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Biomedical subjects

R J Priest

Publications and source records attributed to R J Priest.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

Missionary positions: Christian, modernist, postmodernist.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s "the missionary position" became widespread as a technical expression for face-to-face man-on-top sexual intercourse. It was accompanied by standard (and undocumented) stories as to the origin of the expression, stories featuring missionaries and either Polynesians, Africans, Chinese, Native Americans, or Melanesians. By the late 1980s and 1990s the expression had become a core symbol in modernist and postmodernist moral discourses. This paper examines accounts of the origin of the expression, provides evidence that it originated in Kinsey's (mis)reading of Malinowski, analyzes the symbolic elements of the missionary-position narrative as synthesizing modernist objections to Christian morality, analyzes the "missionary position" in postmodernist narratives as synthesizing postmodernist objections to modernist morality, and explores some of the functions of this myth within the academy.

Anthropology↗

Bile acids in radiation-induced diarrhea.

Radiation-induced bowel disease manifested by debilitating diarrhea is an unfortunate consequence of therapeutic irradiation for pelvic malignancies. Although the mechanism for this diarrhea is not well understood, many believe it is the result of damage to small bowel mucosa and subsequent bile acid malabsorption. Excess amounts of bile acids, especially the dihydroxy components, are known to induce water and electrolyte secretion and increase bowel motility. We have directly measured individual and total bile acids in the stool samples of 11 patients with radiation-induced diarrhea and have found bile acids elevated two to six times normal in eight of them. Our patients with diarrhea and increased bile acids in their stools had prompt improvement when given cholestyramine. They had fewer stools and returned to a more normal life-style.

Adult↗

Bile acid-mediated postcholecystectomy diarrhea.

Diarrhea that develops after cholecystectomy may be due to increased amounts of bile acids presented to the large bowel, a "cholerheic enteropathy." We have studied eight patients to determine the cause for chronic diarrhea after cholecystectomy and found no abnormality other than elevated bile acids in the stool of six of them. All patients with bile acid malabsorption had daily stool weights greater than 200 g and total fecal bile acids three to ten times greater than normal. Patients responded dramatically to treatment with cholestyramine resin.

Adult↗

Robert K. Nixon.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Hematology↗

Duodenal polyps: diagnosis and management.

Forty-five polyps were encountered at duodenoscopy between 1973 and 1978. Upper gastrointestinal x-rays were helpful in 25 patients, 13 of whom had duodenal polyps and 12 duodenal deformity or mass lesions. Polyps in 23 patients were larger than 1 cm in size. Biopsies were done in 38 patients; in 19 there was only normal duodenal mucosa or chronic inflammation. Eight adenomatous polyps, six villous adenomas, two Brunner's gland hyperplasia, two lipomas, and one carcinoid tumor were found. Surgery was performed in eight patients and endoscopic polypectomy in four. We conclude that 1) small duodenal polyps are frequently missed on upper gastrointestinal x-rays, but these are submucosal polyps of little significance; 2) in general, polyps cannot be differentiated endoscopically into tissue categories, but villous adenomas show some characteristic features which allow a dependable endoscopic diagnosis; 3) a villous adenoma warrants excision because of the high incidence of malignancy; and 4) pedunculated duodenal polyps can be removed safely with endoscopic snare excision.

Adult↗

Cimetidine, antacid, and hospitalization in the treatment of benign gastric ulcer: a multicenter double blind study.

Two hundred forty patients with benign gastric ulcer were treated in a controlled clinical trial to assess the effect on healing of cimetidine, antacids, and hospitalization. Inpatients and and outpatients were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: cimetidine plus antacid, cimetidine plus dummy antacid, or placebo tablet plus antacid. In 206 patients who met criteria for analysis, ulcer healing as shown by endoscopy occurred by 12 days in 11 to 26 percent and by 42 days in 58 to 76 percent. There were no significant differences in healing between hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients or between treatment subgroups. Symptomatic response was equivalent in all groups. The median antacid consumption was 328 mEq of in vitro buffering capacity per day. Patients taking antacids experienced significant diarrhea compared with those taking no antacid. This investigation suggests that the effect of cimetidine is equivalent to that of large amounts of antacid, but because a true placebo group was not studied it is not possible to conclude from this study alone whether either agent influenced healing. In contrast to widespread belief, initiation of treatment in the hospital did not enhance healing, but because patients were not randomly assigned to inpatient and outpatient status no final conclusion about the effect of hospitalization on healing can be drawn.

Adult↗

Recurrent ulcer of the thoracic stomach penetrating the heart. Report of a case and review of the literature.

Recurrent and severe gastrointestinal bleeding caused the death of a 67-year-old man who had had resection of carcinoma of the cardiac end of the stomach. The hemorrhage was eventually found to be due to perforation of the wall of the left ventricle by a benign ulcer in the region of the esophagogastric anastomosis. At first, resection of the ulcer appeared to be successful, but recurrence of the penetrating ulcer caused fatal hemorrhage 4 1/2 months later. In our review of the literature, we found only one other instance in which an ulcer on an anastomosis perforated the heart. There were reports of 24 other cases of benign ulcers of the stomach or esophogus which penetrated the heart.

Adenocarcinoma↗