The history of ideas of Nordic midwives’ excursions from the early 19th century to the millennium

The midwifery art has emphasised the uniqueness of human beings throughout its Nordic history. The educated Nordic midwife has in the last decade celebrated several hundred years of memories. This article studies how the key ideas of the midwifery art and patterns of ideas become evident in the zeitgeist from the beginning of the 19th century to the millennium in the Nordic countries. The legacy and pattern of ideas of the art of midwifery are interpreted in relation to the texts of the selected historical sources and based on Ricoeur's phenomenological-hermeneutic approach to the text and further to the dedication of understanding and interpretation. The historical sources refer to unprinted primary sources from historical archives and printed secondary and tertiary sources. The patterns of ideas include a tripartite whole: the true cultivation of the head, the philosophy and aesthetics of the hand, the strength of the heart and the drive of calling. These ideas open for unique visions and attest to the evident in modern midwives. Today's midwives have academic training with examinations, and the education is based on scientific evidence. The midwife profession is authorised by the state and supervised by the authorities.     

Chromosomes in neoplasia: An appeal for unpublished data

In relation to a recent survey of chromosome aberrations in 856 human neoplasms the following points are presented: 1) the chromosome aberrations of significance to the biology of neoplasms are nonrandom; 2) aberrations of a particular chromosome tend to be of similar kind; 3) aberrations cluster to a limited number of specific chromosomes; 4) geographic differences have been observed in chromosome aberrations; 5) the karyotypic pattern of a neoplasm may be influenced by previous exposure to potential carcinogenic agents; 6) the role of chromosome aberrations in neoplasia—a hypothesis; 7) a plea is made for unpublished data to be included in our next survey of chromosome aberrations.     

Parity and risk of thyroid cancer: a nested case-control study of a nationwide Swedish cohort

The association between parity and risk of thyroid cancer was examined in a case-control study nested within a cohort of Swedish women born 1925–60. A total of 1,409 cases of thyroid cancer were compared with 7,019 agematched controls. Odds ratios (OR) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CI) were calculated as estimates of relative risk. A weak association was found between parity and risk of thyroid cancer (OR for ever-parous women cf nulliparous was 1.1, CI=1.0–1.3). For the subset of papillary cancers, there was a significantly increased risk (OR for ever-parous cf nulliparous = 1.3, CI=1.0–1.6), and among women diagnosed at the age of 50 or older, there was a positive linear trend with increasing number of livebirths. Women during the first year after a livebirth had an increased risk of thyroid cancer compared with women who delivered 10 or more years before; this association was most prominent among uniparous women (OR=2.5, CI=1.1–5.9). An increased risk was also apparent for age over 20 years at livebirth (among uniparous women) and age over 25 years at last livebirth (among multiparous women). A negligible effect of parity on thyroid cancer risk was seen, but each livebirth may have a short-term and age-dependent promoting effect.Authors are with the Department of Cancer Epidemiology, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden (M.R. Galanti, M. Lambe, A. Ebbora, R. Sparda B. Pettersson): Department of Social Medicine, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden (M. Lambe); Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA (A. Ekbom). Address correspondence to Dr M. Rosaria Galanti, Department of Cancer Epidemiology, University Hospital, S-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. This work was supported in part by grant n. 3136-B92-02XBB from the Swedish Cancer Society.     

DNA pattern of human pituitary tumors

The tumor tissue from 62 consecutive patients with pituitary adenomas was analyzed with regard to ploidy and percentage of cells in different phases of the cell cycle by use of flow-cytofluorometry. In six of 62 cases, two tumor-cell populations were identified; therefore the study material comprised 68 cell lines. Approximately half of the cell lines were diploid (33 of 68, or 49 per cent); five of 68 (7 per cent) were hypodiploid, and 30 of 68 (44 per cent) were hyperdiploid-aneuploid. A low occurrence of aneuploid cell lines appeared in hormonally nonsecreting tumors (22 per cent). An aneuploid DNA pattern was predominantly found in prolactinomas (70 per cent). In acromegaly, tumors secreting growth hormone had only an aneuploid DNA pattern in 41 per cent of the cases, whereas 67 per cent of the tumors with concomitant secretion of growth hormone and prolactin were aneuploid. The latter group also comprised the largest number of adenomas with two cell lines and all but one hypodiploid tumor. Most tumors with an aggressive clinical course were either aneuploid or diploid but with a high percentage of proliferating cells.     

Cancer incidence among male railway engine-drivers and conductors in Sweden, 1976–90

During recent years, the relationship between exposure to magnetic fields and cancer has attracted increasing interest. In Sweden, train personnel are exposed to comparatively strong magnetic fields in their work. The aim of the present study was to investigate cancer incidence, particularly leukemia and brain tumors, among male railway engine drivers and conductors, respectively, and to compare their cancer incidence with that of the general male population. The study population comprised all male railway engine drivers (n=7,466) and conductors (n=2,272) who were ever employed at the Swedish State Railways during the period 1976–90. The study population was observed with regard to cancer incidence by means of the National Cancer Register for the period 1976–90. The total cancer incidence (all tumors included) among railway engine drivers was lower than in the general Swedish population. An increased incidence of lymphocytic leukemia was observed among railway engine drivers and conductors combined (relative risk = 2.3; 95 percent confidence interval = 1.3–3.2), with the same point estimate for both occupational groups. For brain tumor (astrocytoma), the observed relative risk was close to one. The study provides evidence of an excess risk of lymphocytic leukemia in railway engine drivers and conductors, workers with known occupational exposure to magnetic fields.Drs Alfredsson and Hammar are with the Division of Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Instituter, Stockholm, Sweden. Dr Alfredsson is also with the Department of Occupational Health, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Dr Karlehagen is with the National Occupational Health Services, Örebro, Sweden. Address correspondence to Dr Alfredsson, Division of Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. The study was supported by the Swedish State Railway Company.