Lancet
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Comparative Study
Increases in laryngeal cancer in Britain and Australia in relation to alcohol and tobacco consumption trends.
The incidence of laryngeal and oesophageal cancers has recently risen in Britain and Australia, particularly in younger people, after many decades of steady decline. In view of accruing evidence that head-and-neck cancers are causally related to alcohol and tobacco consumption, particularly in combination, it seems that the upsurge in consumption of alcohol and cigarettes after the 1939-45 war is now reflected in the increases in these two cancers, particularly in young women. The time-trends in sex-specific mortality from cancers of the larynx and oesophagus throughout this century, in both Britain and Australia, show strong correlations with alcohol consumption. By reference to inter-country differences in consumption trends, to differences in consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, to sex differences in cigarette consumption, to trends in types of alcoholic drink consumed, and to the mortality experienced of successive generations, the evidence that alcohol is causally related to laryngeal cancer is strengthened.
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A study of 113 patients with septic shock admitted to an intensive therapy unit (I. T. U.) during a 3-year period showed that a significant reduction in mortality was achieved after the introduction of a treatment programme which included early intermittent positive-pressure ventilation and aggressive surgery in addition to conventional management with fluids, oxygen, and antibiotics. Vasoactive drugs played an important but not essential role in therapy.
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Between May 1, 1976, and May 14, 1977, 343 (32.5%) of 1056 5-day-old babies in newborn nurseries excreted rotaviruses. The infection-rate was highest during winter (49%). 76% of infected babies at this time were bottle-fed. 41% of neonates excreted low amounts of virus (less than or equal to 10(8) particles/g faeces); older children tended to excrete greater than 10(10) particles/g faeces. ⋯ When the newborn nurseries were transferred to a newly built hospital wing, infection appeared in the new wards, including those admitting only new patients, within a short period. Infection was either mild (8%) or symptomless (92%), and even babies with symptoms required no treatment.