Res Medica (E-Journal)
Not a member yet
481 research outputs found
Sort by
The Society
Get PDFThe past year has been a historic one in the life of our Society. There have been many changes, some ambitions achieved and some fears allayed and above all a golden opportunity to bring the society more up to date has been grasped. There are many advantages of being a historic Society but the ideals and aims of the Society must not dwell in the past but progress with modern ideas and methods. The premises at 7 Melbourne Place were becoming too cumbersome for the Society and far from being an asset were becoming a liability. The most important items in the past year have been the Appeal, the Opening of 3 Hill Square and the New Premises
Marriage and Medical Training
Get PDFThe late Professor Ian Aird held that ‘it is an advantage (for the young surgeon) if he can remain single until the later years of his training\u27. Sir Henry Wade once stated that ‘a young surgeon must keep his affections in cold storage’. This is remarkably like the attitude of St. Paul so long ago.“I say therefore to the unmarried and widows it is a good thing for them if they abide even as I . . . .. . . . but if they cannot contain, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.” (1 Corinthians 7, 8 & 9).In spite of the viewpoint of these eminent men, the proportion of doctors who marry young is increasing, as is the number of medical students who are married before the end of their course.Is this crass stupidity on the part of students and young doctors? Is it a transient phenomenon of no importance? Or is it an understandable trend which does not carry disastrous consequences?Without a detailed analysis of the motivations and consequences of this trend, comment is necessarily based on personal observation. It is hoped that this nevertheless has validity.
Book Reviews
Get PDFThe Principles and Practice of MedicineA Manual of Human AnatomyBasic DermatologyThe Addict in the StreetOne in TwentyAn Introduction to Medical AutomationThe Chromosome DisordersTextbook of Operative SurgeryThe Development of the Normal and Abnormal Infant and Young ChildReproductive Physiology of the Post-partum PeriodHormone Assays and their Clinical ApplicationSpatiocardiographyHuman Nutrition and DieteticsCasualty Officers’ Handboo
Endocrine Aspects of Breast Cancer
Get PDFA relationship between the endocrine system and breast cancer was first demonstrated by Beatson in 1896, when he obtained some benefit from oophorectomy in two patients with advanced disease. Until that time the treatment of breast cancer was limited to removal of the mamma and excision of superficial metastatic or recurrent nodules. The practice of castrating cows to maintain lactation after calving suggested to Beatson that the ovaries must be concerned in some way with the regulation of the physiological processes of the breast.Reporting his findings to the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, Beatson summed up:“The conclusion I draw from two cases I have brought under notice is this — that we must look in the female to the ovaries as the seat of the exciting cause of carcinoma, certainly of the mamma . . . .”
TNF Antagonists, The Prevention of Myocardial Infarction in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients?
Get PDFCardiovascular disease (CVD) has been acknowledged to be a major extra-articular comorbidity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with myocardial infarction (MI) particularly being the most prominent. Contributory factors include the rise in traditional risk factors and proinflammatory changes seen in RA patients. Two drivers of proinflammatory changes are mainly emphasized in this review: insulin resistance and dyslipidaemia. Among the cytokines involved, tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) has been identified as one of the major molecules contributing to the proatherogenic state seen in these patients. As such, biological therapies such as anti-TNF drugs are hypothesized to have a secondary function in reducing CVD in these patients. Using TNF-α as an example, this review provides an overview of how chronic inflammation increases the risk of CVD, focusing mainly on the two drivers: insulin resistance (IR) state and dyslipidaemia. The review also investigates if anti-TNF drugs can reduce the effects of these two drivers and hence, determine if anti-TNF drugs can produce a clinical effect of reducing the risk of MI in RA patients.A literature search was conducted using Medline and Google Scholar (1990–January 2013). Studies were selected if they addressed the pathophysiology of TNF-α in CVD risk for RA patients or the effects of anti-TNF therapy on IR, dyslipidaemia or MI in RA patients. Although the studies were unable to establish if anti-TNF therapy can reduce CVD risk, responders to anti-TNF therapy appears to have a significant lower risk of MI.Despite its effects, additional studies should be conducted to determine its cost-benefit ratio. This is because of its high cost and its administration limitations. Future studies should also determine if the lipid profile in RA patients truly reflects their risk of CVD, as some studies have reflected an increased CVD risk as compared to the general population
Benjamin Franklin
Get PDFOn the evening of Tuesday, the 29th of January 1957, Mr Eldred D. Kuppinger, United States Consul General in Edinburgh, presented the Franklin Commemorative Medal to the Society on behalf of The Congress of the United States of America. The ceremony took place in the Society’s premises at 7 Melbourne Place where the Senior President, Mr T. Ramsay McCall, received the medal on behalf of the Royal Medical Society
Goings-on During the 22nd Session
Get PDFDuring the 222nd session the Public Business Committee has provided us with a varied programme of outside activities, apart from the usual Friday evening meetings.In November the Presidents\u27 Annual Dinner was held in the Hall of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. We were pleased to have as our Guest of Honour Mr Thomas McW. Millar, a well-known and well-liked personality throughout the Edinburgh medical school. As usual. undergraduate members went back to Melbourne Place afterwards where the party was continued well into the night. We look forward to next year\u27s Dinner when we will be pleased to have Sir Stanley Davidson with us as Guest of Honour
Family Medicine
Get PDFThe Faculty of Medicine of this University has decided that from now onwards every student shall be provided with the means of not only observing, but of actively participating in, the provision of medical care for patients in their own homes. The task of making the necessary arrangements is the responsibility of the University\u27s General Practice Teaching Unit. It gives me particular pleasure to accept an invitation from the Royal Medical Society to contribute to its journal an article on this Unit, its history, aims, philosophy, and teaching methods
The Causation and Spread of Epidemic Influenza
Get PDFPrior to 1933, aetiological studies of human influenza yielded little precise information. In 1938 Shope showed that swine influenza, the analogous disease of pigs, was caused by a bacterium (Haemophilus influenzae suis) and a virus, in symbiosis. Two years later, Smith et al reproduced the signs of influenza in ferrets by the intra nasal injection of bacteria free garglings from cases of human epidemic influenza. The suspected virus aetiology was thus confirmed. This classic WS strain of the virus, and all subsequently isolated, serologically related strains were collectively designated the “influenza A” group of viruses. At least two other major serological groups have since been identified and these have been designated “B” and “C” respectively. Epidemiological studies have indicated that epidemic influenza, in its widespread form, is caused by viruses of the A group