Biomedical subjects

M Koskenvuo

Publications and source records attributed to M Koskenvuo.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

PubMed1986

Occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis in a nationwide series of twins.

The nationwide Finnish Twin Cohort was linked with the Sickness Insurance Register on the basis of the unique identification number assigned to each Finnish citizen. The study series consisted of 4137 monozygotic (MZ) and 9162 dizygotic (DZ) same-sexed twin pairs born before 1958 and alive in 1975. Altogether, 261 subjects in the series had the right to receive free medication for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) under the Sickness Insurance Act that covers the entire Finnish population. The pairwise concordance percentage for RA was 12.3 in MZ twins and 3.5 in DZ twins. The age and sex adjusted ratio of observed per expected numbers of concordant pairs (relative risk) was 8.6 for MZ pairs and 3.4 for DZ pairs. These figures are lower than those previously reported on twins but compatible with results from family studies on the genetic component of RA.

Adult↗

PubMed1985

Changes in incidence and prognosis of ischaemic heart disease in Finland: a record linkage study of data on death certificates and hospital records for 1972 and 1981.

The components of the decline in mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Finland were studied by analysing the changes in incidence and prognosis between 1972 and 1981. Using personal identification numbers, hospital discharge records and death certificates were linked for all men and women aged 40-64. During this period mortality decreased 15.9% in men and 23.5% in women, incidence 14.2% in men and 19.3% in women, being greatest among 40-49 year olds living in urban areas, and case fatality 7.3% in men and 10.3% in women, owing primarily to a decrease in patients dying of ischaemic heart disease without being admitted to hospital; survival was also better among patients admitted to hospital. Factors explaining these changes remain unknown because data on risk factors and factors influencing prognosis are limited and largely ecological.

Adult↗

PubMed1985

Snoring as a risk factor for hypertension and angina pectoris.

The association of snoring with hypertension and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was tested by postal questionnaire in a population of 3847 men and 3664 women aged 40-69 years. Hypertension associated highly significantly with snoring, the relative risk (RR) of hypertension between habitual snorers and never snorers being 1.94 in men and 3.19 in women. This association was also found when adjusting for body-mass index. A significant association between angina pectoris and habitual snoring was observed in men (RR = 2.22). In women the relative risk was not significant. An association between habitual snoring and angina pectoris in men was also found after adjusting for hypertension and body-mass index (RR = 2.01, p less than 0.01). The relative risks for myocardial infarction and hospital admission for IHD for habitual snorers were non-significant.

Adult↗

PubMed1985

The influence of total hip replacement on hip pain and the use of analgesics.

The influence of total hip replacement (THR) on pain and use of analgesics was evaluated in 511 patients with McKee-Farrar and Brunswik prostheses. The mean age of the patients was 63.8 years and the mean follow-up time 4.2 years. The average grade of pain decreased from 1.8 to 4.9 as evaluated according to Charnley. The proportion of regular users of all analgesics decreased from 75% to 17% (P less than 0.001). Indomethacin was the most common preoperative drug and the proportion of its regular use decreased from 47 to 12% (P less than 0.001). The preoperative association which existed between the grade of pain and the regular drug users in each pain grade decreased more than expected by the preoperative figures. Postoperatively those with previous hip operations, McKee-Farrar prosthesis, one hip replaced, reapplications and removal of the prosthesis gave inferior results with respect to pain than those without previous surgery, with Brunswik prosthesis, both hips replaced and with the original prosthesis in situ. In addition to previous THR operations, type of the hip prosthesis, bilateral or unilateral surgery, primary or secondary coxarthrosis and reapplication of the prosthesis influenced the use of drugs. THR, however, brought a marked drop in the use of analgesics and this effect should be taken into account when assessing the costs and benefits of THR.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗

PubMed1985

Corneal endothelium after photocoagulation in diabetic patients.

The corneal endothelium was photographed through a wide-field specular microscope in 38 eyes, in 20 successive diabetic outpatients receiving laser therapy because of underlying proliferative or background retinopathy. Areas of 100 individual endothelial cells from each central cornea were analysed using a digitizer. No statistically significant correlations were observed between mean cell areas or standard deviations of mean and total amount of previous laser energy received. Laser therapy or the type of diabetes did not seem to cause statistically significant changes in the endothelial cell areas examined.

Adult↗

PubMed1985

Snoring and disease.

Snoring is an inspiratory sound caused during sleep by vibration of different parts of the upper airways. It is one of the main symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea in addition to excessive daytime sleepiness. This review asks what the clinician should know about snoring and considers the following aspects: mechanism, prevalence, significance in cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, association with psychosocial problems, diagnosis and treatment.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

PubMed1984

Finnish twins reared apart. IV: Smoking and drinking habits. A preliminary analysis of the effect of heredity and environment.

