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Biomedical subjects

K Poikolainen

Publications and source records attributed to K Poikolainen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Alcohol consumption among male reindeer herders of Lappish and Finnish origin.

Ethnic differences in alcohol intake among male reindeer herders were studied, since historical evidence suggests that Lapps drink more than Finns and since the considerable freedom of the herding occupation may imply a high risk for alcohol problems. In 1988, 2001 men answered a mail questionnaire including questions on alcohol intake over the past 12 months. The mean alcohol intake was 22.3 g/day among the Lapps and 13.2g/day among the Finns (P less than 0.001). The percentage of heavy drinkers (20 g or more daily) was 33.9 among the Lapps and 19.1 among the Finns. The mean frequency of getting drunk was 35 occasions/year among both Lapps and Finns. An analysis of variance showed that alcohol intake was significantly related to age, marital status, region and being of Lappish origin, but not to being a full-time reindeer herder. A significant interaction between region and marital status was also detected. The Lappish reindeer herders drink more than their Finnish counterparts. The ethnic difference is not, however, very large when compared with the stereotypic view of the drunken Lapp.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

A statistical approach to an alcoholic drinking history.

The drinking history of a middle-aged male was analyzed statistically on the basis of eight and a half years of notes on the number of drinks consumed per day. During the period his average number of drinks per drinking day increased from about 7 in 1974 to a peak of about 16 in 1980 while the number of abstinent days varied between 23% and 54% with no clear trend. These figures are of the same magnitude as published reports on drinking among alcoholics. Time-series models of intake or drinking frequency could not describe adequately the time-structure of annual or monthly consumption. Occurrence of drinking was analyzed as a random series of events. The time-structure of the series was highly irregular and deviated greatly from the Poisson hypothesis which assumes that each day has an equal probability of becoming a drinking day independently of previous days. Instead, drinking days were clustered into sprees with an average length of 7 days, high variance and a very skew distribution, separated by abstinence periods with an average length of 4 days and a similarly shaped distribution. The entire history could be partitioned into 286 alternating drinking and abstinence intervals, one day intervals included. The drinking rhythm was very stable: no significant trends in the lengths of either type of interval could be found. The main findings are the surprising stability of the drinking rhythm, its independence of the growing amounts consumed, and the independently varying abstinence interval lengths. Even in the absence of reporting and memory bias, such a pattern of drinking may produce very inaccurate recall of the actual long-term alcohol intake, if the recall period is short. The results suggest that periods shorter than one month should be avoided when asking questions about alcohol intake, for example, in research on the effects of treatment on alcoholism or alcohol intake on health.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Alcohol and smoking: risk factors for infectious eczematoid dermatitis?

Risk factors for infectious eczematoid dermatitis (IED) were analyzed in a study of males aged 19-50 years. The subjects were 43 IED patients and 226 controls with other skin diseases from the dermatological outpatient clinics of three University Hospitals in Finland. The patients' lifestyles were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire pertaining to two specified periods: the period 12 months before the onset of the skin disease and the period 12 months before the examination date. Recalled mean alcohol intake before the onset of the skin disease was 39.2 g/day for the IED patients and 17.1 g/day for the controls (p = 0.04). The average number of cigarettes smoked daily was 17.7 for the IED patients and 10.4 for the control patients (p = 0.001). The IED patients significantly reduced their alcohol intake after the onset of the skin disease. In logistic regression analysis, IED associated with alcohol intake and smoking but not with coffee consumption, life events, age, marital status, or social group. The odds ratio for IED at an alcohol intake of 50 g/day as against no intake, was 1.7 (95% confidence interval 1.03-2.7), and the odds ratio at a tobacco consumption rate of 20 cigarettes/day as against no use of tobacco, was 2.1 (1.2-3.7). We conclude that alcohol intake and smoking appear to be risk factors for infectious eczematoid dermatitis among males.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Epidemiologic assessment of population risks and benefits of alcohol use.

The relation of alcohol intake with mortality seems to be curvilinear, resembling the shape of the letter 'J'. The higher the intake, the higher the mortality excepting abstainers, who have slightly higher mortality than moderate drinkers. The higher mortality among non-drinkers is partly explained by two causes: becoming an ex-drinker because of illness or being a heavy smoker. However, lifelong abstainers have higher mortality and morbidity (after controlling for smoking) than light drinkers. Light drinking may increase the life span. Alcohol intake decreases the risk of death from coronary heart disease, but increases that of several other diseases. Morbidity is lowest among light drinkers, slightly higher among lifelong abstainers and much higher among heavy drinkers. Due to several sources of error in study design, statistical analysis, assessment of alcohol intake, and in diagnosing diseases and causes of death, no precise limits of safe drinking can be recommended. Common sense should be cultivated. Heavy drinking and drunkenness should be discouraged.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1991

Depression late after combat: a follow-up of Finnish World War Two veterans from the seven countries east-west cohort.

