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Biomedical subjects

J Lehto

Publications and source records attributed to J Lehto.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Introducing Health Impact Assessment: an analysis of political and administrative intersectoral working methods.

BACKGROUND: Intersectoral Action for Health (IAH) and its Health Impact Assessment (HIA) tool are built on collaboration between actors and sectors, requiring multidimensional and horizontal way of working. The study aims to analyse the enablers and barriers when such a new way of working and tool have been initiated to replace a traditional, vertical operation at the local level in Slovakia-a country in transition-in 2004. METHODS: Up to date, there are few studies that have analysed intersectoral initiatives in relation to politics. In this study the conceptual framework of Kingdon has been used by which the actual problems, the governmental actions (or non-actions) (politics) and the understanding, implementation and evaluation of the initiative (policy) could be analysed. All actors involved, civil servants, politicians, representatives of the local public health institute and researchers, were interviewed and made to answer a questionnaire. RESULTS: The results showed that there were a number of factors behind the initiation of HIA, which either delayed or accelerated the process. The problems identified were e.g. the prevailing traditional health care focus and the deteriorating health status of the population. There was a lack of multi-intersectoral knowledge, co-operation and function between sectors and actors. Enablers on the other hand were the membership of international organizations which called for new solutions, and the strong political commitment and belief that intersectorality would have a positive effect on health. CONCLUSION: The actors on the local level would have the capacity to work intersectorally to bring about policy change if HIA was to be more supported/institutionalized.

Community Health Planning↗
PubMed2005

Plutonium in the air in Kurchatov, Kazakhstan.

Weekly air samples of 25000 m(3) volume were taken with two air samplers over a period of one year in 2000-2001 in the town of Kurchatov in Kazakhstan. For another three-month period in 2001, the samplers were run in the city of Astana, about 500 km west of Kurchatov. (137)Cs, Pu and U concentrations were determined from the filters. Pu activities in Kurchatov varied in a 100-fold range; median (239,240)Pu activities were 100 nBq/m(3) and (238)Pu activities 34 nBq/m(3). The corresponding values for Astana were considerably lower: 29 and 9 nBq/m(3), respectively, and in half of the filters the (238)Pu activity was below the detection limit. Plutonium concentration correlated with the amount of dust retained on the filters only at the highest dust loads. Also no correlation between wind speed and the plutonium activity in the filters was observed. Thus, resuspension does not seem to be the mechanism responsible for the airborne plutonium. No clear seasonal variation of Pu air concentration was observed, though levels were somewhat elevated in February to April. There was no correlation between the plutonium and (137)Cs concentrations. In most of the filters the cesium concentration was below the detection limit, but in those filters where it could be detected the cesium concentration was practically constant at 3.9+/-1.6 microBq/m(3). Dose estimation for the inhalation of the airborne plutonium gave a low value of 0.018 microSv/a for the inhabitants in Kurchatov, which is about a thousand times lower than the dose caused by the naturally occurring (210)Po. Air parcel trajectory analysis indicated that the observed Pu activities in the air could not unambiguously be attributed to the most contaminated areas at the Semipalatinsk Test Site.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗
PubMed2003

Hair chromium concentration of northern Finns.

OBJECTIVES: The present study is a pilot project for the Finnish AMAP (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme/Human Health) investigations. We examined the exposure of northern Finns to chromium (Cr), because analyses of this metal are not included in the AMAP, and local industry and industry throughout the Kola Peninsula may increase chromium fallout in Finnish Lapland. Chromium exposure and its temporal trend were estimated by analyzing hair of northern Finns collected in 1982 and 1991. METHODS: After washing the hair samples, chromium analyses were carried out in 1995 by a method developed by Salmela et al. (1981) and Kumpulainen et al. (1982). The Perkin-Elmer 5000 atomic absorption spectrometer used was equipped with a graphite furnace (HGA-400). RESULTS: Age showed no statistically significant correlation with Cr concentration in hair, but the hair concentration of Cr in men was higher than that in women, both among southern and northern Finns and Sami. CONCLUSIONS: Chromium levels in the hair of Finns and Sami were too low to result in any health hazard, however, exposure to chromium may have slightly increased during the 1990s.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2001

Purification of metal finishing waste waters with zeolites and activated carbons.

