SUMMARY This study comprises an audit of the experiences of upper alimentary endoscopy by 400 patients examined in 15 hospitals. The patients were asked to complete a 19‐section questionnaire regarding their experience of the endoscopy before, during and after the procedure. The audit was carried out in order to evaluate the patients' understanding of the investigation and to determine the impact of the findings on the patients' level of anxiety. Of the 400 patients, 304 (76.0%) returned the questionnaire; overall satisfaction was revealed with the decision to proceed with endoscopy and with the procedure itself, as well as the reassurance provided by the investigation. The study thus supports the role of open‐access endoscopy.
First, may I thank T h e Nutrition Society for inviting me to act as Chairman of the opening session of this Symposium. It would have been impracticable to have ranged over the crops of the world in a 2-day meeting, and it was decided to restrict the programme to cereals and pulses. These crops include those of the utmost significance to world agriculture and to human and animal nutrition in terms of food intake by virtue of their grain and seed characters. There is no need to emphasize, however, that other crops and other parts of plants, such as herbage and forage crops and a considerable range of tuberous crops, are of great importance as food producers in agriculture and have been the subject of a vast amount of study and research.T h e history of mankind, his colonization of the world and the evolution of society, socia1 structure and civilization have all been intimately associated with, and dependent upon, the exploitation of cultivated plants which have provided the essential staple foods. T h e number of species on which man has depended, and which are still his sole means of dietary intake, directly or indirectly, is extraordinarily small and none has greater impact than the cereals and pulses. Great civilizations of the world grew up on wheat and rice, and at this time in history more people, by a very large margin, rely on these two crops for their calorie intake than on any other crops. T h e world production of wheat in 1966 was over 308 million metric tons grown on 217 million hectares, and of rice 253 million metric tons on 126 million hectares. T h e total world cereal production was over 1087 million metric tons on 688 million hectares.As sources of protein, the pulse crops are vital for stock raising under many agricultural systems, and for human consumption where meat is taboo or unobtainable: 40 million metric tons were grown in 1966 on 63 million hectares. T h e I https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi
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