An analysis from the Finnish East and West Cohort of the Seven Countries Study tested the hypothesis that front line service during modern warfare is associated with depression later in life. World War Two-era Finnish combat veterans were compared to Finnish veterans who were non-combatants. Both groups were followed from 1959 to 1984. Dependent variables were the Zung depression scale and other measures of psychosocial adaptation and mental health. Analysis of variance of Zung scores by combat exposure was close to statistical significance (p = 0.0501). Even if statistical significance had been reached, it is felt that the absolute magnitude of the differences between the populations appear quite trivial. A significant association was found for those who had participated in over nine battles and when grouping depression, sleeplessness, paranoia, hallucinations, schizophrenia, and other mental illness into the general category of any mental illness (O.R. = 4.414; 95% C.I. = 1.113, 17.503). This seems to support the residual stress hypothesis pertaining to modern combat exposure.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Alcohol intake: a risk factor for psoriasis in young and middle aged men?

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the nature of the association between alcohol intake and psoriasis. DESIGN: Case-control study of men aged 19-50 with onset of skin disease in 1976 or later. SETTING: Outpatient clinics of the departments of dermatology of the university central hospitals in Helsinki, Oulu, and Tampere from September 1987 to April 1989. SUBJECTS: 144 Patients with psoriasis and 285 unmatched controls with other skin diseases. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Results of clinical examination and self administered questionnaire assessing lifestyle and alcohol intake during two specified periods--namely, 12 months before the onset of skin disease and 12 months before the date of examination. RESULTS: Recalled mean alcohol intake before the onset of skin diseases was 42.9 g/day among the patients with psoriasis and 21.0 g/day among the controls. In logistic regression analysis psoriasis was associated with alcohol intake but not with coffee consumption, smoking, age, marital state, or social group. The odds ratio for psoriasis at an alcohol intake of 100 g/day compared with no intake was 2.2 (95% confidence interval 1.3 to 3.9). The controls decreased their alcohol intake after the onset of the disease but the group with psoriasis did not. Analysis of serum enzyme values showed that gamma-glutamyltransferase activity was significantly correlated with alcohol intake (r = 0.35), the mean activity being 75.0 U/l among patients with psoriasis and 41.9 U/l among controls. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol is a risk factor for psoriasis in young and middle aged men, and psoriasis may sustain drinking.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Serum beta-hexosaminidase as a marker of heavy drinking.

Beta-hexosaminidase, also called N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase, is a lysosomal glycosidase, which has been found to be increased in the sera of alcoholics admitted to acute detoxification treatment. To study serum beta-hexosaminidase (beta-HEX) as a marker of heavy drinking, it was compared with GGT, ASAT, and ALAT in three study groups: twenty-five drunken arrestees, 16 social drinkers, and 27 teetotallers. Mean serum beta-HEX levels were two times higher among drunken arrestees than among social drinkers or teetotallers. Average daily alcohol intake during the preceding 30 days in the pooled group of drunken arrestees and social drinkers correlated positively (r = 0.69; p less than 0.0001) with serum beta-HEX. The sensitivity of beta-HEX in the detection of heavy drinking, defined as over 60 g ethanol daily, was 85.7% compared to 47.6% for GGT. The specificity of beta-HEX was 97.6%. The positive correlations between beta-HEX and ASAT (r = 0.74; p less than 0.0001) and ALAT (r = 0.41; p less than 0.05) indicate that increased serum beta-HEX level may reflect early liver injury. Serum beta-HEX seems to be a sensitive biological marker of heavy drinking reflecting better the ingested amounts of alcohol than GGT.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Alcohol-related knowledge, beliefs and attitudes among health and clerical personnel.

Health personnel has been thought to pay too little attention to alcohol-related problems. Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs related to alcohol were studied among 225 physicians, 296 nurses, and 279 clerical employees. Knowledge scores were constructed by giving one point for every correct answer. For knowledge on alcoholic beverages and biological facts (11 questions), the mean scores were: physicians 7.7, nurses 6.7, and clerical employees 6.5. For etiologic knowledge (12 items), the means were: physicians 8.6, nurses 6.9, and clerical employees 6.3. The respective scores for prognostic knowledge (9 items) were: physicians 6.8, nurses 6.3, clerical employees 5.5. For knowledge on prevention and treatment the mean scores were: physicians 2.7, nurses 2.2 and clerical personnel 2.3. Physicians had more permissive attitudes towards alcohol use in various social situations and were less likely to recommend compulsory treatment than nurses or clerical employees. With respect to the prevention of alcohol problems, all groups considered face-to-face health education to be the most effective approach, followed by radio and TV education, and then voluntary treatment. Beverage price increases were regarded to be the least effective approach by nurses and clerical employees, while physicians felt that the press was the least likely source of enlightenment. Knowledge was only remotely related to age, marital status and permissive attitudes. Health personnel knew more about alcohol-related problems than lay people, but there is room for further improvement.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Health services resources and their relation to mortality from causes amenable to health care intervention: a cross-national study.

Gross national product has been found to be negatively associated with age-specific mortality, and the prevalence of medical doctors positively associated with mortality in younger age groups. We studied the relationship between mortality and its determinants among people aged 64 years or less in 25 developed countries. Age-adjusted mortality rates from causes of death amenable to interventions by health services were calculated for the period 1975-8, and, likewise, rates from partly amenable causes, non-amenable causes, and violent causes of death. In regression analysis, log mortality from amenable causes was significantly negatively associated with gross domestic product (GDP) but not with the numbers of medical doctors, nurses and midwives, hospital beds, alcohol consumption, tobacco consumption, or military expenditure. It is argued that cross-sectional comparisons disguise the effects of health services on mortality.

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↗