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Biomedical subjects

C Nigg

Publications and source records attributed to C Nigg.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Physical activity staging distribution: establishing a heuristic using multiple studies.

The purpose of this study was to identify the population prevalence across the stages of change (SoC) for regular physical activity and to establish the prevalence of people at risk. With support from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, nine Behavior Change Consortium studies with a common physical activity SoC measure agreed to collaborate and share data. The distribution pattern identified in these predominantly reactively recruited studies was Precontemplation (PC) = 5% (+/- 10), Contemplation (C) = 10% (+/- 10), Preparation (P) = 40% (+/- 10), Action = 10% (+/- 10), and Maintenance = 35% (+/- 10). With reactively recruited studies, it can be anticipated that there will be a higher percentage of the sample that is ready to change and a greater percentage of currently active people compared to random representative samples. The at-risk stage distribution (i.e., those not at criteria or PC, C, and P) was approximately 10% PC, 20% C, and 70% P in specific samples and approximately 20% PC, 10% C, and 70% P in the clinical samples. Knowing SoC heuristics can inform public health practitioners and policymakers about the population's motivation for physical activity, help track changes over time, and assist in the allocation of resources.

Behavioral Research↗
PubMed2004

[Spontaneous dissection of visceral blood vesssels--a rare cause of epigastric pain].

A 51 year-old man presented with acute abdominal pain in our emergency room. The first examination revealed no pathological findings except coprostasis and after an enteroclysis the patient was sent home without any complaints. During a recent episode of abdominal pain a computer tomography was performed, showing dissection of the superior mesenteric and the celiac artery. Without any signs of mesenteric ischemia additional examinations like laboratory studies, x-rays, and abdominal ultrasound might be normal and therefore not helpful for diagnosis. In patients presenting with persistent abdominal pain and unspecific clinical and laboratory findings rare causes of abdominal symptoms should be considered. Despite the rarity of visceral artery dissection, awareness of this pathology is crucial because of its possible lifethreatening complications. Appropriate diagnostic imaging tests may avoid postmortem diagnosis by the pathologist.

Abdominal Pain↗
PubMed2003

[Eosinophilia in a family from Bosnia].

We describe reference to a family from Bosnia that the diagnosis of Trichinellosis can be difficult despite notice of travel-history and eosinophilia but lack of further epidemiological datas and due to the rarity of this zoonosis. Clinical pattern of trichinellosis are fever, headache, myalgia, periorbital oedema, less frequently diarrhea and abdominal pain. Dreaded complications are myocarditis and encephalitis. High eosinophilia and increased creatine phosphocinase activity are the most frequently observed laboratory features. The detection of specific circulating antibodies or the parasitological examination of a muscle biopsy will confirm the diagnosis. The medical treatment includes albendazol and steroid.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

[Acute epigastric pain].

Epigastric pain is a frequent complaint in emergency patients and shows a wide spectrum of differential diagnostic possibilities. Dangerous causes with life threatening consequences have to be ruled out as soon as possible, including causes of extra abdominal organs (heart, great vesels). After checking for and adequate treatment of vital parameters an efficient management strategy should consider the acuteness of symptoms, as velocity of pain onset is often related to its seriousness (aneurysmatic rupture of great vessels, parenchymal damage or infarction). A rare cause of acute epigastric pain is bleeding or rupture of renal or hepatic cysts. Imaging techniques, such as ultrasound and computed tomography, are helpful in finding the correct diagnosis without loosing to much time. Therapy depends on aetiology and dignity of the lesion, often an invasive surgical intervention is the only possibility to confirm the correct diagnosis.

Abdominal Pain↗
PubMed2003

[Medical problems in migrants].

