[Impaired pulmonary function after welding of painted steel].
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Airway Obstruction↗
Biomedical subjects
B Sjögren
Publications and source records attributed to B Sjögren.
Prenatal diagnosis for psychological reasons: comparison with other indications, advanced maternal age and known genetic risk.
In Sweden, about 20 per cent of women undergoing prenatal diagnosis (PND) have the test for 'psychological reasons', which means that they strongly fear giving birth to a disabled child, but have not reached the age limit. Women undergoing amniocentesis or chorionic villus biopsy for these reasons (n = 38) were studied by questionnaires with regard to distress during test procedures. They were compared to women examined because of a known or strongly suspected high risk of giving birth to a congenitally disabled child (n = 27) and to women examined because of an age more than 37 years (n = 144). The most distressed were women who had a high genetic risk. The women who had the test because of their age reported less distress. Women examined for psychological reasons, were moderately distressed, but reported the highest frequency of influence by the distress on their daily living. Women in all groups, however, felt a similar support by the normal test result and reported the whole procedure as rather easy. Different psychological determinants of anxiety of giving birth to a disabled child are discussed. The 'psychological indication' for PND means that the women's private interpretation of her risk, and not only the statistical limit, motivates PND.
Anxiety↗
Neuropsychiatric symptoms among welders exposed to neurotoxic metals.
Neuropsychiatric symptoms in 65 welders exposed to aluminium and 217 railroad track welders were studied with the aid of a previously validated questionnaire. Semiquantitative data on exposure to the metals aluminium, chromium, lead, manganese, and nickel were also recorded by questionnaire. Logistic regression was employed to study the relation between exposure and the prevalence of symptoms. Welders exposed to aluminium, lead, or manganese for a long period had significantly more neuropsychiatric symptoms than welders not exposed to these metals. The results indicate that detailed psychometric studies should be performed on welders exposed long term to specific metals as such exposures might affect their nervous system.
Adult↗
[The midwives' work in intrauterine death should be easier if better cooperation with physicians existed].
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Female↗
Prenatal diagnosis and psychological distress: amniocentesis or chorionic villus biopsy?
The psychological reactions of 211 women undergoing prenatal diagnosis (PND) with amniocentesis (group A, n = 122) or chorionic villus biopsy (group V, n = 90) were examined by questionnaires and interviews. The distress experienced while waiting for the test, during the test procedure, and while waiting for the result was reported by the women, both in questionnaires and in interviews. In the questionnaires, no difference between the two diagnostic methods was observed. In the interviews, however, the women undergoing amniocentesis appeared significantly more distressed by the procedure. In group A 97 per cent and in group V 100 per cent wished a method which, like chorionic villus biopsy, could be used in the first weeks of pregnancy. The risk of miscarriage was, as described in other studies, regarded as a serious threat by the pregnant women.
Adult↗
Molecular genetic studies in schizophrenia.
Despite many years of research, the genetic factors in schizophrenia are not well understood. Recent developments in DNA technology allow new methods of testing genetic hypotheses in the etiology of this debilitating disorder. We have found evidence against linkage of schizophrenia in a Swedish kindred to markers on chromosome 5; another research group has reported positive evidence for linkage to this same chromosomal region in British and Icelandic families. This article presents a set of data expanded from our previous report, discusses the issue of heterogeneity, and reviews the current status of linkage studies in schizophrenia.
Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5↗
The effects of altered nutritional status upon insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins in neonatal rats.
To investigate the role of nutrition in the regulation of IGFs during the perinatal period, 10-d-old rats were infused intravenously with various concentrations of nutrients for 24 h. Breast-fed litter mates served as controls. The effect of caloric intake on concentrations of IGF-I and IGF-II as well as IGF-binding proteins in serum, liver, and brain of neonatal rats was studied. A total of 45 rats from 10 litters was infused with solutions ranging from a caloric intake of 0 (saline) to 75% (glucose, amino acids, and lipids) of the estimated intake of control rats. In serum, both IGF-I and -II concentrations fell markedly in response to fasting. Serum IGF-II levels were linearly related to caloric intake in the pooled data from all groups. Concentrations of IGF-II, but not IGF-I, in liver and brain were depressed by caloric restriction. In contrast to the fall in IGF concentrations, activity of IGF-associated binding proteins rose in serum and in liver cytosol 2- to 4-fold in response to decreased nutrient intake. In serum, but not liver, the rise in binding protein activity was inversely related to to caloric intake. In liver, cytosol, but not serum, the rise in binding protein activity was inversely related to total serum amino acid concentration. Thus, IGF concentrations in preweanling rats change in response to alterations of nutrient intake. The fasting induced decrements in IGF levels, as well as the elevations in IGF-associated binding protein activity, may serve as a protective mechanism to depress growth in times of caloric restriction.