Sixteen zeolites and 5 activated carbons were tested for the removal of nickel, zinc, cadmium, copper, chromium, and cobalt from waste simulants mimicking effluents produced in metal plating plants. The best performances were obtained from 4 zeolites: A, X, L, and ferrierite types and from 2 carbon types made from lignite and peat. The distribution coefficients for these sorbents were in the range of 10,000-440,000 ml/g. Column experiments showed that the most effective zeolites for Zn, Ni, Cu, and Cd were A and X type zeolites. The activated carbons, Hydrodarco 3000 and Norit Row Supra, exhibited good sorption properties for metals in aqueous solutions containing complexing agents.

Absorption↗
PubMed1997

The economics of alcohol.

The use of economic arguments with regard to four aspects of alcohol policy is described and discussed. The first aspect is the impact of a potential reduction in alcohol consumption on employment by alcohol production and trade. It is shown that employment is quite independent of the level of consumption. The second aspect is the opportunity for serving the public health and state finance interests at the same time by developing alcohol taxation. The third aspect is the relationship between the public revenue from alcohol and the public costs for alcohol-related problems. A "polluter pays" principle with regard to alcohol would mean higher taxation of alcoholic beverages. The fourth aspect is the need for cost-effectiveness analyses to support the choices by the decision makers between different alcohol policy options. It is concluded that such analyses could have impact on the priorities in public health policy on alcohol.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1997

Alcohol and the future health of Europe.

The impact of alcohol consumption on trends in the European health situation is analysed. Particular attention is given to the impact of alcohol on the widening of the East-West health gap in Europe. It is concluded that between 1950-75 the negative health impact of a rapid increase in per capita alcohol consumption in most European countries was hidden behind a strong positive development in many other socio-economic determinants of health. Between 1980 and 1995, health trends have been more closely parallel to trends in alcohol consumption. Changes in alcohol consumption explain a significant proportion of changes in life expectancy, particularly in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Public health policy on alcohol, as part of a general development of public health policies outside the health sector, is important in reducing the East-West health gap and sustaining the positive health trend in western Europe.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1993

Alcohol consumption and related problems.

The CCEE/NIS have different alcohol traditions. Some countries favour wine, and others, beer or vodka, while the impact of islamic culture in some of the central Asian countries has kept alcohol consumption very low. Although alcohol-related health problems in these countries vary with their alcohol traditions, the CCEE/NIS have shown many important similarities in alcohol consumption and problems, and in alcohol policies, in both previous decades and the current transition period. Official statistics showed that alcohol consumption in the CCEE/NIS rose from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, and then remained stable or fell in most countries. There are no reliable statistics on consumption in the 1990s, as no new systems have been created to replace the former systems based on data on state-controlled sales. Further, efforts in Poland and the USSR in the 1980s showed that political and economic transition do not automatically lead to increased alcohol consumption and problems. Nevertheless, many observers think that consumption in the CCEE/NIS has increased, because the available information shows increases in alcohol-related problems. This is the result of three factors: the loosening of state controls, the relatively low price of alcohol and the underdevelopment of methods of decreasing harmful consumption that do not involve the state. The WHO Regional Office for Europe gives priority to helping the CCEE/NIS to develop new policies and action on alcohol as part of the European Action Plan.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1992

Dietary intake and thiamin, iron, and zinc status in elite Nordic skiers during different training periods.

This study evaluated how different training periods affect dietary intake and biochemical indices of thiamin, iron, and zinc status in elite Nordic skiers. Subjects were 17 skiers and 39 controls, ages 18-38 yrs. Dietary data were collected by 7-day food records at 3-month intervals. Coefficient of variation (CV) was used to indicate magnitude of seasonal changes. Energy intake for the year (28 food record days) was 3,802 kcal/day (CV 19.1%) in male skiers, 2,754 kcal/day (CV 3.7%) in male controls, 2,812 kcal/day (CV 9.1%) in female skiers, and 2,013 kcal/day (CV 5.9%) in female controls. CVs for thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc intake were 14.1-23.9% (male skiers), 2.9-15.0% (male controls), 4.8-24.5% (female skiers), and 4.3-11.5% (female controls). Seasonal changes in energy, carbohydrate, and micronutrient intakes reflected energy expenditure in male endurance athletes particularly. Erythrocyte transketolase activation coefficients and serum ferritin and zinc concentrations did not differ between skiers and controls. Seasonal variations in these biochemical indices of nutritional status were of the same magnitude in skiers and controls, despite large changes in skiers' physical activity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Serum trace elements in juvenile chronic arthritis.