Data on alcohol use and smoking habits was available from the 1975 questionnaire of the entire cohort. Prior to pairwise analyses, the data of individuals was compared to that of age-sex matched groups of pairs reared together. The early separated twins had a higher alcohol consumption, while for smoking only slight differences were observed compared to twins reared together. Probandwise concordance rates were computed from smoking status (ever smoker/never smoker), alcohol use (user/nonuser) and "heavy" drinking (half-bottle of spirits on one occasion at least once a month). The following results were obtained in those pairs with the environmental dissimilarity score greater than 15: (table; see text)

Adoption↗

PubMed1984

Responses of blood glucose and serum insulin to peroral glucose load in normoglycemic twins.

Fasting blood glucose and serum immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and the responses of blood glucose and serum IRI to peroral glucose challenge were investigated in middle-aged normoglycemic male twins of 17 monozygotic (MZ) and 18 dizygotic (DZ) pairs recruited from the Finnish Twin Cohort Study. Also, the role of obesity and diet in the regulation of glucose and insulin metabolism was estimated. The fasting and 2 hr postprandial (PP) glucose showed higher pairwise correlations in MZ (r = 0.78 and 0.56) than DZ (r = 0.08 and -0.05) pairs whereas fasting and PP insulin levels and the areas under the PP glucose and insulin curves were weakly and similarly correlated in MZ and DZ twins. The pairwise correlations of the 1/2 hr and 1 hr, but not the fasting and 2 hr insulin/glucose ratios, were somewhat higher in MZ (R = 0.51 and 0.53) than DZ (r = = 0.28 and 0.30) pairs. In MZ twins, the intrapair differences in the body mass index were significantly correlated with those in the fasting and 2 hr PP glucose and insulin levels and those in the fasting and 1/2 hr insulin/glucose ratios (r from 0.47 to 0.76). Also, the intrapair differences in the dietary fat calories were correlated positively, but those in the calories derived from carbohydrates negatively, with the intrapair differences in several parameters of the glucose and insulin metabolism. These data suggest that the environmental contribution to the regulation of glucose and insulin metabolism in subjects within the normoglycemic range may be quite strong.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1984

Finnish twins reared apart. II: Validation of zygosity, environmental dissimilarity and weight and height.

Within the Finnish Twin Cohort of like-sexed adult twin pairs, a subgroup of pairs separated at an early age has been identified. In 165 pairs, both cotwins responded to questionnaires in 1975 and 1979. An environmental dissimilarity score was formed which consists of items on whether the twins had lived after separation in the same community, attended the same school, were on the same grade at school, how often the cotwins met, how often they met common friends and relatives and whether they attended the same clubs etc, or not. To validate the zygosity diagnosis obtained by questionnaire in 1975, those pairs whose zygosity was unknown as well as those with the least contact after separation were contacted for blood sampling (11 bloodgroups). Of 15 pairs with no zygosity diagnosis, 10 responded (1 no address,2 abroad,2 refused). Six pairs were classified MZ and 4 DZ. In 12 MZ and 8 DZ pairs undergoing bloodgroup determination, the classification of only one pair changed from DZ to MZ. The following intraclass correlations for height and weight were found.

Adult↗

PubMed1984

Finnish twins reared apart. III: Personality factors.

This study is based on data from 165 adult twin pairs separated at 10 years or less. Information on personality factors: extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N) (EPI scale short from), life satisfaction (LS) (Allardt) and stress of daily activities (SDA) was obtained as part of the questionnaire study carried out in the entire Finnish Twin Cohort in 1975. Later in 1979 a questionnaire sent to the twins reared apart yielded a scale (range 7-30 points) measuring the environmental dissimilarities after separation (reliability 0.83). The effect of separation on personality factors by analysis of variance of individual data was studied. Sex, zygosity and age-at-separation were included in the models. The overall explanatory rates were low (2.1-4.4%). The definitive study group was formed by selecting those pairs with a dissimilarity score greater than 15. The following intraclass correlations were obtained.

Adult↗

PubMed1984

Health related psychosocial correlates of neuroticism: a study of adult male twins in Finland.