Animals↗
Information on prenatal diagnosis at the antenatal clinic. The women's experiences.
The issue of information and autonomy (informed consent) in prenatal diagnosis (PND) was studied by questionnaires given to women undergoing amniocentesis (group A, n = 122) or chorionic villus biopsy (group V, n = 90). About 1/4 of the women were also interviewed. Sixty-eight percent of the women had learnt most about PND already before visiting the antenatal clinic. More women in group A (75%) than in group V (51%) were satisfied with the information given at the clinic, probably because amniocentesis is a well-known routine, while chorionic villus biopsy is not. Further, in both groups, more of the women who underwent PND because of age were satisfied with the information than those having PND because of strong fear of giving birth to a handicapped baby. This might be explained by the complicated character of this fear, which the medical staff could not always understand and meet. Also the women who were investigated because of a known genetic problem seemed to need more specialized genetic counselling. Fifty-eight percent of the women were well informed about the risk of giving birth to a child with a congenital disorder and 83% about which disorders could be detected by the procedure they were undergoing. Seventy-three percent had not felt any uneasiness when they were offered PND by their midwife or gynecologist; 18% had initiated the discussion themselves. Seventy-four percent of the women recommended that the medical staff actively offered PND. Most women (87%) answered that the midwife's or gynecologist's attitude towards PND had been positive. The majority (85%) considered that there is a risk of persuasion in counselling.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Amniocentesis↗
[Long-term prognosis after treatment of various endocrine diseases].
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Endocrine System Diseases↗
Decision making during the prenatal diagnostic procedure. A questionnaire and interview study of 211 women participating in prenatal diagnosis.
Counselling in connection with prenatal diagnosis (PND) is a common task for the obstetrician and the midwife. However, the decision making processes of pregnant women are not completely known, for instance, the questions of women's autonomy, the decision on how to act in the case of an abnormal test, and the partner's participation in the decision. A questionnaire and interview study was carried out among 211 women undergoing PND by amniocentesis or chorionic villus biopsy. Most women in the sample indicated that PND was completely voluntary. However, at the same time almost every woman reported that it was difficult to decline from PND when offered. Even before the visit to register at the antenatal clinic, most of the women (83 per cent) had made up their minds to have PND. At the time of the test, many of the participants (62 per cent) had decided in favour of a legal abortion if the test indicated an abnormality in the fetus. At the same time, however, the data indicate a need for reflection and ambivalence, which the medical staff have to accept. In the questionnaire most of the women stated that they and their partners had similar attitudes towards PND, but when interviewed 38 per cent of the women admitted some differences between their own attitudes and their partners'. Although some women reported considerable deliberation and ambivalence, most of them said that they would undergo PND in another pregnancy.
Abortion, Legal↗
Uptake and urinary excretion of aluminum among welders.
The urinary excretion of aluminum was measured in 23 welders before and after an exposure-free interval of 16 to 37 days. In addition, the concentration of aluminum in the air was measured at the work site of 16 aluminum welders on the same workday as the first urine sample was taken. The concentration of aluminum in the urine depended on both the level and duration of exposure. The postshift urinary concentration of aluminum prior to an exposure-free interval was mainly related to the current air concentration, whereas the urinary concentration of aluminum determined after the exposure-free interval was related to total exposure duration (years). Among welders exposed for less than 1 year, the half-time for urinary concentration was about 9 days whereas welders exposed for more than 10 years had half-times calculated to be 6 months or longer. The results indicate that aluminum is retained and stored in at least two functional compartments of the body and is eliminated from these compartments at different rates.
Adult↗
Epidemiology and long-term survival in acromegaly. A study of 166 cases diagnosed between 1955 and 1984.
In 1985, a follow-up investigation was performed of all patients with acromegaly (n = 166, 89 women and 77 men) seen over a 30-year period (1955-1984) at our Endocrine Unit, referral centre for the western region of Sweden (population 1.5 million). At the end of 1984, the prevalence of the disease was 6.9 per 10(5) inhabitants, the average incidence per year was 3.3 per million people. Mean age at diagnosis was 46.3 years and at death (n = 62) 64.1 years. About one-third of the patients (50/153), in whom it had been possible to estimate the total duration of the disease, had survived for more than 25 years. Mortality was, however, increased compared to the normal population. The observed number of deaths from vascular and malignant disorders was 32 and 15, respectively, compared to the expected numbers 9.0 (p less than 0.001) and 5.6 (p less than 0.01).
Acromegaly↗
Parental attitudes to prenatal information about the sex of the fetus.
