Abstract
A survey of respiratory symptoms and function was carried out in Dundee among 123 men and women in the jute industry and 242 in the flax industry. The selection of workers was biassed in favour of those working in the dustier departments as judged by eye and those in the older age groups. A group of 72 men in a heavy engineering firm were also selected as controls for comparison.
Chronic bronchitis, as defined by Ogilvie and Newell (1957) was recorded in 27% of those interviewed, whose average age was 49. Byssinosis of various grades was recorded in 30% of all working in flax; of these 35 had cough alone worse on Monday, 34 had other respiratory symptoms worse on Monday and in only four persons did the exacerbation persist longer in the week.
In spite of the occurrence of byssinosis, chronic bronchitis was no more prevalent among flax workers than among the others, the average ventilatory function was no worse, and radiographs of the chest revealed no differences. The characteristic fall in expiratory flow rate during the course of exposure to flax dust on Mondays is similar to that found in cotton workers, and is absent in jute workers and in flax workers not admitting to symptoms of byssinosis.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- BERNSTEIN L., D'SILVA J. L., MENDEL D. The effect of the rate of breathing on the maximum breathing capacity determined with a new spirometer. Thorax. 1952 Sep;7(3):255–262. doi: 10.1136/thx.7.3.255. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- GAENSLER E. A. An instrument for dynamic vital capacity measurements. Science. 1951 Oct 26;114(2965):444–446. doi: 10.1126/science.114.2965.444. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- KENNEDY M. C. S. A practical measure of the maximum ventilatory capacity in health and disease. Thorax. 1953 Mar;8(1):73–83. doi: 10.1136/thx.8.1.73. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- NEEDHAM C. D., ROGAN M. C., McDONALD I. Normal standards for lung volumes, intrapulmonary gas-mixing, and maximum breathing capacity. Thorax. 1954 Dec;9(4):313–325. doi: 10.1136/thx.9.4.313. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SCHILLING R. S., HUGHES J. P., DINGWALL-FORDYCE I., GILSON J. C. An epidemiological study of byssinosis among Lancashire cotton workers. Br J Ind Med. 1955 Jul;12(3):217–227. doi: 10.1136/oem.12.3.217. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- WERNER G. C. De la bronchiolite oedémateuse allergique; essai statistique sur l'asthme des poussières textiles végétales. Arch Mal Prof. 1955;16(1):27–45. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]