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Biomedical subjects

B Johnsen

Publications and source records attributed to B Johnsen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

[Working in basic groups. From the Project Evaluation of Follow-up of Long-term Sick-listed Persons].

By 1988, all Norwegian municipalities were to have established "basic groups", i.e. interprofessional groups to guide patients in their vocational rehabilitation process. The work of these "basic groups" has been evaluated, both in terms of patients admitted for group discussions, type of actions taken and the work status of the patients one year later. The material consists of all patients admitted for basic group discussions in eight municipalities over a three months' period in the autumn 1988 (n = 261). In general the educational level of the patients was found to be low and their most common complaint was musculoskeletal/connective tissue diseases. The most frequent action suggested by the basic groups was continued medical attention. Only 11% of the patients actually attended the meeting where their situation was discussed. After a follow-up period of one year one fifth of the patients were back at their normal job, and one fourth were receiving a disability pension. Good motivation was regarded as the most important factor influencing whether the patients returned to work.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Assessment of speech and language skills in children.

A speech and language assessment procedure was developed to study different aspects of speech and language skills in children 6.5 years old who had needed intensive care in the neonatal period. It was required that the procedure could be carried out at one examination session and that it should characterize a broad spectrum of language skills and permit detection of deviations in language development. The assessment comprises three parts. Part A is an evaluation of the child's spontaneous speech during a 10- to 15-minute conversation between the child and the assessor. Eight different variables are assessed, and an overview of the child's conversational behaviour is obtained. Part B is an assessment of speech and language skills. A set procedure is used to assess auditory discrimination, interaction between auditory and speech motor capacity, different comprehension functions, vocabulary and word fluency. Some motor tasks are included to elucidate the relationship between speech and non-linguistic fine motor activity. Part C is an interview with the parents. A control group of 40 children was tested. The assessment protocol is now being applied for follow-up examination of children who have needed neonatal intensive care at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden.

Child↗
PubMed1992

Aphasia and its relation to language and thinking. Finding alternative ways for communication.

A pictorial computerized communication aid for aphasic patients, PicBox, (12) has been developed by a group in Sweden. During the technical and clinical work with the PicBox program we have had the reason and possibility to reflect on the relation between aphasia, language and thinking. From linguistic and neuropsychological research it has been claimed that in aphasia there is often a general cognitive impairment. Preliminary results from three patients' use of PicBox show that aphasic disturbances can, to some extent, be compensated for by pictorial communication, thus indicating an underlying cognitive competence. There are, however, also data indicating a deeper disturbance leading to an inability to fully use alternatives for spoken or written language.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

[Allergic alveolitis. Humidifier fever].

Among predisposed persons the use of home humidifiers may induce febrile conditions named humidifier fever. The disease is considered to be an extrinsic allergic alveolitis. It may also be induced by modern ultrasound humidifiers. A case is described where an ultrasound humidifier was found to be the cause of humidifier fever.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Anti-cardiolipin antibody in cerebral infarction].

A 28 year old woman with a previous history of labile hypertension, migraine and transitory cerebral ischemia was admitted with cerebral infarction. One month later she developed livedo reticularis and amaurosis fugax, which led to the diagnosis of Sneddon's disease (livedo reticularis, labile hypertension and neurological symptoms) and the anticardiolipin antibody (ACA) syndrome. Treatment with prednisone and phenprocoumon resulted in lowering of ACA-titers, but the symptoms did not subside until acetylsalicylic acid was added.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Antiphospholipid antibodies].

Antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) are acquired, circulating immunoglobulins connected with thrombo-embolic diseases occurring within all organ systems. Whether the antibodies are of pathogenetic relevance for the development of thrombo-embolic states is unresolved. All materials are limited and have yielded contradictory results with regard to important aspects. An increased APTT or PTT does not increase the risk of bleeding in patients with LA, unless abnormalities in the coagulation process are present, e.g. thrombocytopenia or hypoprothrombinaemia. Many questions are unanswered: Should APA be treated in asymptomatic patients? Should patients with APA and relevant symptoms be treated? If so, which treatment should be chosen? And how long should the treatment continue? Are APA of pathogenetic importance or are they markers for another mechanism that causes an immunocoagulopathy? How can it be explained that so many persons produce autoantibodies without becoming seriously ill? In order to clarify the significance of APA it is necessary to standardize tests and to perform extensive, prospective studies, where variations of ACA titres are analysed. Until results from such studies are available, APA should be looked for in patients with recurring arterial or venous thrombosis and in patients with recurring spontaneous abortion with reference to anticoagulant and anti-platelet aggregation therapy if IgG-ACA are elevated over prolonged periods.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMed1991

The temperature sensitivity of the Robertson-Berger sunburn meter, model 500.

