Brain abscess in the 1980s

Brain abscess was reviewed in 24 patients admitted to University Hospital, Nottingham over a period of 3 years. Chronic ear infection was the most common predisposing factor, but in 11 patients the focus of infection remained unknown. CT scanning, carried out in all patients, was negative in one patient with clinical signs of meningitis. Polymicrobial and anaerobic infections were common. Actinomyces species were isolated in mixed culture from seven patients; in five the abscess was located in the cerebellum. Therapy was most often a combination of surgical drainage and antimicrobial therapy with beta-lactam agents and metronidazole. Evidence suggests that cefotaxime may offer a suitable alternative to chloramphenicol and benzylpenicillin in the treatment of brain abscess.     

Aggressive behaviour in elderly people with dementia: A review

The progressive degeneration of the brain seen in dementia is often accompanied by behavioural disturbances. Aggressive behaviour is one of the most serious of these disturbances and is a common cause for psychiatric referral, admission to hospital and drug treatment. In this article, we discuss the conceptual issues associated with defining aggressive behaviour in cognitively impaired patients. We then review the aetiology, epidemiology, methods of assessment, and management of aggressive behaviour in elderly people with dementia.     

Aggressive behaviour in elderly psychiatric inpatients.

We describe the types of aggressive behaviour and determine their prevalence in a sample of hospitalized elderly psychiatric patients. Data were obtained by nurse ratings of aggressive behaviour using the recently developed Rating Scale for Aggressive Behaviour in the Elderly; 90 patients were rated over a 3-d period. Nearly half the sample were at least mildly aggressive; the frequencies of some specific types of aggressive behaviour were high. In contrast, the frequency of injuries and the use of restraints and medication for aggressive behaviour were low. Some correlates of the aggressive behaviour were also analysed.     

The structure of wandering in dementia

‘Wandering’ is one of the most troublesome of behavioural problems in dementia. The term ‘wandering’ covers many different types of behaviour. We examined the hypothesis that the different types of wandering behaviour seen in dementia from a scale using data collected on 83 elderly subjects suffering from either Alzheimer's disease or multiinfarct dementia. We reject the scaling hypothesis. Our data suggest that there are three main categories of wandering behaviour, and that one of these categories is usefully divided into four subcategories.     

A life course approach to women's health.: Diana Kuh, Rebecca Hardy (eds). (435 pages, {pound}37.50.) Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-19-263289-2.

If I had not been asked to read this book, I would not havepicked it off the shelf, despite my interest in women’shealth. The two reasons for this were the cover and the title.I’m ashamed to admit that ‘A Life     

Bronchial response to breathing dry gas at 3.7 MPa ambient pressure

In diving, pulmonary mechanical function is limited by the increased density of the gas breathed. Breathing cold and dry gas may cause an additional increase in airways resistance. We have measured forced vital capacity, forced expired volume in 1 s (FEV₁) and forced midexpiratory flow rate (FEF_25%–75%) before and after breathing dry or humid gas at 29–32°C during a standardized exercise intensity on a cycle ergometer at an ambient pressure of 3.7 MPa. The atmosphere was a helium and oxygen mixture with a density of 6.8 kg · m^–3. Six professional saturation divers aged 26–37 years participated in the study. There were no significant differences in convective respiratory heat loss between the exposures. The mean evaporative heat loss was 67 W (range 59–89) breathing dry gas and 37 W (range 32–43) breathing humid gas, corresponding to water losses of 1.7 g · min^–1 (range 1.5–2.2) and 0.9 g · min^–1 (range 0.8–1.1), respectively. There was a significant reduction in FEV₁ of 4.6 (SD 3.6)% (P<0.05), and in FEF_25%–75% of 5.8 (SD 4.7)% (P<0.05) after breathing dry gas. There were no changes after breathing humid gas. By warming and humidifying the gas breathed in deep saturation diving bronchoconstriction may be prevented.     

Random dot stereogram E in vision screening of children

The random dot stereogram E (RDE) has been shown to be a simple and effective test for the detection of binocular abnormalities and defective visual acuity in children. We determined the validity of the RDE as a screening test for reduced visual acuity, amblyopia and strabismus in two separate populations of children.
A nonselective group of 100 school children (aged 5 to 15 years) who presented consecutively to the ophthalmology department at Auckland Public Hospital were tested with the RDE. All cases of amblyopia and strabismus were detected by the RDE. Similar screening with the RDE test of 168 preschool children (aged three to four years) in the community resulted in an unacceptably high over-referral rate. The test was unreliable in the preschool age group because of difficulty in distinguishing between test failure and non-cooperation with the test. The low positive predictive value of the test in the younger age group suggests the test to be unsuitable for preschool vision screening.     

Carers, ethics and dementia: a survey and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Much has been written on ethical issues in dementia, but usually from the point of view of the various professionals involved. Whilst there has been an increasing amount of interest in the psychosocial problems that face the carers of people with dementia, the ethical nature of some of these problems has largely been ignored. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on ethical issues in dementia from the perspective of the main, non-professional carers of people with dementia. METHOD: A systematic literature search using Medline, Clinpsych and CINAHL databases between 1982 and 2000. A pilot study of carers. RESULTS: The lay perspective provides both a wide variety of issues and unique approaches. Although in the literature quantitative research answers some questions, it is qualitative research that deepens our understanding of the issues from the perspective of carers. CONCLUSION: It is particularly qualitative research that brings out the ethical issues for carers, which tend to be more varied than the ethical issues raised in the professional literature. Awareness of such issues could inform and shape the support given to carers.