The natural history of childhood eczema: observations from the British 1958 birth cohort study.

The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is a birth cohort study whose longitudinal design makes it suitable for examining the natural history of common diseases in childhood such as atopic eczema. We have analysed the age of onset and clearance rates for examined and/or reported eczema in 6877 children born during the period 3-9 March 1958 for whom linked data were available at birth and at the ages of 7, 11, 16 and 23 years. Of the 870 cases with examined or reported eczema by the age of 16 years, 66% had age of onset by the age of 7 years.

Relation of Helicobacter pylori infection to 13-year mortality and incident ischemic heart disease in the caerphilly prospective heart disease study.

Background: Associations have been suggested between Helicobacter pylori seropositivity, cardiovascular risk factors, and ischemic heart disease (IHD). The effect of this common infection on mortality is uncertain.

Methods And Results: Plasma specimens collected during 1979 to 1983 from 1796 men in Caerphilly, South Wales, were analyzed for IgG antibodies to H pylori.

Parental smoking, bronchial reactivity and peak flow variability in children.

Background: A systematic quantitative review was conducted of the evidence relating environmental tobacco smoke to bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) during childhood.

Methods: Twenty-nine relevant studies were identified after consideration of 1593 articles selected by electronic search of the Embase and Medline databases using keywords relevant to passive smoking in children. The search was completed in April 1997.

Effects of changes in fresh fruit consumption on ventilatory function in healthy British adults.

Cross-sectional studies have shown frequent fresh fruit consumption to be associated with higher lung function in both children and adults. This relationship is investigated longitudinally in a national sample of 2,171 British adults age 18 to 73 initially examined in 1984, who were reexamined 7 yr later, and had no reported history of chronic respiratory disease throughout. Outcome was assessed by change in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) between the two examinations, standardized for age, height, and sex and related to fresh fruit consumption estimated by food frequency questionnaires at both examinations.

Statistical methods. Childhood asthma.

Statistical methods that are applied to trials of early or prophylactic interventions in childhood asthma may differ in important respects from those currently used for therapeutic trials in established asthma, which typically involve randomization of individuals and measurement of within-individual changes in continuous measures of disease severity. Randomization of small numbers of larger units (e.g.

Diagnosis and treatment of pediatric maxillofacial infections.

Infections of the head and neck are very common in children. Determination of the primary etiologic site and organisms responsible for the infection can be difficult, because of the close proximity of the skin, teeth, salivary glands, sinuses, and eustachian tubes. The bacterial flora and site of origin of an infection may vary and should be determined so that the most effective treatment regime can be initiated.

Health effects of passive smoking. 6. Parental smoking and childhood asthma: longitudinal and case-control studies.

Background: The relation of parental smoking to wheezing and asthma occurring after the first year of life was assessed by a systematic quantitative review of case-control and longitudinal studies, complementing earlier reviews of cross sectional surveys and wheezing in early childhood.

Methods: Fifty one relevant publications were identified after consideration of 1593 abstracts selected by electronic search of the Embase and Medline databases using keywords relevant to passive smoking in children. The search was completed in April 1997 and identified six studies of asthma incidence, seven of prognosis, 22 case-control studies, and 10 case series addressing disease severity.

Health effects of passive smoking .5. Parental smoking and allergic sensitisation in children.

Background: A systematic review was conducted of the effects of parental smoking on immunoglobulin (IgE) levels, skin prick positivity, and allergic rhinitis or eczema in children. Asthma was excluded in order to distinguish more clearly the effect of passive smoke exposure on allergic sensitisation.

Methods: Thirty six relevant publications were identified after consideration of 692 articles selected by electronic search of the Embase and Medline databases using keywords relevant to passive smoking in children.

First-aid treatment of epistaxis--confirmation of widespread ignorance.

A survey of 500 members of the public was carried out in which they were asked how they would deal with a nose bleed. Only 50 out of 443 responses were judged as being correct, confirming a clinical impression, long held by those dealing with epistaxis, that there is a high level of ignorance as to the correct first aid treatment. The survey also suggested that the lack of knowledge was not confined to the general public but evident in those trained in healthcare.

Non-gastrointestinal consequences of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Evidence relating H. pylori to non-gastrointestinal disease is sparse and inconclusive. Suggested mechanisms whereby infection might increase cardiovascular risk include release of acute-phase reactants including fibrinogen, reduction of HDL cholesterol, elevation of homocysteine levels and immunological cross-reactivity between bacterial and human heat shock proteins.

Acute asthma epidemics, weather and pollen in England, 1987-1994.

Recent epidemics of acute asthma have caused speculation that, if their causes were known, early warnings might be feasible. In particular, some epidemics seemed to be associated with thunderstorms. We wondered what risk factors predicting epidemics could be identified.

Epidemiology of Epstein-Barr virus infection in pre-adolescent children: application of a new salivary method in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Study Objective: To describe the epidemiology of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) among primary school children by testing saliva with a new EBV capsid antigen "G" antibody capture radioimmunoassay (GACRIA).