Women undergoing prenatal diagnosis (n = 198) with amniocentesis or chorionic villous biopsy participated in a study of attitudes to information about the sex of the fetus. The women completed two questionnaires on different occasions and about one fourth of them were also interviewed. Furthermore, 20 of the women's consorts were interviewed. The possibility of obtaining information about the sex of the fetus was reported as unimportant for most of the women (78%). Nevertheless, 58% of them wanted to have the information. In the questionnaires, most of the women (84%) rejected the idea of having a legal abortion because of the fetus's sex. In a discussion during the interview, only 33% of the men and women dismissed the probability that in some situations, parents-to-be might wish to choose the sex of their child and to do so by means of prenatal diagnosis. At the same time, 57% of the participants deprecated this use of the diagnostic technique. Thus the participants' answers were contradictory, indicating split attitudes to this problem. The results suggest that it is possible that people may wish to use PND to select the sex of their child. At the same time the way of answering indicates that there is a moral dilemma.
Adult↗
Cardiac stimulation threshold in familial amyloidosis with polyneuropathy.
It has been suggested that a higher cardiac stimulation threshold reduces the applicability of pacemaker therapy in cardiac amyloidosis. We therefore reviewed threshold data in patients with familial amyloidosis with polyneuropathy (FAP), which is an inherited type of systemic amyloidosis, invariably involving the heart. Fourteen FAP patients treated with a pacemaker were studied. The mean (+/- SD) voltage stimulation threshold during implantation was 1.0 +/- 0.5 V, and noninvasive follow-up 6 months later revealed a mean Vario threshold of 1.9 +/- 0.5 V. Beyond this time, the threshold tended to be stable, and high threshold exit block did not occur in any patient. Several FAP patients did show a moderately elevated threshold, and a multiprogrammable pulse generator with a high output capability is recommended when pacemaker therapy is considered in these patients.
Adult↗
Mortality in two cohorts of welders exposed to high- and low-levels of hexavalent chromium.
Hexavalent chromium particles are generated in the welding of stainless steel. These particles have manifested a mutagenic action in bacterial test systems and produced chromosome aberrations in cultured Chinese hamster cells. A cohort consisting of 234 welders working on stainless steel and exposed to high levels of chromium was selected. According to an earlier survey the hexavalent chromium exposure of such welders was often above 20 micrograms/m3. Another cohort consisting of 208 railway track welders exposed to low levels of chromium was also selected. The participants of both cohorts had welded for at least five years some time between 1950 and 1965 and were followed for mortality until December 1984. Among the welders exposed to high chromium levels five deaths occurred due to pulmonary tumors. This number is significantly greater than the one death that occurred among the welders exposed to low levels of chromium, but not significantly greater than the corresponding mortality of the general population. Thus exposure to stainless steel welding fumes might be associated with an increased incidence of pulmonary tumors.
Chromium↗
Isolation and characterization of variant IGF-1 as well as IGF-2 from adult human brain.
The forms of somatomedin present in the adult human brain have been characterized in this study. Two peptides were purified by acidification, size exclusion chromatography, affinity chromatography, FPLC and HPLC. Structural analysis identified these peptides as the variant form of IGF-1 with a truncated N-terminal region earlier isolated from human fetal brain and IGF-2. The presence of the truncated IGF-1 variant and IGF-2 in the human CNS suggests their role as neuropeptides.
Adult↗
Enhancement of insulin-like growth factor 2 receptors in glioblastoma.
The somatomedins (IGF-1/IGF-2) are a family of growth-promoting hormones which have been identified in the human central nervous system where their specific receptors are distributed. The present study identified somatomedin receptors in glioblastoma and compared them with those found in normal brain. A significant enhancement in the binding of 125I-IGF-2 but not 125I-IGF-1 to glioblastoma membranes was found. A fourfold increase in IGF-2 receptor concentration was observed. These findings indicate enhanced expression of the IGF-2 receptor in glioblastoma.
Brain Chemistry↗
Characterization of somatomedins from human fetal brain: identification of a variant form of insulin-like growth factor I.
A fetal form of somatomedin (insulin-like growth factor) that crossreacts in the fetal brain radioreceptor assay has been proposed to exist in humans. Using this assay to monitor activity during purification, we have isolated a variant form of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) from human fetal brain tissue. The variant IGF-I showed potent crossreaction in the fetal brain radioreceptor assay and stimulated DNA synthesis in fetal brain cells in vitro. Structural analysis revealed the variant IGF-I to have a truncated NH2-terminal region compared to IGF-I isolated from serum. An additional peptide, which displayed less potent crossreaction in the fetal brain radioreceptor assay, was also isolated from the human fetal brain. Partial amino acid sequence analysis revealed identity to insulin-like growth factor II.
Amino Acid Sequence↗