We evaluated the serum concentrations of zinc, copper and selenium in 125 patients with juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA). Trace element levels showed distinct abnormalities as compared with those of a large group of healthy children. Serum zinc and selenium concentrations were lower and those of copper higher in children with arthritis than in healthy children and, further, patients with polyarthritis had significantly higher copper and lower zinc levels than those with oligoarthritis. Serum zinc levels showed a direct correlation with hemoglobin and an inverse correlation with values for the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), whereas copper correlated directly with ESR. Selenium values did not correlate with the activity of the disease, but were low in the patients with arthritis of long duration.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Predictive clinical and laboratory parameters for serum zinc and copper in rheumatoid arthritis.

Zinc and copper have important effects on T cell mediated immunity and on neutrophil function, but it is not known how the causes or effects, of low serum zinc and high serum copper relate to the clinical picture of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this study serum zinc and copper determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and 30 other clinical, immunological, and laboratory parameters in 60 patients with RA were analysed by stepwise multiple linear regression analysis. Joint score index, rheumatoid factor titre, seropositivity, haemoglobin, and C reactive protein (CRP) were among the nine independent variables which together predicted 73% of the serum zinc variation. This suggests that there is an association between the immune-inflammatory rheumatoid process and the serum zinc concentration. CRP alone had only a 3% independent predicting value for serum zinc, however. This suggests that metallothionein mediated sequestration in the liver, induced by interleukin 1, is not an important explanatory factor in a cross sectional study of chronic inflammation. Furthermore, serum zinc did not have any predictive value at all for serum copper concentration. This does not support the hypothesis suggesting that serum zinc deficiency leads to high serum copper by inducing gastrointestinal metallothionein and high caeruloplasmin.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Alcohol intake correlated with serum trace elements.

Alcohol intake and serum copper, selenium, magnesium, iron and zinc were investigated in 85 subjects, 48 males and 37 females. Alcohol intake was measured with a questionnaire probing alcohol intake during the preceding 30 days. Mean average daily intake among males was 119.7 g (range 0-622.3 g) and among females 32.1 g (range 0-378.5 g), and the mean consumption per drinking day among males was 208.5 g (range 0-666.7 g) and among females 63.8 g (range 0-63.8 g). Among males alcohol intake per drinking day correlated positively with serum copper (r = 0.50; P less than 0.001) and negatively with serum selenium (r = -0.49; P less than 0.001) and magnesium (r = 0.40; P less than 0.01). Likewise, among females alcohol intake per drinking day correlated positively with serum copper (r = 0.54; P less than 0.01) and negatively with serum magnesium (r = -0.36; P less than 0.05). Serum selenium concentration was negatively and significantly correlated with average daily intake (r = -0.34; P less than 0.05) but not with intake per drinking day. No significant correlations were found between alcohol intake and serum zinc or iron levels. Only two men, both abstainers, had abnormally low serum zinc level, and two other men (average daily alcohol intake less than 37 g) and two women (average daily alcohol intake less than 15 g) had abnormally high serum iron level. Alcohol intake was associated with high serum copper and low serum magnesium and selenium levels.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Decreased serum selenium and magnesium levels in drunkenness arrestees.

Serum levels of selenium magnesium, copper, zinc and iron were studied in chronic drunkenness arrestees and a healthy control group. The mean serum concentrations of selenium and magnesium were both significantly lower (P less than 0.01) in drunkenness arrestees than in the control subjects. The mean alcohol intake was 190 g of absolute alcohol daily in drunkenness arrestees and 14 g in controls. The erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase concentrations of the study groups did not support poor selenium intake as a principal cause of low selenium concentration in the serum.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Formula feeding results in lower selenium status than breast-feeding or selenium supplemented formula feeding: a longitudinal study.

Thirty-two infants completely weaned by age 3.2 mo were randomized into two groups. Unsupplemented group was fed cow's milk-based liquid formula containing 3-5 micrograms Se/L. Se-supplemented group received the same formula supplemented with 20 micrograms Se/L. A third group consisted of exclusively breast-fed infants (51 at age 4 mo, 41 at 6 mo, 12 at 9 mo). Mean serum Se concentration in unsupplemented group decreased from 41 to 31 micrograms/L during the first 2 mo and remained constant until age 6 mo increasing gradually thereafter. In Se-supplemented group it increased steadily from 41 to 68 micrograms/L at age 6 mo and remained constant while supplemented formula was used. In breast-fed group it increased steadily until age 9 mo, between the levels of the two formula-fed groups, when it reached the concentration of Se-supplemented group. At age 12 mo no significant differences were present among the three groups.

Animals↗