Medical research in the Rhondda valleys

Our plain-English summary of Medical research in the Rhondda valleys, by H.F. Thomas (Postgraduate Medical Journal, 1999).

The study

• Author: H.F. Thomas
• Journal: Postgraduate Medical Journal
• Published: 1999;75(883):257-9
• Type of article: Editorial, Historical article
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

This brief review has highlighted some of the research done by the MRC in the South Wales valleys. The two MRC Units published, in total, over 2000 reports ranging from letters to journals to conference proceedings, with around 200 reports appearing in the BMJ, Lancet and Nature alone. The expertise gained in South Wales meant that the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit team was involved internationally in co-ordinating research on coal workers' lung disease, and later on the health effects of asbestos and other respirable dusts. It is remarkable that the early large-scale studies were conducted and analysed without the benefits of modern computers and statistical packages. The varied Epidemiology Unit research programme enabled Cochrane to develop his ideas on defining health and evaluating health services, and also Elwood, who directed the Unit from 1974 to 1995, to pioneer studies of aspirin prophylaxis in cardiovascular disease. A steady stream of occupational health studies were carried out by Epidemiology Unit staff and many other large surveys were conducted in other parts of South Wales and across the country. Later MRC Epidemiology Unit work has focused on the town of Caerphilly where a prospective study of some 2500 men, established in 1979, has so far resulted in over 100 papers, notably on haemostatic factors related to heart disease. The study has run in tandem with a similar survey in the Speedwell area of Bristol which was established by former Epidemiology Unit staff working for the health authority in that area. Other medical research groups have also worked in the South Wales valleys. In 1961 Julian Tudor Hart left the Epidemiology Unit after a year's research to enter general practice, and establish the famous research practice at Glyncorrwg, over the mountain from the Rhondda Fawr. This year the extensive collection of MRC survey records is being transferred to the Department of Social Medicine at Bristol, and it is quite likely that further research will be undertaken relating Rhondda survey data collected over 40 years ago to subsequent mortality. The South Wales valleys will continue to contribute to medical research into the next millennium. Archie Cochrane's papers have been catalogued and are available for study at the Cochrane Archive established at Llandough Hospital.

In plain English

This article was an editorial review, not a new study. The author described research done by two Medical Research Council units in the South Wales valleys: the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit, active until 1985, and the Epidemiology Unit, which continued until March 1999. Most of the article concerned coal workers' pneumoconiosis, blood pressure, anaemia, glaucoma and medical screening. It reported that between 1931 and 1948 over 22 000 British miners had to leave work because of pneumoconiosis, 85% of them living in South Wales. It also reported that the research team developed a chest X-ray classification later adopted by the International Labour Office. Describing earlier follow-up of the Rhondda population, the review stated that simple pneumoconiosis did not appear to markedly reduce long-term survival, while complicated pneumoconiosis, particularly progressive massive fibrosis, was associated with a much higher death rate. Asbestos was mentioned only once. The author wrote that the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit team later became involved internationally in coordinating research on the health effects of asbestos and other respirable dusts. The article reported no asbestos findings. The author concluded that the South Wales valleys would continue to contribute to medical research.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: editorial review of past research by two Medical Research Council units; no new data
• Who was studied: research carried out by the MRC Pneumoconiosis Research Unit (established 1945, active until 1985) and the MRC Epidemiology Unit (South Wales, from 1960 until March 1999), largely among Rhondda valley communities in South Wales
• Exposure: mainly coal mine dust and coal workers' pneumoconiosis. Asbestos is mentioned only as a later subject of international research coordinated by the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit team, with no asbestos results given
• Main results:
  • Between 1931 and 1948 over 22 000 British miners were required to leave their work because they had contracted pneumoconiosis; 85% of them lived in South Wales
  • The unit's team, working with US researchers, developed a chest X-ray classification later adopted by the International Labour Office
  • In follow-up of the Rhondda population, simple pneumoconiosis did not appear to markedly reduce long-term survival; complicated pneumoconiosis, particularly progressive massive fibrosis, was associated with a much higher death rate
  • The two MRC units published over 2000 reports in total
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the South Wales valleys will continue to contribute to medical research

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pneumoconiosis, Epidemiology.

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