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Biomedical subjects

M Ferrario

Publications and source records attributed to M Ferrario.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Possible interaction of environment and genetic factors in work-related diseases: the case of hypertension].

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases are the most important cause of death and invalidity during the course of working life. The major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases is arterial hypertension, a typical example of multifactorial and polygenic disease, involving genetic, environmental, and demographic factors. OBJECTIVES: A review of studies performed sofar on hypertension which can be also defined as a work-related disease. METHODS: Several studies on association or linkage analysis showed an association between genetic polymorphisms and increased risk of hypertension. RESULTS: Till now no studies have identified one or more "major" candidate genes involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Recently the interaction between genetics and environment have attracted much interest since the genotypes predisposingfor hypertension have different effects according to the patient's environment and life style. CONCLUSIONS: It is likely that the aspects covered in this review will, in the near future, be studied more extensively. The identification of any correlations between genes and environment will also be influenced by the accuracy in measuring environmental exposure, where the occupational physician will play a significant role.

Environment↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[New problems in occupational medicine: findings on the risk of coronary heart disease in the services industry].

The distribution of the major coronary risk factors: total and HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking and body mass index, was studied during the course of a routine screening of 1404 male bank employees in Northern Italy. The recent Italian and international consensus conferences and particularly the results from the Italian areas of the WHO-MONICA Project were taken as reference points. There was a widespread coronary risk in the bank employees who had a 5-10% excess of cholesterol, corresponding to a 10-20% increase in the theoretical risk of coronary heart disease. Compared to the data produced by the Lipid Research Clinics (USA), coronary risk appeared higher for all the surveyed factors in the Italian general population, and particularly in bank employees. Greater stress at home and at work and above all the change from the traditional, poor Mediterranean diet to a richer diet might provide an explanation for these results. A new perspective is thus opened for occupational health due to the new health problems produced by the cultural and technological changes occurring in the country.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation of the socioeconomic status in epidemiological surveys: hypotheses of research in the Brianza area MONICA project].

Socio-economic status (SES) has been reported as a causative factor of increasing health inequalities in industrialized countries. The phenomenon has been particularly investigated for job related diseases, including cardiovascular disease and risk. The group of occupational medicine specialists in the world wide MONItoring program of CARdiovascular disease (WHO-MONICA Project) is now producing a number of hypotheses about the application of internationally defined criteria and tools for SES evaluation in the Italian area of the Project, Area Brianza. After a short review of some main conceptual and methodological problems, a proposal is presented of an SES index, derived from the pooled data of two population surveys carried out in this area. From a randomized sample of 3200 residents, 25-64 years old, stratified by sex and age decade, 1731 subjects, 594 females and 1137 males, employed at the time of the screening were extracted. Four variables were considered: age, education, occupational level and job-strain (according to the Karasek-Theorell model) by which each subject was classified in three levels--high, medium, low--of education and occupation, whose combination was used to obtain as many levels of socio-economic status. This a method of building an SES index is based on a sequence of approximations following two essential criteria: limitation of the variables to be surveyed, through standardized procedures; ability to identify the "low" SES category, presumably more at risk for disease.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Minor injuries: little known aspects of occupational accidents].

This paper is aimed at describing and characterizing occupational injuries which do not receive compensation (minor injuries), and at evaluating the differences between compensated and non compensated injuries with reference to type and site of the lesion. Data were collected in a car manufacturing plant and covered the period 1984-1991. Information regarding all kinds of occupational accidents were extracted, following a standardized procedure, from different paper forms compiled by health personnel within the factory (physicians and nurses). Due to the large amount of information registered, a sampling scheme was adopted which considered the same three months every two years, previously selected to cover the entire observation period (1984-85, 1987-88, 1990-91). In addition, to evaluate che adequacy of the sampling procedures for the compensated injuries only, the resulting sampled distributions of the relevant variables were compared with the totality of the injuries. 7,299 events occurred in the sampled months, which corresponded to 652.59 occupational accidents per million hours worked: 8.97% of them caused absence from work lasting more than three days (compensated cases), 3.59% caused a less than three workday loss (LTTWL cases), and the great majority (87.44%) did not cause any absence from work (first aid cases). The frequency index of the total number of accidents did not change over time, but the three categories of injuries did change: for example, first aid cases had their maximum frequency during the middle period (with a peak of 93.21% in March 1987) and their minimum during the last period (73.28% in June 1991). An opposite pattern occurred for accidents which caused absence from work. Type and site of the lesions differed among the three categories of occupational accidents. For example, cuts/lacerations were observed in 48% of first aid cases, 30% of compensated cases, and 15% of LTTWL cases. On the contrary, injuries due to extraneous bodies and contusions which were the most frequent category for LTTWL cases with, respectively, 28% and 25% of the cases, represented only 10% and 13% of first aid cases. With respect to the site of the lesion, hands had the highest frequency index both for first aid (56%) and compensated (39%) cases, and eyes were most affected (36%) among LTTWL cases. With respect to compensated injuries, a notable correspondence of the distributions of the relevant variables between the sample and the whole population was evident, also when considering separate individual subperiods.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Variations over time in the accident rate in an automobile manufacturing plant].

