Effects of long-term practolol therapy on plasma-lipids after acute myocardial infarction.

In a double-blind controlled trial lasting 12 months, long-term practolol therapy had no significant effect on plasma-lipid concentrations in twenty patients who had had acute myocardial infarction.

Mortality in punctiform type of coalworkers' pneumoconiosis.

196-200. Recent studies conducted on miners at necropsy and on those attending a pneumoconiosis medical panel have suggested that the punctiform type of opacities are associated with a significant gas transfer defect and with emphysema. However, a 10-year follow-up of a random sample of miners and ex-miners in the Rhondda Fach found that the mortality experience of those with the punctiform type was, if anything, more favourable than that for other types of pneumoconiosis.

A randomized controlled trial of acetyl salicylic acid in the secondary prevention of mortality from myocardial infarction.

The results of a randomized controlled trial of a single daily dose of acetyl salicylic acid (aspirin) in the prevention of reinfarction in 1,239 men who had had a recent myocardial infarct were statistically inconclusive. Nevertheless, they showed a reduction in total mortality of 12% at six months and 25% at twelve months after admission to the trial. Further trials are urgently required to establish whether or not this effect is real.

Relation between radiographic categories of coalworkers' pneumoconiosis and expectation of life.

A 20-year follow-up of the male population of the Rhondda Fach, examined in 1950-1, has been completed. Survival rates for miners and ex-miners appear independent of the x-ray category of pneumoconiosis except for category B or C, where survival rates are much reduced.

An epidemiological study of lens opacities among steel workers.

265-271. To investigate the relationship between the prevalence of cataract and heat exposure, two groups of steel workers, differing widely in their heat exposure, were examined. Estimates of heat exposure were based on detailed industrial histories and () subjective estimates of heat exposure associated with various occupations and () actual measurements.

Incidence of uraemia and requirements for maintenance haemodialysis.

The biochemistry laboratory records of a 400-bed general hospital serving a population of about 120,000 showed that during the three-year period 1966-8 inclusive 487 patients had at some stage during their admission a blood urea of 100 mg/100 ml or more. Ninety per cent. were aged 50 or over, 79% were 60 or over, and 52% were 70 or over.

CHANGES IN THE PREVALENCE OF COALWORKERS' PNEUMOCONIOSIS AMONG MINERS AND EX-MINERS IN THE RHONDDA FACH 1951-61.

The changes in the prevalence of pneumoconiosis among miners and ex-miners in the Rhondda Fach in three age groups at three different times (1951, 1953, and 1961) have been investigated. The radiographs were re-read with the dates concealed, in a randomized order, by one observer. Later a stratified sample was classified for technique.

A FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF WORKERS FROM AN ASBESTOS FACTORY.

Associations between exposure to asbestos and carcinoma of the lung, diffuse mesothelioma of the pleura, and diffuse abdominal tumours have been demonstrated. Only by an epidemiological approach can the total risks of exposure to asbestos be estimated, and such a study is reported here. This suggests that white asbestos (chrysotile) may not be a serious hazard as far as mesothelioma or abdominal tumours are concerned, though there is some evidence of an excess in the number of deaths from carcinoma of the lung and bronchus.