The Medical journal of Australia
-
The symptoms of dysphagia in patients with inoperable oesophageal strictures were palliated by endoscopic insertion of a new Celestin pulsion tube. There were no deaths associated with the tube insertion, and relief of dysphagia was excellent. The technique of insertion is described.
-
In addition to the commonly accepted aetiological agents of cancer, such as chemical carcinogens, oncogenic viruses, hereditary factors, irradiation, and chronic trauma, multiple psychological factors are also important. Among these are psychological depression, impaired emotional outlets, and perceived lack of closeness to parents. The effect of addressing these factors in addition to standard medical factors in addition to standard medical management is an important question to be answered. ⋯ Our primary concern in using this approach was that the counselling be helpful and not detrimental to the duration of life, quality of life, and quality of death of the individual. Preliminary results indicate that counselling can be helpful and can also be detrimental, depending upon the dynamics of the relationships among the counsellor, the patients, the medical team and the family. This is a preliminary study, and many major questions remain unanswered.
-
In October, 1978, the Hemoccult II Test was introduced as a screening procedure by the Sydney Hospital Heath Information and Screening Service. In the first two years, 4498 people were screened and 150 positive results were obtained. ⋯ Forty-four patients were found to have 59 colorectal neoplasms of which 13 were carcinomas. This represents a cancer incidence of 0.29% and corroborates the results of similar studies conducted overseas.