Design: A population based sample of 7 year old schoolchildren were followed up at age 11.

Setting: 30 randomly chosen primary schools in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Health effects of passive smoking. 4. Parental smoking, middle ear disease and adenotonsillectomy in children.

Background: A systematic quantitative review was conducted of evidence relating parental smoking to acute otitis media, recurrent otitis media, middle ear effusion, and adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy.

Methods: Forty five relevant publications were identified after consideration of 692 articles selected by electronic search of the Embase and Medline databases using keywords relevant to passive smoking in children. The search was completed in April 1997 and identified 13 studies of acute otitis media, nine of recurrent otitis media, five of middle ear effusion, nine of glue ear surgery, and four of adenotonsillectomy.

Worldwide variations in prevalence of symptoms of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis in children: the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC).

Background: As part of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), prevalence surveys were conducted among representative samples of school children from locations in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America.

Subjects: 257,800 children aged 6-7 years from 91 centres in 38 countries, and 463,801 children aged 13-14 years from 155 centres in 56 countries.

Methods: Written symptom questionnaires were translated from English into the local language for self-completion by the 13-14-year-olds and completion by the parents of the 6-7-year-olds.

Health effects of passive smoking. 3. Parental smoking and prevalence of respiratory symptoms and asthma in school age children.

Background: A systematic quantitative review of the evidence relating parental smoking to the prevalence of asthma and respiratory symptoms was conducted amongst school age children.

Methods: Sixty relevant studies were identified after consideration of 1593 articles selected by electronic search of the Embase and Medline databases using keywords relevant to passive smoking in children. The search was completed in April 1997 and identified 25 studies of asthma, 41 of wheeze, 34 of chronic cough, seven of chronic phlegm and six of breathlessness which were included in a quantitative overview.

Effect of pneumonia and whooping cough in childhood on adult lung function.

Background: Previous studies have suggested that respiratory infection during childhood is associated with respiratory disease in adulthood, but the link is unclear because of retrospective ascertainment of childhood infection, selection bias, and confounding factors.

Methods: We studied the effects of childhood pneumonia and whooping cough in 1392 British adults followed from birth in 1958. Of these, 193 had a history of pneumonia and 215 a history of whooping cough by the age of seven years.

Streptococcal tonsillitis and its association with psoriasis: a review.

Lancefield group A streptococcal upper respiratory tract infections are well known to be precursors of a number of disease processes. That they frequently herald a first attack of guttate psoriasis or a reactivation of chronic plaque psoriasis is well recognized, though this is perhaps more true among dermatologists than otolaryngologists. This paper briefly summarizes the historical background, recent research into, and current understanding of the connection between the two pathological phenomena.

Prevalence of asthma symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment in 12-14 year old children across Great Britain (international study of asthma and allergies in childhood, ISAAC UK).

Objective: To investigate variations in the prevalence of self reported symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of asthma in 12-14 year old children.

Design: Self completion questionnaire.

Setting: Great Britain.

Health effects of passive smoking. 1. Parental smoking and lower respiratory illness in infancy and early childhood.

Background: A systematic quantitative review was conducted of evidence relating parental smoking to acute lower respiratory illness in the first three years of life.

Methods: Fifty relevant publications were identified after consideration of 692 articles selected by electronic search of the Embase and Medline databases using keywords relevant to passive smoking in children. The search, completed in April 1997, identified 24 studies ascertaining illnesses in a community setting, including five surveys of schoolchildren with retrospective ascertainment of early chest illness, and 17 studies of admissions to hospital for lower respiratory illness in early life.

Relation of serum cytokine concentrations to cardiovascular risk factors and coronary heart disease.

Objective: To determine whether serum concentrations of the cytokines tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), which regulate C reactive protein, are associated with cardiovascular risk factors and prevalent coronary heart disease.

Design: A population based cross sectional study.

Subjects And Methods: 198 men aged 50 to 69 years were part of a random population sample drawn from south London.

Investigation into the increase in hay fever and eczema at age 16 observed between the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts.

Objective: To investigate whether changes in certain perinatal and social factors explain the increased prevalence of hay fever and eczema among British adolescents between 1974 and 1986.

Design: Two prospective birth cohort studies.

Setting: England, Wales, and Scotland.

Effect of thunderstorms and airborne grass pollen on the incidence of acute asthma in England, 1990-94.

Background: Thunderstorms and prior grass pollen counts were investigated as predictors of daily hospital admissions for asthma in England. This study was motivated by reports in the literature of spectacular asthma epidemics associated with thunderstorms, particularly in the grass pollen season.

Methods: Asthma admissions for two age groups (0-14 years and 15 and over) were measured using the Hospital Episodes System (HES) in the 14 regional health authorities (RHAs) in England.

Temporalis fascia grafts shrink.

Temporalis fascia, placed as an underlay graft, is commonly used to repair tympanic membrane perforations. Graft failure, however, is a well recognized complication. Grafts are often allowed to dry out during the procedure and, therefore, are often positioned in a dry or partially dehydrated state and only become fully rehydrated after placement.