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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1981

The prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the Outer Hebrides compared with north-east Scotland and the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

Multiple sclerosis has been reported to have a high prevalence in the Orkney and Shetland Islands and in Caithness in comparison with the highlands of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides-the Western Isles. For this reason a survey was undertaken in the Outer Hebrides and 25 probable and 30 probable and possible patients with multiple sclerosis were found. This is an increase from eight and 11 respectively found in 1954. The present prevalence rate of 97.3 per 100 000 for probable and possible multiple sclerosis is not significantly different from that found in a recent study in the Grampian region in north-east Scotland. Repeated studies in small populations generally show increasing prevalence of multiple sclerosis because some patients are missed in the earlier studies, and over a long period of time there may also be some increase in survival time. This increase has been found in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, in north-east Scotland, and also in the Outer Hebrides.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

An evaluation of malaria fluorescent antibody patterns in several remote island populations of the New Hebrides, Solomons, Western Carolines, and New Guinea.

From a representative sampling of several remote populations living on the Banks and Torres Islands (New Hebrides), the Eastern and Southern Districts of the Solomon Islands, the Western Caroline Islands (U.S. Pacific Trust Territory), West New Guinea (Indonesia), and Papua New Guinea, 752 sera were examined for fluorescent antibodies to the four species of human malaria, and the results were compared to already published parasite survey data based on blood smears and medical examinations. Antibody prevalence data confirmed the presence of significant endemic malaria among most of the visited islands in the New Hebrides, and a variable but smaller amount of malaria in the Solomons. On those islands known to be free of malarial vectors, data were compatible with importation of self-limited infection by travelling residents. Malarial infection occurred in from 40% to 100% of the New Guinea villages that were visited, and was entirely absent from the Western Caroline Islands. The actual proportions of malarial species in endemic areas were not accurately reflected by relative antibody titer levels to the different species, possibly due to unpredictably high heterologous antibody reacitons following multiple mixed infections.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Religion and fertility in the Outer Hebrides.

Estimates of fertility in Protestant Barra and Catholic Harris, islands in the Outer Hebrides, over the period 1856-1985, show that in both islands fertility declined, although marital fertility was generally greater than in Scotland as a whole, and illegitimate fertility was less. However, in Barra during 1966-75 there were pronounced rises in all the indices; illegitimate fertility showed the smallest rise. The publication of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae may have played a part in this change in fertility, although other, probably local, factors must have been acting, as the first rise in numbers of births occurred before the publication of the encyclical. Other than this transient rise, the religious difference between Harris and Barra had little effect on changes in fertility over the whole period. Indices of proportions married showed declines until after World War 2, followed by steep increases. The marked decline in fertility in both islands may be due in part to this low nuptiality. In addition, a trend of occupation away from traditional crofting and fishing towards more skilled mercantile and professional employment may have played a role.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

ABO and Rh blood groups in the Outer Hebrides.

ABO and Rh (D--,dd) phenotype frequencies and gene frequencies are reported on 1547 pregnant women from different populations in the Outer Hebrides. There was significant heterogeneity of ABO gene frequencies in the Isle of Lewis, but not in or between other populations. More heterogeneity was apparent at the Rh locus, significant amounts being present between the populations of rural Lewis, between Lewis and Harris and between Lewis, Harris and the combined populations of North and South Uist, Benbecula and Barra. There was no evidence of heterogeneity due to religion in Benbecula or South Uist. Data on exogamy and endogamy suggest that migration between the various populations has been at a level sufficient to prevent or correct any tendency to genetic diversification. It is suggested tentatively that the heterogeneity observed may be the result of the massive emigration from the islands which has occurred over the last 150 years.

ABO Blood-Group System↗
PubMed1975

Terrestrial vertebrates of the New Hebrides: origin and distribution.

