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Biomedical subjects

N Kreitman

Publications and source records attributed to N Kreitman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Regional variations in British alcohol morbidity rates: a myth uncovered? I: Clinical surveys.

Officially recorded rates of many alcohol related problems are much higher in the north than in the south of Britain. To try to shed some light on this the pattern and threshold for use of psychiatric and medical hospital services for alcohol dependence, abuse, and psychosis were studied in three areas differing greatly in official rates of alcohol related problems--namely, the Highland and Tayside regions in Scotland and part of the South East Thames region in England. The disparity in psychiatric admissions for alcohol dependence, abuse, and psychosis were found to be largely explained by admission policies which reflected geographical factors. The results of this study did not support the conventional view that rates of treated morbidity due to alcohol are appreciably higher in the north.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1984

Regional variations in British alcohol morbidity rates: a myth uncovered? II: population surveys.

Regional variations in officially recorded rates of alcohol related morbidity in Britain were investigated by surveying community drinking habits of a randomly selected sample of adults in the Highlands, Tayside, and part of the South East Thames region. Contrary to expectations, patterns of alcohol consumption did not differ in a manner consistent with the much higher rates of alcohol related problems recorded in the north.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Trends in parasuicide and unemployment among men in Edinburgh, 1968-82.

Between 1968 and 1982 annual unemployment and annual incidence of parasuicide among men in Edinburgh were positively and highly significantly correlated (r = 0.77). Similarly, they were found to be correlated across the city wards in 1971 (r = 0.76) and, even more strongly, 1981 (r = 0.95). Throughout the period the incidence of parasuicide among the unemployed was nearly always more than 10 times higher than among the employed. Men unemployed for more than a year were at much higher risk than those out of work for shorter periods. These findings were considered to be consistent with the view that unemployment, especially if long term, increases the incidence of parasuicide. The official prediction of an increase in long term unemployment has important implications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Regional variation in alcoholism rates in Britain: the effect of provision and use of services.

The range of variation in Scottish and English psychiatric admission rates for alcoholism is represented by the Highlands, Tayside and Kent. When other medical and psychiatric services, notably psychiatric extramural services, are taken into account, the considerable variation almost disappears. With the background of recently reported similar average alcohol consumption in England and Scotland, these results are discussed with respect to variations in geography, admission policy and provision of services.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1984

Suicide, unemployment, and domestic gas detoxification in Britain.

Between 1962 and 1971 the United Kingdom suicide rate fell while the unemployment rate rose, contrary both to earlier British experience and recent trends in other developed countries. It is hypothesised that the "British anomaly" is due to the coincident detoxification of domestic gas after 1963. Unemployment and suicide by means other than domestic gas were found to correlate +0.88 between 1955 and 1980, and +0.70 between 1964 and 1974. These findings are discussed with respect to the role of availability of method in the epidemiology of suicide. It is also suggested that the relation between unemployment and suicide is complex and probably largely indirect.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning↗
PubMed1984

Hopelessness, depression and suicidal intent in parasuicide.

Previous work on the inter-relationships among depression, hopelessness and suicidal intent in parasuicide is reviewed. Our own study of 120 hospital-referred parasuicides confirms previous findings that, while both depression and hopelessness correlate with the degree of suicidal intent as measured on a Suicide Intent Scale, the relationship between depression and suicidal intent is dependent on that between hopelessness and suicidal intent. Some practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Mean cell volume and gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase as markers of drinking in working men.

The usefulness of serum-gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase (gamma-GT) and mean cell volume (MCV) as markers of alcohol consumption was assessed in men in employment (266 company directors and 222 manual workers in alcohol-production firms) and in 34 male alcoholic patients. The correlations of admitted consumption with gamma-GT were 0.307 (directors) and 0.418 (manual workers) and with MCV 0.439 (directors) and 0.360 (manual workers). A man with an MCV of over 98 fl and a gamma-GT level above 50 i.u./l had a 62% chance of admitting to drinking over 450 g alcohol per week. Although the probability of being a heavy drinker increases progressively with elevation in both these tests, as screening tests they lack power, though false positives may be explained in party by inaccurate self-reports by both survey subjects and patients. For clinical purposes, however, the tests have a use in supplementing self-report and in following problem drinkers in outpatient treatment.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1981

Saving face ? Survey respondents who claim their last week's drinking was atypical.

Thirty-one per cent of survey respondents asked about their last week's drinking claimed it was atypical. They are shown, by examining their levels on two blood tests (mean cell volume and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase) and by a comparison of their consumption on a recent social occasion with that of their companions, to be reporting a trivial difference between their last week and their typical week and appear to be attempting to deny heavy habitual consumption.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Parasuicide in young Edinburgh women, 1968--75.

Between 1968 and 1975 there was a marked, non-artefactual rise in the numbers of young female parasuicides admitted to the Regional Poisoning Treatment Centre in Edinburgh. The greatest increase in rates occurred among girls aged 15--19 (for events, persons and 'first-ever' episodes). Among teenagers the most marked increase occurred for those who were married; this group also reported a greater increase than did the non-married in the frequency of physical violence and serious debt. 'Marginel' social-sexual roles have also become progressively more common in this age group. The 20- to 24-year group showed a more modest increase in rates, similar for the married and the non-married. In this age group there was no consistent pattern of change for reported violence or debt over the study period, nor were changes in these variables related to marital status. An increase in consumption of alcohol before parasuicide was noted for both age groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Mortality on lithium.

A register of patients receiving lithium in the Edinburgh and Lothian area of Scotland has been kept by the Medical Research Council Brain Metabolism Unit since 1967. Using this register, information was obtained on 784 patients receiving lithium for a period of up to 115 months (97.4% of the population available for study). 33 patients died during the period of study due predominantly to cardiovascular causes or to suicide. There was nothing to suggest that long-term exposure caused more deaths than short-term exposure and the pattern of mortality resembled that found in other studies of manic-depressive illness, i.e. the majority of deaths occurred in the early stages of follow-up.

Adult↗