Growth faltering: setting the scene

Setting the scene.

Intensive care medicine of today is almost unrecognizable when compared to its humble beginnings following the polio epidemics of the 1950s. This relatively young fi eld of medicine is growing at such a pace that it is interesting, and indeed important, to speculate on how we will be practicing intensive care medicine 10 years from now. In this chapter, I will focus on what has altered in the l...

Setting the Scene

Multiple organ failure (MOF) is a common cause of death in intensive care unit (ICU) patients [1]. But what are the mechanisms underlying the development of MOF? Why, when we can support many of the individual organs, e.g., the kidneys with extracorporeal renal support, the lungs with mechanical ventilation, etc., do we all too often end up withholding/withdrawing these life-supporting therapie...

1 Setting the scene

An oak tree growing in a meadow has a relatively short trunk and a familiar structure of wide branching limbs that can easily be recognised. However, when oaks grow in forests they compete with each other and develop long straight trunks; they have an appearance that is totally different from the same species growing in open country. One of us, on a family holiday in Greece, collected two tiny ...

Catchment Management – Setting the Scene

There are a wide range of catchment management models in Australia, that vary according to the resources and historical framework of the particular catchment and jurisdiction. The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) has reviewed the progress of catchment management in New South Wales over the past six years and has observed the development of significant co-operative relationships, particularly ...

History Matters: Setting the Scene