A study of injuries during life in three male populations

In a population study of samples of 60-, 50-, and 30-year-old men, information about injuries suffered during life was obtained by personal interview. Included were head injuries with unconsciousness, and injuries which had caused restricted activity for more than one day or had caused medical attendance. The interview technique was the only way to cover all these injuries. Possible biases are discussed. The results indicated that the young men tended to report a higher incidence of injuries, to suffer their first injury at an earlier age and to attend medical services to a larger extent than the older men. An incidence peak in adolescence was reported in all three cohorts. Accidents with multiple injuries were more common in higher ages in all cohorts. Falls, blows, and impacts, cutting and piercing agents, and traffic accidents were the most common causes of injuries in all cohorts.     

Determination of correction based on natural visual acuity in myopes]

The authors demonstrate the possibility to assess the correction in ametropes according to the value of their natural vision. To this end they use normalized optotype tables with Landolt rings which have a constant diminution coefficient between individual consecutive lines. By means of this elaborated method the authors were able to assess in twenty myopic subjects that a correction of -1.0 corresponds to an improvement by four lines, one line thus corresponds to a correction of -0.25 dioptres.     

Biochemical, clinical and genetic analysis of various aminoacidopathies (non-ketotic hyperglycemia, maple syrup urine disease, histidinemia, tyrosinemia)]

The genetical types were classified according to the clinical findings and biochemical results in cases of 13 newborn/children suffering from various aminoacidopathies. The genetical types were: 3 neonatal and 4 infantile types were found out of 7 non-ketotic disease (MSUD) patient was infantile type with 9.1 per cent keto acid decarboxylase activity in leukocyte homogenate. Among the 3 histidinemic patients 1 was severe neonatal type and 2 cases were chronic types. The 2 treated tyrosinemic children proved to be type III. (chronic with rickets).     

A controlled, multicentre trial of manual therapy in low-back pain. Initial status, sick-leave and pain score during follow-up.

101 outpatients with acute or subacute low-back pain were randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups. One group was given standardized conventional but optimal activating treatment by primary health care teams. The other group received manual treatment such as manipulation, specific mobilization, muscle stretching, auto-traction, and cortisone injections. The two groups were similar in most of the pretrial variables, including age, sex, previous low-back pain problems, sick-leave, previous treatment, findings at the physical examination, quality-of-life score, disability rating, and pain score. After one month in the study, the proportion of patients on sick-leave was six times larger in the conventionally treated group than in the group receiving the specific manual treatment. The difference diminished over time but was still significant after eight months. Two slightly different pain scores ("pain at the moment" and "pain during the last weeks"), initially similar in the two groups, diminished in both groups but were significantly lower in the manual treatment group during the study. The group receiving specific manual treatment thus had a significantly better outcome than the group receiving conventional treatment as far as sick-leave and pain score are concerned.     

The effects of hyaluronan on bone resorption and bone mineral density in a rat model of estrogen deficiency-induced osteopenia

Hyaluronan, or hyaluronic acid (HA), is an essential component of extracellular matrices. HA of appropriate molecular weight and concentration can induce osteoblast differentiation and bone formation in vitro. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of HA of different molecular weights on ovariectomy (OVX)-induced bone loss in rats. Adult female Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to bilateral OVX or sham surgical procedure (sham). OVX rats were treated with: HA of molecular weight of 0.75 MDa at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day and with HA of molecular weight of 1.62 MDa at a dose of both 0.5 mg/kg/day and 1 mg/kg/day. HA was applied orally once a day during the 8-week period after ovariectomy. Body weight, urinary pyridinoline (Pyr), deoxypyridinoline (DPyr) corrected for urinary creatinine, serum nitrite/nitrate concentrations and whole body and femoral bone mineral density (BMD) were measured. HA treatment had no effect on the body weight gain in OVX rats. Excretion of urinary Pyr and Dpyr significantly increased in OVX rats compared to sham controls. The higher molecular weight HA (1.62 MDa) significantly reduced urinary Pyr and DPyr concentrations measured on day 28 after ovariectomy (p < 0.001). Serum concentrations of nitric oxide metabolites, nitrite/nitrate significantly decreased in OVX rats in comparison with sham controls (p < 0.001). HA of both 0.75 MDa and 1.62 MDa molecular weights significantly enhanced serum nitrite/nitrate concentrations in OVX rats. There was a clear reduction of whole body and femoral BMD in untreated OVX rats. The higher molecular weight HA decreased both whole body and femoral BMD loss. Our results show that orally applied HA of high molecular weight (1.62 MDa) inhibits bone resorption and provides a protective effect on bone density in ovariectomized rats.     

Antibody reactivity in penicillin-sensitive patients determinated with different penicillin derivatives.

