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Biomedical subjects

F Merluzzi

Publications and source records attributed to F Merluzzi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

[The assessment of the coronary risk in a work setting. The results of the SEMM study and the outlook for prevention in Italy. Surveillance of Employees Municipality of Milan].

BACKGROUND: The goals of the present report are to assess the differences in distribution of traditional coronary risk factors in a work setting, aimed at identifying specific groups at risk and to compare mean values of such risk factors and of an overall risk score of the entire working sample with the results observed in the third WHO-MONICA population survey carried out in northern Italy (Area Brianza). METHODS: In the SEMM study 7872 employees (2601 men and 5271 women) were enrolled between 1992 and 1996. The third MONICA survey in Brianza was carried out on an age- and gender-stratified random sample of 831 men and 884 women in 1993-1994, selected from the 25-64-year-old residents of five municipalities, representative of the study population. In both studies coronary risk factors were measured according to the MONICA protocol, adopting standardized methods. RESULTS: In comparison with the MONICA population sample, the entire working group showed lower mean levels of blood pressure and total cholesterol, higher prevalence of current cigarette smokers and lower mean levels of HDL cholesterol, in both gender groups. Prevalence of overweight subjects was higher among men in the working group, but the opposite pattern was detected in women. The overall risk score, calculated using the coefficients of a proportional hazard survival equation estimated in a large collaborative Italian follow-up study, resulted lower in the working sample, in both gender groups. This result may be attributed to a selection bias known in occupational epidemiology as "healthy worker effect". In contrast to this finding, the prevalence of smokers, in particular among women, was higher in the employed sample, indicating that working stress conditions may play some role. CONCLUSIONS: In order to extend the assessment of cardiovascular risk factors as well as prevention activities in work settings, some advantages are highlighted: the high participation rates, the feasibility to adopt standardized protocols, and easier and cheap procedures for censoring in follow-up studies. Moreover, due to the recently adopted legislation in Italy which increases the number of working categories to be included in periodic clinical examinations, prevention activities in work settings to contrast the epidemic of widespread chronic diseases, like cardiovascular diseases, are encouraged. This will also allow for the investigation of individual variations over time of coronary risk factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

A clinical, neurophysiological and behavioral study of female workers exposed to 1,1,1-trichloroethane.

Twenty-two female subjects working in a factory in which 1,1,1-trichloroethane was the only solvent used were investigated by means of clinical, neurophysiological and psychometric methods so that the neurotoxicity of the solvent could be evaluated. On the basis of the ambient air concentrations of 1,1,1-trichloroethane ranging from 110 to 990 ppm, the workers were divided into three risk groups and compared with a reference group. No significant difference was observed between the exposed and unexposed females with respect to clinical features, maximal motor conduction velocity, conduction velocity of slow fibers, and psychometric data. The most frequent complaints of the workers were of the "neurotic" type with a slightly higher, but not significant, difference in the exposed group. The results obtained favor the absence of a manifest neurotoxic effect of 1,1,1-trichloroethane under the specific work conditions of the investigation; generally unfavorable work conditions seem to have played a prominent role in the genesis of the neurotic complaints. The importance of a global methodological approach in the study of work-related risks, particularly in neurological and psychological surveys, is stressed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Lead arsenate as an underestimated cause of polyneuropathy in rural environment: description of two cases].

Two cases of lead arsenate polyneuropathy are described in two farmers from the same rural area; the etiology of the neurologic al disorder was ascertained only after repeated hospital admissions. It was a neuropathy of the radial nerve associated with signs of peripheral impairment of the lower limbs with pains and paresthesias. Abdominal colies, arterial hipertension, anaemia and signs of renal impairment were also present. Specific therapy was undertaken which was soon followed by nearly full recovery. Lead and arsenic toxicology are discussed with particular focusing on the necessity emphasis on commun occupational hazards both in terms of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The differential diagnosis is considered between the observed clinical picture and other polyneuropathies of different etiology i.e. dysmetabolic (porphyria) or toxic (insecticides, T.O.C.P., etc).

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[An integrated course in occupational medicine. A proposed teaching program based on the new organization of the degree course in medicine and surgery].

The curriculum of Italian Medical School of the Faculty of Medicine has been recently renewed at a national level. Considering the numerous innovations introduced, a new role has been attributed to the teaching of occupational health, particularly occupational medicine. Occupational Medicine is usually regarded as a part of community medicine and, despite the fact that occupational disease may be in decline in industrially developed countries, the increasing concern regarding environmental pollution related health effects, stress the relevance of the methodologies already formulated within the occupational health disciplines. Of all environmental factors, occupational medicine has contributed largely to the knowledge about the health effects of occupation and its role in the complex problem at work related to today's medical students as a way of introducing the appreciation of worldwide environmental effects and how to measure, monitor and modify them. In this article the content of the occupational health course is revised and according to the principles of modern medical pedagogy, the teaching is divided in primary and secondary objectives and organized to the resolution of real problems. The importance of the relevant evidences of clinical occupational medicine is discussed and their insertion into other clinical disciplines is proposed. The knowledge of distribution, recognition, management and prevention of the major occupational diseases is a final target of the teaching. The introduction of innovative teaching methods such as factory visits, case history discussion or role playing exercises is suggested as an integrated, multidisciplinary approach able to promote the preventive attitude of students. The efficacy of the teaching has to be evaluated with appropriate methods every time, to verify both informative and formative aspects.

Curriculum↗