Res Medica (E-Journal)
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Anti-emetics in Pregnancy and Travel Sickness
Get PDFThe widespread use of anti-emetics is gradually increasing in this age of so-called social improvement and generalised travel. Their use is, however, more restricted than that of tranquillisers in the New World. Nowadays, we are much more drug conscious than half a century ago, but whether this is due to ourselves or to the ingenuity of our pharmacological experts in producing new drugs, it is hard to decide. There can be little doubt, however, that many factors in our modern existence are to be blamed, in some part at least for the increased incidence of vomiting in pregnancy, and also of motion sickness as a whole. As yet, the precise aetiological factors in vomiting of pregnancy have not been elucidated, but it will be useful in discussing therapy to have a knowledge of how the two abovementioned conditions are brought about
Retrospect 223rd Session
Get PDFThe 223rd session may one day be regarded as the beginning of an era in the life of the Society. It has been a time when considerable interest has grown among members in the business and welfare of the Society, for which we owe not a little to the office-bearers of the past two or three sessions who by their ardour have saved us from a bed of apathy.We have concerned ourselves with the position of the Society in the University, and have found that our opinions and our activities as a body do not have the same import as would be desirable. Gone are the days when we could do battle with the managers of the Royal Infirmary for betterment of teaching conditions for undergraduates
“The Slimy Mud of Words” Language and New Concepts in Medicine
No full textBased on a Dissertation read before the Royal Medical Society on Friday, 24th February, 1961.The condition of man requires that he communicate with his fellows. Yet language may be a distorting glass and may often accentuate the isolation rather than the communication. For the doctor, the need for personal communication is as great as for other men but there are, in addition, two spheres of his professional work in which it becomes paramount.In the first place, the doctor has to contact his patients. "I am by trade a dealer in words, and words, as you know, are the most potent drugs known to man." The saying is attributed to Rudyard Kipling and contains a truth familiar to all who come in contact with patients. Words acting as drugs influence the irrational and the emotional, and their power is amply demonstrated by the positive results so often produced by the pharmacologically inert tablets used in double blind clinical trials
Nerve Cells and Neuroglia
Get PDFThere are said to be 27,000,000,000 nerve cells in the human brain and there are about ten times as many neuroglial cells. On the whole, nerve cells are large and glial cells are small, so that their weights are about equal. The cytology of nerve cells does not provide any really startling information. There is a nucleus and a nucleolus complete with sex chromatin, and in the cytoplasm there is Nissl substance formed of RNA and endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria carrying respiratory enzymes, and lipochromes. Fairly certainly the RNA is concerned with the synthesis of proteins which move out along the axon, and the rate of protein synthesis is increased during axon regeneration. The rate of oxygen uptake is very high, and weight for weight is said to be higher than that in any other cell. Its measurement presents great difficulties, as oxygen uptake of nervous tissue in vivo gives values 5 to 100 times those obtained in vitro. The metabolic activity of nerve cells is believed to increase about five times during and after nervous activity. At the same time, the amounts of cytochrome oxidase and RNA present increase, and there is an increased ammonia production suggesting proteolysis. Excessive activity is said to cause a decrease in cytoplasmic protein and a decrease in RNA. There is a vast literature on cytological changes in cells in overaction, exhaustion and after deprivation of sleep, but there cannot be said to be a coherent body of observed facts, let alone a satisfactory biochemical interpretation of the facts
Res Medica, Spring 1963, Volume 3, Number 3
No full textTABLE OF CONTENTSABDOMINAL CRISES III: I.S.R. Sinclair, F.R.C.S.THE BIOLOGY OF MONGOLISM: R.A. Bailey, M.B., Ch.B.RES MEDICASOME ASPECTS OF FUNCTIONAL ORGANISATION IN THE CEREBRAL CORTEX: D.G. Hardy, B.Sc.THE APPEAL FUNDCONGENITAL DISLOCATION OF THE HIP: P.J. Swarbrick, M.B., Ch.B
Some Notes on the Pathology and Theories of the Aetiology of Pre-Eclampsia and Eclampsia
Get PDFFrom a Dissertation delivered to the Royal Medical SocietyEclampsia and its precursor, pre-eclampsia, is an interesting and puzzling disease: for decades past, a great deal of study has been devoted to it, and yet its cause is still uncertain. This article attempts to summarise the features of the disease, together with some of the theories that have been submitted as to its aetiology
A Tribute to E. & S. Livingstone 1863 -1963
Get PDFThis year E. & S. Livingstone celebrates the centenary of the founding of their firm. A firm which began as a small “new and second-hand bookseller” and is now one of the best known medical publishing concerns in Great Britain. Their books reach the far corners of the world and are published in such languages as Chinese, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese and many others. The way in which E. & S. Livingstone have always tried to satisfy as well as serve the medical profession has to a great extent helped to build the firm up to its present day high reputation
Mental Hospital Needs and Beds
Get PDFOn April 1st, 1961, in the Lancet, the trends in mental hospital populations were subjected to statistical analysis,* and the conclusion was drawn that the number of mental hospital beds in England and Wales could be reduced to nearly half, by 19 75. The authors of the analysis were a medical officer of the Ministry of Health and a Government statistician, and the present intention of the Ministry of Health is to act on their recommendation.The authors had attempted to estimate the numbers of mental hospital beds which would be required by short-, medium- and long-stay patients by 1975 - The estimate for long-stay patients was necessarily a statistical projection, involving the run-down of present residents and the build-up of a new, chronic population. In the cases of the rundown of present longterm residents, they estimated that all would be dead or discharged by 1975. This is certainly at odds with the expectations of clinicians. A letter to the Lancet soon after pointed out that while the figures used to support this statistical projection were interpreted as for a straightline graph, in fact the figures formed a curve, with all the patient
Aetiological Factors in Congenital Abnormalities
Get PDFThe problem of congenital abnormalities has been with us for many years. The surviving records of some of the oldest civilisations depict cases of congenital malformations. Achondroplasia is found in Egyptian paintings over 5,000 years old and the god Phtah revered at Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, is without doubt one of these cases. Club foot and cleft palate have also been detected in records and mummies of the Egyptian era.In other ancient civilisations, abnormalities have also been recorded. Prehistoric Peruvian pottery has been found to depict hare-lip and other malformations. Greek mythology included many instances of monsters which presumably have their origin in abnormalities. However, not all references to monsters by the Greeks were confined to mythology. Aristotle describes a monstrosity as contrary to the most usual course of nature. This is probably the earliest reference to someone thinking that congenital abnormalities are due to the unusual development of a normal process
Res Medica: Looking Towards Post-Graduate Education
Get PDFJust how good is post-graduate training in Britain?The graduate entering the hospital services, wishing to specialise, is beset with uncertainty. ‘The rat race’ and ‘no-room-at-the-top’ are often dramatised. While this may contribute to the uncertainty, it is by no means the whole cause.It is less often pointed out that the graduate can never be certain that he will gain all-round experience and high-quality training in his field. In the U.S.A. and Canada the graduate doing a Residency training knows from the outset that in the course of 4 or 5 years (or however long the training may be (e.g. proctology 7 years) he will rotate through a series of departments related to his field, he will participate in a planned educational programme carried out at a high level and progressively take on greater responsibility. In other words he can be reasonably confident that his training will be thorough and of a high quality