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Biomedical subjects

S Fordham

Publications and source records attributed to S Fordham.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Epidemiology of injuries in adventure racing athletes.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the demographics and training characteristics of adventure racing athletes in the United Kingdom, the prevalence and anatomical distribution of hazardous encounter, and overuse injury in this population, and the effects these injuries have on training. METHODS: A retrospective training and injury questionnaire for the previous 18 months was distributed to 300 adventure racing athletes at two national race meetings. The definition of an injury was "any musculoskeletal problem causing a stop in training for at least one day, reduction in training mileage, taking of medicine, or seeking of medical aid." RESULTS: The data were derived from the responses of 223 athletes. Advanced level athletes did 11 (4) sessions and 17 (8) hours of training a week (mean (SD)). An injury was reported in the previous 18 months by 73% of the respondents. The most common site of acute injury was the ankle (23%) and of chronic/overuse injury, the knee (30%), followed by the lower back, shin, and Achilles tendon (12% each). There were significant correlations (p<0.01) between the hours spent cycling per week and number of acute injuries, and between the number of days off per week and number of chronic/overuse injuries. Injuries resulted in an average of 23 days training cessation or reduction. CONCLUSIONS: Acute injuries were sustained mainly as a result of the nature of the terrain over which athletes train and compete. In overuse injuries lack of adequate rest days was a significant contributing factor. Only a small proportion of training time was spent developing flexibility and core stability.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1999

Is care of the dying improving? The contribution of specialist and non-specialist to palliative care.

OBJECTIVES: To identify and synthesize evidence from studies examining the quality of care of dying patients in both specialist and general practitioner care. METHOD: Review of published research identified by online and manual searches. RESULTS: Three large, population-based surveys were identified, carried out between 1969 and 1990, and five randomized controlled trials of specialist palliative care programmes. There were, in addition, a small number of comparative studies and a large volume of descriptive, qualitative material. Some studies identified major methodological problems and the overall quality was poor. Most research concerned selected patients with neoplasms, particularly in settings where specialist palliative care teams are available. There was minimal information about the care of patients dying from non-neoplastic conditions. CONCLUSIONS: There is limited evidence of improvements in the care of selected cancer patients, and a dearth of evidence concerning patients dying from other, more common causes. The methods of research used to date are of limited current utility and new methods are required.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Treatment with anti-granulocyte antibodies inhibits the effector phase of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Emerging data suggest that polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) can play an important role in Ag-dependent immune responses. Therefore, we have assessed the involvement of these cells in the development of an organ-specific autoimmune disease, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), in the mouse. Depletion of peripheral blood PMNLs beginning day 8 after immunization significantly delayed and in some cases totally prevented the development of clinical EAE in mice. Depletion of PMNLs beginning 1 day before sensitization and continuing until day 7 postimmunization had no effect on the subsequent development of EAE, suggesting that depletion alters the efferent but not the afferent arm of the immune response. In vitro studies showed that lymphoid cells from mice protected from EAE by PMNL depletion beginning on day 8 postsensitization proliferated in response to specific Ag to a level equal to cells from sensitized animals treated with control serum, again indicating that treatment was not affecting the afferent limb of the immune response. Further evidence that PMNL may be necessary in initiating the pathology of EAE was seen in passive transfer experiments where PMNL-depleted recipients of MBP-specific lymphoid effector cells developed EAE much less effectively than did animals treated with control Ab. Taken together, these data indicate that PMNLs play a critical role in the effector phase of the development of the clinicopathologic expression of EAE in mice.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Women's views of the place of confinement.

BACKGROUND: The proportion of births taking place in the home of the mother has declined to less than 1% of the total, in spite of the lack of evidence of the benefits of hospitalization. Home confinement remains rare when supported by general practitioners; little is known of the preferences of women of childbearing age. AIMS: To examine the beliefs of women of childbearing age concerning the advantages and disadvantages of giving birth in hospital or their own homes, the choices of place of birth open to them, and the information required to enable an informed choice. METHOD: A self-administered postal questionnaire was sent to a sample of 340 women aged 20-40 years who were registered with the study practice--a single-handed urban general practice that supports home confinement. RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were received from 68% (241) of subjects. Parity of respondents ranged from zero (24%) to five. Altogether, 76% (159) of the respondents had previously had children. A total of 97% (154) of the parous respondents had prior experience only of delivery in hospital. In all, 86% (198) of the respondents expressed a preference for hospital delivery for any future children, with 3.5% (8) preferring home and 10.5% (24) undecided. Preference for home birth was associated with multiparity and indecision with nulliparity (Kruskal-Wallis, P = 0.040). Most women believed that giving birth in hospital was safer than at home. Most women had little knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of giving birth at home and in hospital, although there was substantial demand for further information, and a minority who were better informed than their peers. A minority of respondents spontaneously expressed hostility to all home confinements. CONCLUSIONS: Women show a wide spectrum of opinion on this subject. Further information is needed for women to make a free and informed choice of place of birth; providing this in an acceptable form is likely to require knowledge of the individuals concerned.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

IFN-gamma plays a critical down-regulatory role in the induction and effector phase of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-induced autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

129/Sv mice are resistant to induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide (MOG35-55). Mice of this strain lacking the gene coding for the ligand-binding chain of the IFN-gamma receptor develop EAE with high morbidity and mortality. Spleen cells from sensitized IFN-gammaR-/- mice proliferated extensively when stimulated with MOG peptide in culture and produced high levels of IFN-gamma and TNF but no detectable IL-4. Transfer of spleen cells from sensitized IFN-gammaR-/- mice produced EAE in both IFN-gammaR+/+ and IFN-gammaR-/- recipients. Disease was severe in IFN-gammaR-/- recipients and mortality high (77%). Surviving mice remained moribund until termination of the experiments. IFN-gammaR+/+ recipients developed disease of equal severity, but with no mortality, and recovered significantly. These results indicate that IFN-gamma is not essential for the generation or function of anti-MOG35-55 effector cells but does play an important role in down-regulating EAE at both the effector and induction phase of disease.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

The immunobiology of murine interleukin-1 alpha encoded by recombinant vaccinia virus.

Recombinant vaccinia viruses were constructed which encoded murine interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) (VV-IL1). One virus also encoded the hemagglutinin (HA) gene of influenza virus (VV-HA-IL1). Mice were infected with these viruses and the effects of co-expressed IL-1 on various immune parameters were assessed. The growth of VV-IL1 in vivo was less than that of the control virus, and this was reflected in the reduced virus-induced cell-mediated immune responses. However, specific antibody responses generated after challenge with vaccinia or influenza viruses were significantly higher when VV-HA-IL1 was used to prime mice, compared to the control virus (VV-HA-TK). This study demonstrates that co-expressed cytokines may be useful for selective alteration of immune reactivity.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Acupuncture needles: a "new" foreign body in the ear.

With the recent popularity of acupuncture therapy and anesthesia in the United States, patients are having temporary needles placed in the external ear. These matallic radiopaque needles appear on routine skull and mastoid examinations. This article is written to familiarize radiologists with this ""new'' iatrogenic foreign body.

Acupuncture Therapy↗