BMJ No 7145 Volume 316
Press Releases Saturday 30 May 1998
(1) CHILDHOOD DEPRIVATION LINKED TO ADULT STROKE AND STOMACH CANCER DEATHS
(2) POVERTY AND ILL HEALTH IN EUROPE: A COMPLEX PATTERN
(3) UNTREATED EYE DISEASE IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN THE ELDERLY
(4) COST EFFECTIVE PRESCRIBING FOR DUODENAL ULCERS
(1) CHILDHOOD DEPRIVATION LINKED TO ADULT STROKE
AND
STOMACH CANCER DEATHS
(Adverse socioeconomic conditions in childhood and cause specific adult
mortality: prospective observational study)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7145/1631
Inequalities in health start in the cradle and children from poorer
families carry that health disadvantage into adulthood and earlier
mortality. But some causes of death are more strongly linked
to childhood
circumstances than others. Deaths from stroke and stomach cancer
are
particularly strongly linked to childhood deprivation, whereas deaths
from
accidents, violence and lung cancer are dependent on factors during
adulthood. Mortality from coronary heart disease and respiratory
disease
relate to social circumstances in both childhood and adulthood.
The authors, George Davey Smith et al, studied 5766 men aged 35-64
in the
West of Scotland. They warn that the increasing child poverty
seen in
Britain over the last 20 years may well herald unfavourable future
trends
in adult health.
Contact :
Professor Davey Smith, Department of Social Medicine, University of
Bristol, Canynge Hall, Bristol BS8 2PR
e-mail: zetkin{at}bristol.ac.uk
(2) POVERTY AND ILL HEALTH IN EUROPE: A COMPLEX PATTERN
(Occupational class and cause specific mortality in middle aged men
in 11
European countries: comparison of population based studies)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7145/1636
Health inequality is a fact of life right across Europe with major
variations in ill health and death linked to social class and occupation.
But the link between class and specific diseases is not uniform across
Europe. In Northern Europe deaths from ischaemic heart disease
are
strongly related to occupational class but this does not apply to France,
Switzerland and the Mediterranean countries. In these countries cancers
apart from lung cancer) and gastro-intestinal diseases were strongly linked
to class differences in mortality. In France and Finland, excess
alcohol consumption was strongly linked to mortality in lower occupational
groups. In France this showed up in higher rates for cancer of the
upper digestive tract and in liver cirrhosis but in Finland, patterns of
binge drinking were associated with violent deaths.
The wide variations mean that caution must be exercised when attempting
to
extrapolate data on health inequalities from one country to another.
These
variations also mean that health intervention programmes designed to
reduce
health inequalities in one European country may not be relevant in
another
setting.
Contact:
Dr Anton E Kunst, Department of Public Health, Erasmus University,
PO Box
1738, NL-3000 DR, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
e-mail: kunst{at}mgz.fgg.eur.nl
(3) UNTREATED EYE DISEASE IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN THE ELDERLY
(Prevalence of serious eye disease and visual impairment in a north
London
population: population based cross sectional study)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7145/1643
Most metropolitan areas of the UK do not have reliable data on the
incidence of eye disease and visual impairment within their local
populations and a study in north London reveals serious levels of eye
disease unknown to the local eye services.
The study surveyed a random sample of 1547 patients aged 65 and over,
drawn
from 17 north London general practices. 30 per cent of the sample had
some
visual impairment which was treatable with spectacles or by surgery
in
almost three quarters of cases.
Although 30 per cent of patients had cataracts causing some visual
impairment, 88 per cent were not in contact with eye services.
Although
the prevalence of glaucoma was three per cent, three quarters of those
with
definite glaucoma were not known to the eye services.
Eye problems were more prevalent in people living in relatively
underprivileged areas.
Contact:
Dr D C Minassian, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London,
London EC1V 9EJ
(4) COST EFFECTIVE PRESCRIBING FOR DUODENAL ULCERS
(Varying efficacy of Helicobacter pylori eradication regimens: cost
effectiveness study using a decision analysis model)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7145/1648
The value of eradicating helicobacter pylori in duodenal ulcer disease
is
well established, but small differences in the efficacy of antibiotic
regimens can have a big influence on the comparative cost effectiveness
of
eradication strategies.
In a commentary, Delany and Hobbs point out that prescribing for dyspepsia
is now the largest single area of cost for primary care, £500
million per
year in the United Kingdom in 1996. Although this covers non-ulcer
dyspepsia as well as peptic ulcer disease, the size of the bill underlines
the rationale for making cost-effectiveness part of the eradication
strategy for helicobacter pylori.
Contact:
Prof Richard Logan, Department of Public Health and Epidemiology,
University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH
e-mail: richard.logan{at}nottingham.ac.uk
FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS
Embargoed press releases:
These are available from:
Public Affairs Division
BMA House
Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9JR
(contact Jill Shepherd;jshepher{at}bma.org.uk)
and from:
the EurekAlert website, run by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (http://www.eurekalert.org)
Please remember to credit the BMJ as source when publicising an article
and to inform your readers that they can read its full text on the
journal's web site (http://www.bmj.com).
What's new
Keep updated
Services
Tools
Online poll
Resources
Print issues
