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Biomedical subjects

H Taskinen

Publications and source records attributed to H Taskinen.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Spontaneous abortions among women exposed to organic solvents.

We investigated the association between medically diagnosed spontaneous abortions and occupational exposure to organic solvents. The study population was composed of women biologically monitored for solvents. The workers were classified into exposure categories on the basis of work description and the use of solvents as reported in the questionnaires, and on biological exposure measurements. The odds ratio of spontaneous abortion for solvent exposure, adjusted for potentially confounding factors, was significantly increased (2.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2-4.1). The increase was most consistent among workers exposed to aliphatic hydrocarbons: the odds ratio for high exposure was 3.9 (95% CI = 1.1-14.2) and for exposed graphics workers 5.2 (95% CI = 1.3-20.8). The odds ratio was increased also among toluene-exposed shoe workers (9.3, 95% CI = 1.0-84.7). The results of the study support the hypothesis of a positive association between spontaneous abortion and exposure to organic solvents during pregnancy and suggest that exposure, especially to aliphatic hydrocarbons, increases the risk of abortion.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1990

Effects of ultrasound, shortwaves, and physical exertion on pregnancy outcome in physiotherapists.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate whether occupational exposure among physiotherapists is associated with spontaneous abortion or congenital malformation in the offspring. DESIGN: The study was a retrospective nested case-control study, where the pregnancy outcome data were based on the medical registers. SETTING: All registered physiotherapists in Finland who had become pregnant during the study period were included in the study. SUBJECTS: Cases were defined as women who had been treated for spontaneous abortion during 1973-1983 or had delivered a malformed child during 1973-1982. One pregnancy per woman was randomly selected for the study. Three age matched (+/- 18 months) controls were selected for each abortion case and five for each malformation case. The final study population was 204 cases and 483 controls in the spontaneous abortion study, and 46 cases and 187 controls in the congenital malformation study. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Exposure information was collected by mailed questionnaires from 1329 women. The response rate was 92% in the spontaneous abortion study, and 89% in the congenital malformation study. Heavy lifting (including patient transfers) was associated significantly with spontaneous abortion. Exposure to ultrasound and shortwaves showed about threefold odds ratios for spontaneous abortions occurring after the 10th week of gestation but in analysis where potential confounding variables were controlled, neither reached statistical significance. Deep heat therapies together, and shortwaves alone, were associated significantly with congenital malformations, but the increase was found in the lower exposure category only. From the potential confounding variables, previous abortion (spontaneous or induced) was associated significantly with spontaneous abortion, and febrile disease in early pregnancy was associated with congenital malformation. CONCLUSION: Physical exertion during early pregnancy seems to be a risk factor for spontaneous abortion. The findings raise suspicion of the potential harmful effect of shortwaves and ultrasound on the pregnancy, but no firm conclusion can be drawn on the bases of these results alone.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1990

Low birthweight, congenital malformations, and spontaneous abortions among dry-cleaning workers in Scandinavia.

With a common study protocol, case-referent studies within cohorts were performed in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland to study reproductive hazards of women doing dry-cleaning work. Due to national differences not all of the studies could follow exactly the same procedures in data collection, but they were all based on the linkage of cohorts of dry-cleaning and laundry workers to national registers of births and reproductive failures. Summary measures from each study were combined without the data being pooled. The most significant finding was an increased risk of spontaneous abortion among the most exposed women in the Finnish data. This finding was only supported by the results of the other studies to a minor degree, and the combined odds ratio had confidence limits which included unity.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1989

Spontaneous abortions and congenital malformations among women exposed to tetrachloroethylene in dry cleaning.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine whether exposure to tetrachloroethylene during the first trimester of pregnancy has harmful effects on pregnancy outcome. DESIGN: The study used record linkage identification of cases and case-control comparison. SETTING: The study involved dry cleaner and laundry workers throughout Finland who had become pregnant during the study period. Controls were age matched but otherwise unselected women giving birth to normal babies in the study period. SUBJECTS: Cases were defined as women who had been treated for spontaneous abortion or had delivered a malformed child. Out of 5700 workers nearly half had been pregnant during the study period. One pregnancy only was randomly selected for study per worker, and the final study population was 247 women with spontaneous abortions and 33 with malformed infants. Three age matched controls were selected for each abortion case and five for each malformation case. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Three women out of four had worked in early pregnancy. Exposure information was collected from 1108 women by mailed questionnaires, with a 77% response, and was partly confirmed by biological monitoring data. Exposure to tetrachloroethylene was found to be significantly associated with spontaneous abortions (odds ratio 3.6, p less than 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings, together with other available data, indicate that exposure of pregnant women to tetrachloroethylene needs to be minimised.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1989

Spontaneous abortions and congenital malformations among the wives of men occupationally exposed to organic solvents.

A case-referent study nested in a cohort monitored biologically for exposure to six organic solvents (styrene, toluene, xylene, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and 1,1,1-trichloroethane) was conducted to investigate the effects of paternal exposure on pregnancy outcome. The pregnancies were identified from medical registers. The exposures of the men during the spermatogenesis preceding the pregnancies and of the women during the first trimester of the pregnancies were obtained with questionnaires, and the available biological monitoring measurements were used in the exposure assessment. Factors which significantly increased the odds ratio of spontaneous abortion were paternal exposure to organic solvents in general, high/frequent exposure to toluene or miscellaneous organic solvents (including thinners), and maternal heavy lifting. No significant association between paternal or maternal exposure and congenital malformations was found, but because of the few cases no firm conclusions can be drawn.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1988

Peripheral nerve injury and Raynaud's syndrome following electric shock.

