Medicine
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This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty
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Item Effects of occupational exposure to organophosphate pesticides on nerve and neuromuscular function(Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2002) Peiris-John, R.J.; Ruberu, D.K.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; Smit, L.A.; van der Hoek, W.This study aimed to investigate whether occupational exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides caused neurophysiological abnormalities. Thirty farmers who regularly spray OP pesticides and 30 fishermen (controls), living close by but not involved in pesticide spraying, were evaluated during and between cultivation seasons. The farmers had higher erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase levels than the controls during (P = 0.06) and between cultivation seasons (P = 0.09). During the cultivation season, there was a significant reduction in erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase activity in both groups (P < 0.01). Significant differences between the farmers and controls were found in sensory conduction velocity (P = 0.04) and motor conduction velocity (P = 0.04) between cultivation seasons. Sensory conduction velocity was reduced significantly in farmers (P < 0.01) and in controls (P = 0.04) during the cultivation season. Effects of OP poisoning were seen both in farmers and in controls, who had no history of spray activities. Evidence of sensory dysfunction after acute exposure and sensory and motor impairment after long-term low-level exposure to OP was seen.Item Ventilatory function in brass workers of Gadaladeniya Sri Lanka(Oxford University Press, 1997) Jayawardana, P.L.; de Alwis, W.R.; Fernando, M.A.A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the respiratory hazards of brass workers. The study group was selected randomly. The control group was selected from the general population matched for age by cluster sampling. There was a total of 154 pairs for the final analysis. A questionnaire was administered to determine the prevalence of respiratory symptoms. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1.0), forced expiratory flow rate in the mid 50% of the FVC(FEF25%-75%) and peak expiratory flow rate(PEFR) were measured. Chest radiography was performed on those with 5 or more years of service. Cough, phlegm, chronic bronchitis and dyspnoea were significantly higher among brass workers. The ventilatory capacity was significantly lower in all the indicators except FVC. Smoking had no significant effect and a dose response relationship could not be demonstrated after inclusion of age in the regression model. Five point five per cent had evidence of septal lines while 6.4% had emphysema.Item Ventilatory function of factory workers exposed to Tea Dust(1997) Jayawardana, P. L.; Udupihilla, M.A cross-sectional study was conducted in order to determine the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and the effect on ventilatory capacity in workers exposed to tea dust for at least five years during the sifting process of tea manufacture compared to a control group of field workers who were not exposed to tea dust previously. Fifty-three subjects each in the study and control groups were matched for age, sex, ethnic group and height. Prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms was obtained by questionnaire. Spirometric measurements included forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1.0) and forced mid-expiratory flow rate (FEF 25-75%). The study group had a chest radiograph. The odds ratio for any chronic respiratory symptom was 11.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.7-39.4) in the study group. Mean values for the spirometric tests were lower in the study group; the differences in FEV 1.0 and FEF 25-75% were significant. Tuberculosis was not found in the study group, while one subject (2.4%) had radiological evidence of bronchiectasis. It may therefore be concluded that chronic tea dust exposure causes increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms and a significant degree of small airways obstruction.