The known terrestrial vertebrate fauna of the New Hebrides consists of 16 species of mammals (excluding feral domestic stock), 61 species of resident land- and freshwater birds, 20 species of reptiles and one amphibian. Of these, three, five, four and one species respectively have apparently been introduced by man. The non-introduced fauna is clearly Indo-Australian in origin, but some species have an exclusively Pacific island distribution and others (two bats, seven birds, and four lizards) are endemic. On the six islands visited 95 out of the possible 98 vertebrate species occur. Santo, the largest and most northerly island, supports the richest fauna. The comparative impoverishment of more southerly islands is not directly attributable to the progressive increase in isolation and distance from presumptive source area, nor to decrease in island area or maximum height.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Mycobacterial and fungal skin sensitivity patterns among remote population groups in Papua New Guinea, and in the New Hebrides, Solomon, and Caroline Islands.

Simultaneous intradermal sensitivity testing to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (PPD-S), six different atypical mycobacteria (PPD-A, B, F, G, T, and Y), Coccidiosides immitis (coccidioidin), and Histoplasma capsulatum (histoplasmin) was performed on 560 subjects among the relatively isolated island populations of Ifaluk (Caroline Islands), Loh and Merig (New Hebrides), Anuta (Solomon Islands), and in the Mala (Amdei) and Iwane (Simbari) villages of the Anga linguistic groups in the Marawaka area of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. At the time these tests were performed (Mala and Iwane villages, and Ifaluk Atoll in 1967, and Loh, Merig, and Anuta Islands in 1972), all island populations had already had a long history of sporadic European contact, whereas the New Guinean villages of Mala and Iwane had remained virtually unexposed to the outside world. Using a dose of 0.001 mg PPD per 0.0 ml (5 TU), and considering induration of at least 10 mm at 48 hours to represent a positive reaction, skin sensitivity to M. tuberculosis was found to be absent among the Anga, and to have an incidence of 11% on Loh, 17% on Merig, 34% on Ifaluk, and 55% on Anuta. Data on the prevalence of tuberculous infection obtained by skin tests reflected the reported prevalence of symptomatic tuberculosis in all groups. The frequency of reactions to 0.0001 mg doses of the atypical mycobacterial antigens corresponded to tuberculin sensitivity in the different groups: none among the Anga, sporadic on Loh and Merig, and common on Ifaluk and Anuta. However, analysis of PPD profiles suggests that actions greater than or equal to 5 mm to a 0.1 ml dose of 1:100 coccidioidin were observed in 26% of the population of Ifaluk, and of 1:100 histoplasmin in 8% of the population of Anuta, and 14-16% of the populations of the two New Guinean villages.

Coccidioides↗
PubMed1981

Scrub typhus in the Eastern Solomon Islands and Northern Vanuatu (New Hebrides).

Rickettsia tsutsugmushi has been isolated from Rattus rattus from Vanua Lava island in Northern Vanuatu (New Hebrides) and from R. exulans and Leptotrombidium akamushi on Ndende island in the Eastern Solomon Islands. The well-known vector mite L. deliense was found on Mota Lava and Vanua Lava in Vanuatu, but no isolation was made from pools of this mite. Serology confirms that R. tsutsugamushi infects humans in the Banks group of islands in Northern Vanuatu and that infection is much more widespread in the Solomon Islands than the limited isolations indicate.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Primary health care in the New Hebrides.

The New Hebrides is a small Melanesian country in the South-West Pacific whose doctors are almost entirely recruited from France and Great Britain, the two countries which jointly administer the territory. This paper describes briefly the difficulties of providing primary health care for a fairly primitive island society.

Culture↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Human and animal parasitic diseases in the New Hebrides].

New-Hebrides Condominium, an archipelago in the South Pacific, is a country with a special socio-political environment, due to the duality of its French-British regime. This state of affairs is felt in all areas including Public Health, where we find French, British and Condominial personnel. The pathology of parasitic diseases is essentially tropical with a strong predominance of paludism, at times fatal, and intestinal nematodes; however we rarely find amibiasis or human hydatid disease. Strongyloidiasis as well as specific ascaris of each species are very frequent in animals. In general cattle is relatively healthy, which is fortunate for a country whose economy is turning more and more to breeding.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Some factors affecting marital distances in the Outer Hebrides.

