ABSTRACT
The study was carried out in Allahabad district, (Uttar Pradesh) with 260 spraymen as test subjects and 50 persons as controls from a sprayed and unsprayed village respectively. Majority of the spraymen (44%) had worked for 3-4 years (seasons) and 31% had worked in the programme for 5-10 years. The spraymen were relatively healthy with no complaints in 77% whereas the figures were 76% for the Community living in the sprayed village, and 50% for the Community in the unsprayed village. A comparison of the biochemical parameters revealed lowered Cholesterol more than 150 mg % in 38% of the spraymen and 58% had altered A:G ratio. Other biochemical estimations were not significantly different from the control population. The mean residue of Alpha, Beta and Gamma Isomers and the total Alpha, Beta and Gamma isomers were 0.0317, 0.2254, 0.0288 and 0.2859 mg/1 respectively; the corresponding mean values in the control population were 0.0211, 0.1112, 0.0197 and 0.1520 mg/1 respectively. The values in spraymen were twice those of the general population. A significant association (p < .05) was observed between their length of exposure and the levels of Cholesterol and HCH isomers in blood of spraymen. No significant morbidity was evident in spraymen due to HCH exposure.
Subject(s)
Case-Control Studies , Environmental Monitoring , Humans , India , Insecticides/adverse effects , Hexachlorocyclohexane/adverse effects , Occupational Exposure , Pesticide Residues , Suburban HealthABSTRACT
During the period 1978 to 1988, 4619 upper gastrointestinal fibreoptic panendoscopies were carried out. There were 106 (2.2%) histologically confirmed cases of carcinoma of the stomach. The annual incidence was 9.6. The peak incidence was in the fifth decade. The mean age of these patients was 49.4 years and the male: female ratio was 3.6:1. The most frequent symptoms were weight loss (81%) and anorexia (72.9%). Dysphagia was present in 30% of patients. Thirty two percent of patients had proximal carcinoma, 63.2% had distal carcinoma and in 4.7% the whole stomach was involved. Patients with distal carcinoma had a longer history (P less than 0.01) and were more likely to present with weight loss (P less than 0.001), anorexia (P less than 0.005), abdominal pain (P less than 0.05) and abdominal lump (P less than 0.05), compared to proximal carcinomas. Dysphagia was, however, more likely to be present in patients with proximal carcinomas (P less than 0.001).