Objective: To examine change in home smoking restrictions one year after introduction of Scottish smoke-free legislation, and whether type of restriction impacts upon secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among children. Design: Comparison of nationally representative, cross-sectional, class-based surveys carried out in the same schools before and after legislation. Participants 2527 primary …

Introduction of smoke-free legislation presents a unique opportunity to study how population-level interventions can challenge existing smoking norms. Our study examined support and opposition to the Scottish legislation and ascertained the relative importance of social and health factors in shaping attitudes among bar customers. METHODS: Repeat (pre-/post-legislation) recorded and transcribed …

To determine whether low serum cortisol concentrations are associated with adverse prognosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Low serum cortisol concentrations have been associated with adverse prognosis in critical illness of diverse etiology. DESIGN: Nested case-control study. SETTING: Prospective cohort study of consecutive patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction …

Up to 20% of lacunar infarcts are clinically misdiagnosed as cortical infarcts and vice versa. The reasons for this discrepancy are unclear. We assessed clinical and imaging features which might explain this ‘clinical-imaging dissociation’ (C-ID). METHODS: Patients with an acute stroke syndrome (cortical or lacunar) underwent magnetic resonance imaging including …

Background Hospital workers are at high risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs), but outcomes following such injuries have not been well studied longitudinally. Aims To ascertain functional recovery in hospital workers following incident WRMSDs and identify predictors of functional status. Methods Cases (incident WRMSD) and matched referents from two hospitals …

On brain imaging, lacunes, or cerebrospinal fluid-containing cavities, are common and are often counted in epidemiological studies as old lacunar infarcts. The proportion of symptomatic lacunar infarcts that progress to lacunes is unknown. Noncavitating lacunar infarcts may continue to resemble white matter lesions. METHODS: We identified patients with acute lacunar …

Thomas McKeown was right in his primary claim that changing environments, rather than improved medical care, were responsible for much of the long wave of historical mortality decline in the UK since 1700. He was, however, apparently unaware that the beginning of the decline in infant and early-childhood mortality lagged …

Objectives Although, the relationship between childhood physical abuse and adult heart disease has been documented, very few studies have controlled for many of the known risk factors for heart disease. The objective of the current study, therefore, was to investigate the association between childhood physical abuse and adult heart disease …

Urquia ML, Frank JW, Glazier RH, Moineddin R, Matheson FI, Gagnon A.  Immigrants’€™ duration of residence and adverse birth outcomes: A population-based study. Br J Obst Gyn 2010; 117:591-601 DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2010.02523.x Mar 21, 2014

  A report by the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians. Mar 21, 2014