Some factors affecting marital distances have been studied in two Outer Hebridean islands, Harris (843 marriages) and Barra (444 marriages), over the period 1855-1990. In each island marital distances fell before 1900, but then rose to their greatest values after the 1950s. Fisherman generally married at the shortest distances and men in land-based occupations at the longest. The depression in the fishing industry during the 1880s and early 1890s was associated with reductions in marital distances, especially among fisherman. In the different regions of Harris, marital distances were least in the south-east, where settlement was most dense, and greatest in the south-west where it was most sparse. When the association between marital frequencies and inter-settlement distances was studied, it was found that for Harris there was, overall, a trend to endogamous and short-distance marriage. However, this trend was only slight during 1955-90. For Barra a similar trend was found before 1955, but thereafter there appeared to be virtually no connection between marital frequency and inter-settlement distance. Thus the only constraint on marriage was the spatial distribution of settlements. In this situation the chances of random mating with respect to distance are maximised. Application of 'Central Place' theory suggested that only since 1946 can any tendency be detected to regard Tarbert in Harris or Castlebay in Barra as Central Places, at least as far as marriage is concerned. In each island the tendency appears to be limited to the settlements closest to the Central Place.

Demography↗
PubMed1978

HLA antigens and IgG allotypes on the Island of Barra (Outer Hebrides).

The distribution of HLA antigens and IgG allotypes in a group of nearly 200 adults on the Island of Barra, shows some unusual features. The sample tested included only people age 65 and over. Marked differences in the frequency of some HLA antigens were noted, compared to those previously determined for the northern island of Lewis and Harris, with increase in the frequency of HLA-A5 and B7. The latter antigen was present in over 40% of the group, compared with a frequency of 27% in the Northern islands. The high frequencies of HLA-A2, the Aw19 group and B12 previously noted in Scottish populations were also present. The IgG allotype, Gm (f;b4) was markedly increased, being present in 67% of the group, in comparison with frequencies of 40--45% in previous Scottish studies. These results either suggest a sampling phenomenon, or may be an indicator of selective forces related to immunological mechanisms or the age distribution of the population studied.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

The maintenance of genetic polymorphism in small island populations: large mammals in the Hebrides.

Conventionally, small populations living on islands are expected to lose genetic variation by drift. Fluctuations in population size, combined with polygynous mating systems, are expected to contribute to the process by increasing sampling effects on genetic variation. However, in individually monitored populations of Red deer on Rum and Soay sheep on St. Kilda, which experience fluctuations in population size, two processes have been identified which mitigate loss of genetic variation. First, in a number of examples, population reductions are associated with selection. Selection may be in favour of heterozygotes, or, as we have documented in several cases, it may fluctuate in direction temporally. Second, in Soay sheep, in which mortality over population crashes is male-biased, ostensibly leading to low effective numbers of males, molecular studies show that there are systematic changes in the reproductive success of young males, and in variance in male success, that broaden genetic representation compared with expectation.

Adenosine Deaminase↗
PubMed1976

Population structure of Barra (Outer Hebrides).

Historical demography, surname concordance (isonymy), migration, and genealogy give a consistent description of population structure. The census size has averaged about 1400 over the last five centuries. Conjoined with an effective migration rate of 3-05 per generation as estimated by three different methods, this gives an evolutionary size of 638, random kinship of 0-008 and inbreeding of 0-007 relative to the rest of Britain. The population structure of Barra is similar to other British isolates in the recent past, but an order of magnitude less inbred than slash-and-burn agriculturalists and Pacific Islanders. Some consequences for rare genes and polymorphisms are discussed.

Emigration and Immigration↗
PubMed1992

Initial experience of an emergency helicopter transport service in the Outer Hebrides.

The outcome of patients transported by coastguard helicopter to the Lewis Hospital, Stornoway was studied for the first 30 months of the service. Although undoubtedly life-saving in some cases, some patients were transferred for trivial reasons. Feedback between the hospital and ships' captains and owners may reduce possible abuse of this service. Most patients were uplifted entirely appropriately.

Adult↗