The temperature dependency of the response of the Robertson-Berger sunburn detector was tested. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) at 254, 302 and 315 nm resulted in temperature coefficients of -6.8%, +4.3% and +14.6% per 10 degrees C respectively. Scans of the spectral response curve showed a redshift with increasing temperatures in accordance with measurements of the temperature response at solar exposure. The temperature dependency during solar exposure was calculated as S(T) = (0.831 +/- 0.060) 10(-2)T + (0.694 +/- 0.004), relative to a detector kept at a constant temperature, 32 degrees C. The difference in average summer temperatures for Oslo city in the period 1951-1989 would influence uncorrected annual Robertson-Berger counts similarly as an approximate 2% change in the total amount of atmospheric ozone. The variation of the sensitivity of the Robertson-Berger meter with temperature is recommended to be corrected for by simultaneous temperature registrations.

Hot Temperature↗
PubMed1990

[Consequences of partial closure of a corner-stone factory].

In a follow-up study including data from the social security system, we investigated the consequences of partial closure of a factory on future employment and disability pensions. The factory had encouraged employees to apply for a disability pension without informing the local doctors or the social security authorities. After a while the doctors realized what was happening and reacted strongly against being subjected to this king of pressure. Within four years, 110 of the 587 employees who had lost their jobs were receiving a disability pension. Most of them were between 50 and 65 years of age. The predominant diagnosis was lower back pain. A disability pension is granted for medical reasons only.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Chronic subdural hematoma. A frequently suspected diagnosis].

A retrospective investigation was undertaken in which the clinical picture in 43 patients in whom chronic subdural haematoma (CSH) was diagnosed during a period of 11 years in a large central hospital were compared with the clinical picture in 97 patients referred for neurological assessment on account of suspected CSH during a period of three years. Thirteen out of the 97 patients referred with suspected CSH had the disease. All of the patients with CSH had focal neurological symptoms or complained of headache. None presented only mental symptoms and/or impaired consciousness. On this basis, the diagnosis could have been repudiated in 30% of the patients referred who presented neither focal neurological symptoms nor complained of headache. Information about previous head-injury was not found to be of any significant value for the diagnosis. Probably, no or only few cases of CHS are overlooked.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

A simple method for determination of the factor VII-phospholipid complex using Normotest.

We report here a highly significant positive correlation observed when the factor VII-phospholipid complex (the phospholipase-C sensitive component of factor VII) in plasma was tested in a specific factor VII system and in Normotest (p less than 0.0001). The Normotest system, which is sensitive to variations in coagulation activity within the normal range, was not influenced by phospholipase C when the enzyme was added immediately before the start of the coagulation assay. Normotest is well suited for determination of the factor VII-phospholipid complex in plasma.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

A syndrome with painful lipomas, familial dysarthria, abnormal eye-movements and clumsiness.

A syndrome of dysarthria, clumsiness and abnormal ocular movements are described in a man and his 3 children. His father, who died when our patient was born, also had the same speech abnormality. Our patient also had multiple painful lipomas suggesting a probable diagnosis of adipositas dolorosa Dercum. Although he looked muscular he complained of muscular weakness and fatigue. Oral treatment with a local anesthetic, mexiletin, inhibited the pain in the lipomas. Analysis of the speech disorder in our patient and his children revealed disturbances in the coordination of jaws, larynx and tongue with a poor control of pitch and volume and impaired intelligibility. The poor fine coordination of hands, clumsiness when walking, dysarthria and disturbance of eye-movements could be due to a familial malformation in the pons or cerebellum. Computer tomography and X-ray of head were normal but the grooves on the surface of the cerebellum were more marked than usual.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Intravenous injections of tissue thromboplastin and phospholipase C in rabbits.

Previous experiments (Gollub et al. [10]. Giercksky et al.) have shown that phospholipase C (PLC) has a protective effect on rats and rabbits receiving thromboplastin infusions. As a step towards the possible use of PLC in humans, we have investigated further the use of PLC in rabbits. Infusions of human or rabbit thromboplastin caused a rapid fall in factors V and VIII. LD50 for our standard human thromboplastin preparation was estimated to be 1.5--1.8 ml/kg. Highly purified PLC was given as an intravenous bolus immediately before thromboplastin. No improvement of survival and only a slight difference in factors V and VIII were observed, in contrast to earlier observations in the rat. This may in part be due to differences in the susceptibility to PLC of the thromboplastins used. PLC was also more toxic in rabbits than in rats.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

In vitro effect of phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus on tissue thromboplastin from different species.

Purified phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus caused a significant loss in the procoagulant activity of thromboplastin preparations from man, rabbit, sheep, cow, rat and mouse. However, marked differences were observed with respect to the degree of inactivation. Rat, mouse, bovine and one type of rabbit preparations (prepared from acetone powdered brain) were markedly more sensitive to attack by phospholipase C than were preparations of human, sheep and standard rabbit preparations. The relative amounts of the individual phospholipids in thromboplastin preparations showed only minor variations among the species. The effect of phospholipase C on each of these phospholipids in the various thromboplastin preparations showed some significant differences.

Animals↗