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Biomedical subjects

J Olsen

Publications and source records attributed to J Olsen.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Infant feeding decisions in the Missouri WIC Program.

A breastfeeding questionnaire was developed to help determine how we could better support our WIC mothers' efforts to breastfeed. The questionnaire was pilot tested in 12 local WIC agencies, wherein 878 participants returned the instrument for tabulation. Forty-six percent of the women who returned questionnaires initiated breastfeeding. The main support for women choosing to breastfeed came from their husbands. Women choosing not to breastfeed identified "self" as the person who most discouraged them from breastfeeding. Using this tool has helped to highlight the breastfeeding needs of our participants.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1994

The association between birth weight, placenta weight, pregnancy duration, subfecundity, and child development.

It is well known that very low birth weight and preterm birth are risk indicators for delayed child development. It is the purpose of this study to estimate the association between birth weight, placenta weight, and gestational age in consecutive pregnancies which survived till after 28th week of gestation. The association between fecundity and child development is also studied. Data stem from pregnant women in a well defined regional area in Denmark (Odense) who participated in a concerted action on moderate alcohol consumption in pregnancy (EuroMac). All pregnant women with an alcohol consumption of 5 drinks or more per week or more in the first trimester were selected for the study in 1988 to 1989. A one to one match of pregnant woman was selected among the remaining pregnant woman based upon expected time of delivery and age. Altogether 326 women were selected for the study and the two groups are combined since alcohol intake in the measured dose range had no association with child development. The newborn went through two psychological tests at 18 month (the Bayley test) and again at 42 months of age (the Griffiths' test). Two hundred fiftynine pairs of mothers and children participated in all parts of data collection. Birth weight and gestational age was associated with the psychological scoring in the test performed at 18 and 42 months of age, especially the psychomotor index. Especially newborns with low birth weight and high placenta weight had low score values on mental development indices. No association was seen between a measure of fecundity (waiting time to pregnancy) and reduced child development.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

A birth weight adjusted comparison of perinatal mortality in the Faroe Islands and Denmark.

The objectives were to compare perinatal mortality (PNM) in the Faroes and Denmark while accounting for the high birth weights in the Faroes, and to discuss methodological aspects related to this task. We applied conventional methods employing absolute birth weight standards, and the Wilcox-Russell way of comparing relative birth weights. During 1977-85 perinatal mortality (PNM) in the Faroes was 14.7 (98 cases) per 1,000 births, and 1.57 times higher than that in Denmark. Conventional method: birth weight-standardised risk ratio for PNM in the Faroes v Denmark was 1.95; the risk ratio declined with increasing birth weight. Wilcox-Russell model: the risk tended to be more uniformly increased across the birth weight distribution when babies with same relative birth weights were compared; the residual component of the birth weight distribution (i.e. the excess of observed births in the lower tail beyond what could be predicted by a Gaussian distribution) was 2.1% in the Faroes and 3.6% in Denmark, which does not fit with the model assumption that the size of the residual component is a strong determinant of a population's PNM.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1994

On the transfer of serum proteins to the rat intestinal juice.

The in vivo pattern of serum proteins in the rat small-intestinal juice was characterized by crossed immunoelectrophoresis. Immunoglobulins and albumin, alpha-1-antitrypsin, transferrin, and orosomucoid were present. Larger serum proteins were absent (ceruloplasmin, haptoglobin, alpha-1-macroglobulin, alpha and beta lipoproteins). Thus, apart from immunoglobulins, only serum proteins with a molecular mass less than approximately 100 kDa were demonstrated. The origin and epithelial transfer were further characterized, using albumin as a model. No sign of local synthesis of albumin by the enterocytes was found by Northern blotting, and no albumin was found in the Golgi complex by immunogold electron microscopy. By immunogold electron microscopy a heavy labelling of albumin was observed in the interstitial spaces between the villus enterocytes. Where the enterocytes disintegrated, albumin was seen to leak out into the intestinal lumen from the opened interstitial spaces. A weak labelling was also found in the lysosomal/endosomal-like structures, especially in the crypt enterocytes, indicating pinocytosis of albumin. We conclude that the main reason for the occurrence of certain serum proteins in the intestinal juice is a selective passage through the capillary wall followed by passive intercellular transport via delivery of the serum in the interstitial space during disintegration of the enterocytes.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Incidence of lymphohematopoietic malignancies among styrene-exposed workers of the reinforced plastics industry.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to determine the risk of lymphohematopoietic malignancies for workers exposed to styrene. METHODS: This was a historical cohort study. The observed numbers of newly diagnosed cases of lymphohematopoietic malignancies in the study population were compared with expected numbers based on the national rates. The study took place in the Danish reinforced plastic industry, in which high exposure levels of styrene occur frequently in an environment free of most other suspected carcinogens. Altogether 36,525 male employees of 386 companies producing reinforced plastics and 14,254 nonstyrene exposed employees of similar industries were studied. RESULTS: An insignificantly increased standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of 1.22 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.88-1.65] was found for leukemia among all employees of the reinforced plastics industry. Workers employed in the 1960s (the period with the highest recorded styrene levels) or in companies with the highest exposure probability showed increased SIR values of 1.54 (95% CI 1.04-2.19) and 1.38 (95% CI 0.75-2.32), respectively. Both estimates increased when a 10-year latency period was considered. CONCLUSIONS: An increased risk of leukemia was shown for workers in the early phase of the reinforced plastics industry in Denmark. If this association is not due to chance or confounding, the most likely cause is styrene exposure.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1994

Is human fecundity declining--and does occupational exposures play a role in such a decline if it exists?