35 individuals showing reactions to penicillin of anaphylactic shock, angioedema or urticaria were investigated. Their skin sensitivity was analysed using 16 different penicillin derivatives. In addition, the content of circulating reagins against the penicilloyl structure in the patient's sera were analysed using RAST. 17 of the patients had negative skin reactions and RAST results to all substances tested. The other 18 were skin test-positive to at least one derivative but showed markedly heterogeneous patterns of skin reactivity. 14 had positive reactions against penicilloyl structures accompanied by anti-penicilloyl reagins. Four patients showed doubtful reactions only to penicillin or penicilloate and/or penilloate. These patients also had very low levels of reagins against penicilloyl in their sera. Positive skin test results using monovalent penicillin derivatives such as penicillin, penicilloate, penilloate, penicilloyl amide, penicilloyl-formyl-lysine, penicillamine, which cannot form a multivalent antigen with penicillyol specificity, indicated formation of other derivatives of importance in penicillin allergy, e.g., penicillamine protein conjugates. Three patients showed skin reactions to ampicillin polymer and two to benzyl-penicillin polymer. The skin tests performed with the penicillin derivatives used do not seem to give more information on the sensitivity of the patients than does the RAST using penicilloyl structures.     

Structure and stability of poly(vinyl chloride), 4. Unsaturated ketones and their role in the initiation of thermal degradation

The thermal dehydrochlorination of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) in an inert atmosphere was investigated by the continuous potentiometric method. The effect of the structure of alicyclic and aliphatic α,β-unsaturated ketones on the rate of dehydrochlorination was examined, and a new mechanism of initiation for the dehydrochlorination of PVC was suggested. The results obtained demonstrate that the basic cause of the thermal instability of PVC are structures of the type of cisoid α,β-unsaturated ketone, dienone, or polyenone which by the dehydrochlorination of regular structural PVC units form isolated double bonds which, in turn, initiate the chain dehydrochlorination of PVC by allyl activation.     

Meckel diverticulum as a possible source of complications]

The authors performed a retrospective analysis of 108 operations performed because of Meckel's diverticulum from Jan. 1, 1980 until Dec. 31, 1997. 87 incidental operations were performed (80.55%) and 21 operations were performed (19.54%) because of complications of Meckel's diverticulum. Of the 87 incidental cases, 44 were males and 43 were females. The diverticulum was resected in 70 cases, was inverted in 16 patients and was left untouched in 1 patient. There were postoperative complications in 10 cases (11.5%), however, only one complication was related to the diverticulum operation. There was one death due to pneumonia in the incidental group (1.14%). Of the 21 cases having complications there were 5 females and 16 males. The following complications were observed: 4 cases of ileus, 7 cases of perforation (a foreign body was found in two cases) and 10 cases of inflammation. The Meckel's diverticulum was resected in 19 cases and the small intestine was resected in 2 cases. Postoperative complications occurred in 3 cases (14.3%), however these were not related to the diverticulum operations. There were 2 deaths due to pneumonia and pulmonary embolism (9.5%). Histological examination revealed 7 cases of heterotopic gastric mucosa in both the incidental group and the group with complications. There was one case of heterotopic pancreatic tissue in the group with complications. The incidence of heterotopy in the incidental group was 8%, whereas in the group with complications the incidence was 33.3%. Histological examination also revealed reflux gastritis-like diverticulitis in 5 of the patients with heterotopic gastric mucosa. Meckel's diverticulum was diagnosed in 2 patients preoperatively by upper gastrointestinal series.     

Prevalence and incidence of clinically diagnosed memory impairments in a geographically defined general population in Sweden. The Piteå Dementia Project

In the Pite? River Valley all persons with memory impairment that interferes with normal life are referred to one hospital department for clinical workup and diagnosis. 619 patients were assessed in the department during the years 1990-1995. Of these, 36.9% had Alzheimer's disease (AD), 30.4% had vascular dementia (VaD), 3.0% had a mixed AD/VaD, 3.2% had frontotemporal dementia and 5.3% had other forms of dementia. Another 7% had memory impairment but no dementia. The overall mean annual incidence rate of clinically relevant dementia was 295/100,000 persons at risk and the mean prevalence rate was 755/100,000 persons. For persons 65 years and older the incidence and prevalence rates were 840 and 2,150/100,000 persons, respectively. This means that annually, approximately 300 persons/100,000 population over the age of 40 need medical attention or social services.     

Social network and activities in relation to mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer and other causes: a 12 year follow up of the study of men born in 1913 and 1923.

OBJECTIVE--The aim was to examine the relationship between social network and activities and causes of death. DESIGN--The study was a prospective cohort study of middle aged men examined in 1973 and followed for 12 years. SETTING--Gothenburg, Sweden. SUBJECTS--The subjects were 769 60 year old and 220 50 year old men who had participated in a health examination. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS--Main outcome measures were mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer and other causes. In multivariate analyses cardiovascular mortality was related to baseline blood pressure (p less than 0.001), smoking habits (p = 0.002), myocardial infarction or stroke (p less than 0.001), and a low level of social activities (p = 0.04). Cancer mortality was related to age (p = 0.003) and smoking habits (p = 0.001). Other causes of death were related to poor perceived health (p = 0.02) and a low level of home activities (p = 0.004). In univariate analyses the above risk factors were strongly related to all three causes of death. In addition cardiovascular mortality was related to age, a low level of home and outside home activities, few persons in the household, and poor perceived health. Cancer mortality was related to poor perceived health, few persons in the household, and a low level of social activities. Other causes of death were related to living alone, poor perceived health, and a low level of social and outside home activities. CONCLUSIONS--Well known risk factors for premature mortality like smoking, hypertension, and major cardiovascular disease are verified. Middle aged men with a good "social network" (here measured as a high level of social, home, and outside home activities) may be partly protected against non-cancer mortality.