This paper describes some characteristics of occupational injuries occurring in a car manufacturing plant during the period 1984-1991. Data regarding all kinds of injuries (not only those which received compensation) were extracted from records compiled by health personnel within the factory according to a sampling scheme that considered the same three months every two years. In addition, all injuries which caused absence from work lasting more than three days were evaluated (without sampling). To compute frequency indexes, the number of hours worked each month/year were obtained. Roughly 650 occupational injuries per million hours worked occurred in the whole population without appreciable changes over time: about 90% of the events did not cause absence from work. For two-thirds of the injuries that caused absence from work, the absence lasted more than three days. More than 50% of the injuries involved the hands; the eyes and arms followed with lower percentages. Cuts/lacerations comprised 45% of all injuries, followed by contusions and foreign bodies. Over time, the frequency index of foreign bodies in the eyes diminished, whereas muscular disorders increased, mainly in the last period. Compensated injuries were particularly elevated in the final period and lowest in the middle: this pattern is attributable only to events with temporary consequences. The increase in the incidence of injuries in the last period was observed in all categories of duration of absence but the decrease of incidence in the middle period concerned only events with shorter duration (less than fourteen days' absence). These trends can be partially attributed to the changes in health management within the factory (recognition and first aid) which occurred in the time period considered. Some combinations of site and type of lesion (i.e., foreign bodies in the eyes) showed a decrease over time both for index of frequency and mean duration of absence; others had a particular pattern: decrease in frequency and increase in mean duration of absence in the middle period, followed by an opposite pattern in the last period (i.e., cuts/lacerations of the hands); some others showed a decrease both for frequency and duration of absence (sprains/strains of the vertebral column muscles).

Absenteeism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Socioeconomic status and coronary disease: theories, research methods, epidemiological evidence and the results of Italian studies].

This review covers the most important theoretic contributions and results of epidemiological research on the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and coronary heart disease (CHD). Two major approaches have been identified: those of the British and American schools. In spite of differences in method, most of published contributions have shown social inequalities in the outcome of most degenerative disorders. Similar patterns have been detected for the CHD: the time trend declines documented in recent years in most industrialized countries has not filled in the gap of SES difference in the incidence and mortality for CHD, which even seems to have increased in the lower social classes. Moreover, an apparent paradox has been described: even though CHD is typical of welfare societies, its impact is higher in the lower social classes. Recent results of Italian studies are reported which investigated the relationship between CHD risk factors and SES in representative samples. The findings suggest the presence, in Italy, too, of social discrepancies in the prevalence of major risk factors, in both gender groups. This should be taken in consideration when preventive programmes are planned in populations or in work settings.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Bacteriological studies of liver parenchyma in controls and in patients with gallstones or common bile duct stones with or without acute cholangitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The presence of aerobic and/or anaerobic bacteria in the liver parenchyma, gallbladder bile, and common bile duct was investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: There were 15 control subjects, 32 cases with symptomatic gallstones, 16 patients with common bile duct stones without acute cholangitis and 8 cases with common bile duct stones with an acute suppurative cholangitis. RESULTS: No bacteria were isolated in controls. The percentage of positive cultures in liver parenchyma increased in proportion to the severity of the biliary tract disease. There was no clear correlation between normal and altered hepatic histology and the presence or absence of bacteria except in patients with acute cholangitis. CONCLUSIONS: When biliary tract obstruction is present, the biliary tract is more vulnerable to invasion of bacteria and therefore increases the chance of spread into the liver parenchyma.

Acute Disease↗