Medical problems in migrants are not only an abstract political problem but also a problem that concerns physicians in their daily practice. Beside somatic disorders that are more common in developing countries we often are confronted to problems due to psychosocial stress. Language difficulties, problems of cultural misunderstanding and a lack of successful concepts impair the physician-patient-relationship and hinder a satisfying solution. Missing economic resources influence the availability of efficient support. Despite all difficulties there are strategies that can help practitioners to deal with the subject without waiting for a social revolution.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Prevalence of Tropheryma whipplei DNA in patients with various gastrointestinal diseases and in healthy controls.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the epidemiology of Tropheryma whipplei and its prevalence in people without clinical signs of Whipple's disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We screened 239 patients with various gastrointestinal diseases for T. whipplei DNA and compared them with 215 healthy controls in order to check whether T. whipplei might be a risk factor for common gastrointestinal problems or diseases. We detected the 16S rDNA of T. whipplei in salivary and stool samples using a specific seminested PCR. RESULTS: The prevalence of T. whipplei DNA in patients and in controls was 4.2% (95% CI 2.0-7.6% ) and 7.0% (95% CI 4.0-11.3%), respectively. None of the different gastrointestinal diseases was associated with a higher rate of PCR-positive tests, except for the group of patients with reflux syndrome. Five out of 43 patients with reflux were found to be positive, with all five being positive in the salivary sample. This is in contrast to our findings in carriers without reflux with mainly positive stool samples (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the asymptomatic carrier state of T. whipplei indeed exists and that it is much more frequent than the rare Whipple's disease. The higher prevalence of T. whipplei DNA in the saliva of patients with reflux syndrome suggests that the stomach might be the habitat of the organism.

Actinomycetales↗
PubMed2002

[Incidental finding: left sided cystic adrenal mass].

Because of the widespread use of imaging techniques the incidental diagnosis of an adrenal mass without clinical symptoms and pathologic laboratory values becomes more and more common. To avoid unnecessary therapeutic interventions an intensive evaluation should take place including blood and urine testing as well as radiologic examination. An accurate assessment is often helpful in making the diagnosis of a benign process to avoid an invasive procedure and to determine the frequency and intensity of further controls. Nevertheless, in some cases the invasive approach is necessary because of an unclear situation or because of influences caused by the patient. An advantage is the possibility of laparoscopic intervention because of the minimal morbidity and until now no reported mortality.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗
PubMed2000

Early psychological reactions to life-threatening injuries.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms and coping patterns in severely injured accident victims; to study correlations between injury severity and psychosocial variables and the presence of posttraumatic stress symptoms; and to analyze intensive care unit (ICU) personnel's global clinical appraisals in relation to patient characteristics. DESIGN: A study of critically ill accident victims assessed within one month of the trauma. SETTING: ICU of the traumatology department at the University Hospital, Zurich. PATIENTS: 121 consecutive patients with accidental injuries (mean Injury Severity Score, 21.8; mean Glasgow Coma Scale score, 14.4) admitted to the ICU between January 1996 and June 1997, aged 18-68 yrs. Patients with severe head injuries, attempted suicides, and victims of physical assault were excluded. MEASUREMENTS: Extensive clinical interview, Impact of Event Scale, Clinician-Administered Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Scale, social support, life events, biographical protective and risk factors, Sense of Coherence questionnaire, Freiburg Questionnaire of Coping with Illness. RESULTS: 13.7 (SD, 6.8) days after the accident, 5 patients (4.1 %) met all criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder with the exception of the time criterion. A further 24 patients (19.9%) had subsyndromal posttraumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic psychiatric symptomatology did not correlate with objective injury criteria, but rather with pretrauma variables (female gender, biographical risk and protective factors, life events), the patients' subjective appraisal of the severity and threat of the accident, their general attitude toward life ("sense of coherence"), and their current coping strategies. Surgeons' and nurses' global clinical appraisals did not correlate with injury severity or with the patients' coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Trauma surgeons and ICU personnel should pay special attention to the strains and stressors their patients have been exposed to when recording case histories and to the level of their patients' psychosocial adaptation before the trauma.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

[Cholesterol: blood level and control by Swiss physicians].

The high coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality and the economic costs have led to intensive prevention efforts in Switzerland, where the management of multiple risk factors plays a prominent role. An important risk factor is hypercholesterolemia, one of the main causes in the development of human atherosclerosis. However, the eminence of this risk factor is not yet sufficiently established in the awareness of many physicians. Inappropriate public discussions of the problem have caused confusion among patients and physicians. Therefore, the purpose of the Cholesterin Informations Program of the Swiss Heart Foundation is to work out a far-reaching and objective information strategy for experts and the general population, based on scientific knowledge, as a contribution to promoting the health of the Swiss population.

Adult↗