Demographers have analyzed fertility over time and between many populations for many decades. Much less is known about fecundity. Recent publications seem to indicate a decline in semen quality over time, but still no good data corroborate or refute this hypothesis. The very sparse data do not indicate any substantial changes in fecundity over the last 10-30 years in the United States, but none of the studies have a comparability which permit any firm conclusion. Several chemical and physical exposures interfere with human fecundity. Some are found at the worksite, sometimes in an intensity which does harm. The marked effect of dibromochloropropane on semen quality and fecundity was a clear warning to occupational health workers. Several other occupational exposures have shown an effect on gonads in men or women, and it is time to give more research priority to the topic. The rapidly rising cost of infertility treatment could be the stimulus to trigger the development of this research field.

Female↗
PubMed1993

Lactase-phlorizin hydrolase and aminopeptidase N are differentially regulated in the small intestine of the pig.

The longitudinal expression of two brush-border enzymes, lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (EC 3.2.1.23/62) and aminopeptidase N (EC 3.4.11.2), was studied in the small intestine of the post-weaned pig. Whereas the level of mRNA, encoding aminopeptidase N (relative to that of beta-actin), only varied moderately from the duodenum to the terminal ileum, the amount of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase mRNA exhibited a sharp maximum in the proximal jejunum. For both enzymes, the level of protein synthesis, studied in cultured mucosal explants, correlated well with the level of mRNA, and no major variation in post-translational processing or intracellular transport was observed along the intestine. The mRNA/specific-activity ratio for both enzymes was markedly (3-5-fold) higher in the duodenum and proximal jejunum, compared with the ileum. This indicates an increased proximal turnover rate, most likely caused by the presence in the gut lumen of pancreatic proteases. In neonatal animals, the level of mRNA for lactase-phlorizin hydrolase in both proximal and distal regions of the intestine was of the same magnitude as in the proximal jejunum of the post-weaned pigs. Our results point to two mechanisms that affect the expression of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase in the pig during development: (1) a primary regulation at the level of mRNA (predominantly in the ileum); (2) an increased rate of turnover of the enzyme, mainly in the duodenum and proximal jejunum, and most likely due to an increased secretion into the gut lumen of pancreatic proteases (a mechanism also affecting aminopeptidase N and probably other brush-border enzymes as well).

Aging↗
PubMed1993

Copper in human mammary carcinogenesis: a case-cohort study.

In 1968-1975, a cohort of 5,100 ostensibly healthy women was established on the island of Guernsey, England, for investigation of the influence of hormonal factors on breast cancer. At the women's entry into the study, blood samples were drawn from each participant, and each woman completed a questionnaire that provided information on established risk indicators in human mammary carcinogenesis. Plasma copper levels were measured in 46 breast cancer cases diagnosed an average of 11 years (standard deviation (SD), 4) after entry into the study cohort and in an age-stratified random sample of 138 women drawn from the total initial cohort at risk. Plasma copper levels were 1.31 mg/liter (SD, 0.37) in the cases and 1.26 mg/liter (SD, 0.36) in the controls; the 95% confidence interval for the overall difference was -0.07 to 0.17. A U-shaped relation between premorbid plasma copper levels and the risk of developing breast cancer was seen. Adjusted odds ratios for breast cancer were 1.8, 1.0, 1.6, and 3.2, respectively, in the four quartiles of the copper distribution. No major changes in the risk estimates were observed when statistical evaluation was restricted to cases diagnosed more than 10 years after collection of blood samples.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Coffee, tobacco and alcohol as risk factors for cancer and adenoma of the large intestine.

Our aim was to estimate the association between smoking history, alcohol and tobacco smoking and tumours of the large intestine. Associations were studied at an early stage of colorectal cancer in order to avoid bias in the information. In order to estimate the link between adenoma and cancer the exposures were analysed separately for cancer and adenoma patients. The study was conducted as a case-control study within a randomized trial for colorectal cancer among males and females aged 45-74 years. Cases initially included all individuals with a positive Haemoccult-II test in three screens and an age- and sex-matched reference group was selected from the test negatives. Subsequent colonoscopy defined the final case group, which consisted of 49 colorectal cancer patients, 171 with adenoma and 177 test positives with no diagnosis or with non-adenomatous polyps or haemorrhoids. Controls were 362 age- and sex-matched test negatives. Data were collected by blind telephone interviewing before the first clinical examinations of test positives. Smoking history, coffee or alcohol intake were not statistically significantly associated with colorectal cancer. For adenomas, the odds ratios (OR) were between 2.0 and 2.7 in all smoking categories. For smokers with > 40 years duration OR = 2.7 (95% confidence interval (Cl): 1.6-4.7). Coffee consumption showed a clear protective effect. Consumers of 4-7 cups per day had an OR of 0.5 (95% Cl: 0.3-0.8) and heavy consumers of > or = 8 cups had an OR of 0.3 (95% Cl: 0.1-0.6). Neither tea nor alcohol consumption was related to adenoma risks.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenoma↗