A truck driver was injured by a high-voltage line of 10,000 volts when holding a metallic bar in both hands. Initially no neurological abnormalities were found, but during the following few weeks increasing sensory and minor motor symptoms developed in the right upper extremity. After one year numbness of the right thigh and leg appeared, as well as attacks of white finger in both hands. Repeated examinations showed progressive abnormalities of the median and ulnar nerves in both hands. No other cause for Raynaud's syndrome was discovered. The late high-voltage effects, presumably indirect, are suggested to be of multifactorial etiology.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Pathogenic and clinical aspects of polyneuropathies, with reference to the hand-arm vibration syndrome.

Along with attacks of white finger, symptoms suggesting peripheral sensorimotor neuropathy, ie, polyneuropathy or entrapment neuropathy, are very important in the hand-arm vibration syndrome. Peripheral neuropathies are probably associated with the occurrence of the syndrome because of a selection mechanism. Polyneuropathy may be a contributing factor in the development of entrapment neuropathies in the upper extremities. It has multiple pathogenic mechanisms and numerous causative factors. However, peripheral nerves can react to pathological stimuli in a limited number of ways. Wallerian degeneration, segmental demyelination, and axonal degeneration are the classical neuropathological types of peripheral neuropathies, of which the first two are possible direct consequences of vibration exposure. The clinical manifestations of polyneuropathy range from sensory to motor types, sometimes with autonomic involvement. Whenever polyneuropathy is encountered in the hand-arm vibration syndrome, its etiologic possibilities should be considered. Regardless of the variable criteria used by different authors, individual diagnosis of the syndrome is always a probability diagnosis, and adequate neurological differential diagnostics have to be employed.

Arm↗
PubMed1986

Spontaneous abortions among women working in the pharmaceutical industry.

A register based study was conducted on the pregnancy outcome of female workers in eight Finnish pharmaceutical factories to determine whether they had a higher risk of spontaneous abortion than the general population or matched controls. Information about all female workers who had been employed in the factories during the years 1973 or 1975 (four factories) to 1980 was obtained from the employers. The workers' pregnancy data were collected from the nation wide hospital discharge register and polyclinic data of hospitals from 1973 to 1981. The total number of 1795 pregnancies included 1179 deliveries, 142 spontaneous abortions, and 474 induced abortions. The spontaneous abortion rate (the number of spontaneous abortions X 100, divided by the number of spontaneous abortions plus the number of births) during employment was 10.9% and before/after employment 10.6%. The rate for all the women in the corresponding central hospital districts was 11.3% [corrected] during the study period. A case-control study was also carried out in which the cases were 44 women who had a spontaneous abortion during employment in the pharmaceutical factory. Three age matched female pharmaceutical factory workers who had given birth to a child were chosen as controls for every case. The information about occupational exposures was collected from questionnaires completed by the occupational physician or nurse at the factory. The response rate was 93%. Exposure to chemicals was more common among the cases than among the controls. For methylene chloride, a solvent commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry, the increase in odds ratio of borderline significance (odds ratio 2.3, p = 0.06). In a logistic regression model (which included oestrogen exposure, solvent exposure frequency of the usage, and heavy lifting) the odds ratio was increased for oestrogens (odds ratio 4.2, p = 0.05) and for continuous heavy lifting (odds ratio 5.7, p = 0.02). The odds ratio for spontaneous abortions was greater among those exposed to four or more solvents (odds ratio 3.5, p=0.05) than among those exposed to one to three solvents (odds ration 0.8, p=0.74).

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1981

Blood lead levels in Finnish preschool children.

The blood lead (Pb-B), hemoglobin and hematocrit were measured in 286 Finnish children living in the three largest cities of Finland (n = 172), in rural areas (n = 54) and in a lead smelter area (n = 60). Pb-B was determinated using an atomic absorption spectrophotometric micro method. The precision of the method was good, as was the accuracy tested by an international interlaboratory comparison. The mean Pb-B in urban, rural and lead smelter areas varied between 6.0 - 6.7 microgram/100 ml** (range 3 - 17 microgram/100 ml) and there were no significant differences between the residential areas. The mean values of hemoglobin and hematocrit were in the normal range. The Pb - B values in Finnish children studied were low compared with many international studies but at a similar level as in some recent Scandinavian studies.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1975

Central inhibitory interactions in human vision.

Contrast threshold and perceived orientation of a line segment were measured when another line segment was simultaneously presented either to the same or the other eye; the angle between the two line segments was varied. The presence of the masking line elevated the contrast threshold under both conditions and the threshold increased similarly both in monoptic and dichoptic masking when the masking angle was made smaller. The presence of the masking line affected also the perceived orientation of the test line. The effect was similar both in monoptic and dichoptic masking; the largest change of perceived orientation occurred at about 15 degrees masking angle and the change was smaller at other angles. The effect disappeared within a short distance when the masking line was removed farther from the test line. The similarity of the monoptic and dichoptic threshold elevations demonstrates that there are lateral inhibitory interactions between central neural units in the human visual system. It is likely that the interacting units mediate the perception of contour orientation, for the threshold elevation functions were consistent with concurrent changes of perceived orientation. The results are evidence for the hypothesis that inhibition between orientation detectors is a factor in the perceptual expansion of acute angles.

Humans↗