cancer was significantly associated with occupations in road transport driving and in the handling of leather, whereas consistently raised relative risk ratios were also found for wood-workers, engineering fitters, printers, machinists, plumbers, and motor mechanics. These findings highlight the potential role of occupational factors in cancer causation in London.

Humans↗
PubMed1984

A mortality study of cement workers.

Occupational exposure to dust has been linked with excess mortality from stomach cancer. To examine this hypothesis in respect of cement workers the mortality of a group of men, identified as cement workers in 1939, was followed up from 1948 to 1981. An excess of mortality from stomach cancer was found which is not thought to be explained by the social class distribution of the study population. Mortality from respiratory disease was not increased.

Adult↗