Some health related psychosocial correlates of the Eysenck neuroticism scale were examined in a questionnaire study of 1501 monozygotic (MZ) and 3455 dizygotic (DZ) male twin pairs representing the adult male twin population in Finland. In analyses of the individuals, 34% of the variance in neuroticism was associated to: psychological variables (stress of daily activities, life satisfaction, quality of sleep, and extroversion - the explanatory rate of this variable set was 30%), psychotropic drugs (5%), alcohol use (4%), and smoking (2%). Neuroticism was also associated to social, life change, and medical variables. In pairwise analyses, the heritability estimate (h2) was 0.54 for pairs living together and 0.39 for pairs living apart. It seems that heritability estimates are confounded by the closer intrapair relationship between members of MZ than DZ pairs. In pairwise analyses, 23% of the intrapair difference of neuroticism in MZ pairs was associated to intrapair differences in the aforementioned variables. The following explanatory rates were found: psychological variables, 21%; psychotropic drugs, 2%; alcohol use, 2%; and smoking, 1%. Neuroticism of pairs discordant for background variables showed similar intrapair differences as between individuals in the following variables: service vs farming work, use of alcohol, use of antacids, hypertension, heavy physical work, quality of sleep, changes of workplace for negative reasons, smoking, and use of tranquillizers. It appears that in Finland environmental factors explain at least 61% of the variability in neuroticism, and that factors determining neuroticism are also associated to health related behavior such as smoking, use of alcohol and psychotropic drugs.

Adult↗

PubMed1984

Psychiatric hospitalization in twins.

Hospitalization rates of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs in Finland were compared for schizophrenia, neuroses, and alcoholism. Record-linkage of hospital records and death certificates for the years 1972-1979 was carried out for persons in the Finnish Twin Cohort (16,649 like-sexed twin pairs). The ratio of the number of observed vs that of expected concordant pairs and the ratio of concordance rates between MZ and DZ pairs were greater among males than females, and greater among young (40 years old or less) than among older pairs. The highest difference was found in schizophrenia and the lowest in neuroses. Pairwise concordance rates for schizophrenia (11.0% for MZ and 1.8% for DZ) seem to indicate great environmental influence (high proportion of discordant pairs) with apparent genetic liability (6.1-fold ratio in concordance between MZ and DZ pairs). In neurotic disorders, the difference of pairwise concordance rates between MZ and DZ pairs (6.8% vs 4.0%) was quite low, not strongly supporting a genetic hypothesis. Of the MZ pairs concordant for psychiatric hospitalization, 47% had lived together for their whole life time; of those discordant, 16% lived together. The corresponding figures for DZ pairs were 18% and 15%. The effect of intrapair relationships in disease-concordant pairs should be taken into account when evaluating the effect of genetic and environmental factors in psychiatric disorders.

Adult↗

PubMed1984

Serum acute-phase glycoproteins and immune complexes in relation to smoking and respiratory symptoms: an epidemiological study.

A nephelometric assay of concanavalin A binding was used to measure serum acute-phase glycoproteins in young conscripts, in middle-aged males, and in adults with persistent respiratory symptoms. The findings in conscripts, irrespective of the smoking status, did not differ from those in blood donors, whereas, a strikingly higher portion (38%) of the middle-aged heavy smokers exhibited elevated values. In subjects with persistent respiratory symptoms the corresponding figure was even higher (52%), but no difference was recorded between smokers and non-smokers. Elevated amounts of circulating immune complexes, as measured by conglutinin-binding assay, were detected in 6% of the middle-aged males and in 20% of the subjects with persistent respiratory symptoms.

Acute-Phase Proteins↗

PubMed1983

Genetic and environmental determination of human sleep.

Self-reported sleep data from 2238 monozygotic and 4545 dizygotic adult twin pairs indicated a significant hereditary effect on sleep length [overall heritability estimate (h2 = 0.44)] and on sleep quality (h2 = 0.44). When the data were examined in subgroups defined by sex, age (18-24 years and 25 or more years of age), and cohabitation status of the twin pair, the highest heritability estimates for sleep length were for twins living together aged 25 or older. For twins living apart the heritability estimates were statistically significant in all women and men aged 25 or older. For sleep quality significant heritability estimates were found for all groups except women living together.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1983

Corneal endothelial cells in mono- and di-zygotic twins.

Noncontact specular microscopy was used to examine the corneal endothelia of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins in the age groups 25-34, 35-49, and 50-69 years. Endothelial photographs were analysed in respect of 100 individual cells from both eyes of 48 subjects. The mean cell areas in MZ twins showed a strong positive pairwise correlation (r (RE) = 0.727, r (LE) = 0.933), but there was no statistically significant pairwise correlation in DZ twins (r (RE) = 0.080, r (LE) = 0.167). Statistically significant pairwise correlations were also found when the lowest or highest deciles of cell areas in MZ twins were compared, but not when respectively compared in DZ twins. It would seem that environmental factors have little effect upon pleomorphism and increase in cell area with increasing age. The endothelial cell characteristics in normal individuals seem to be mainly determined by genetic factors.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Cigarette smoking and alcohol use in Finland and Sweden: a cross-national twin study.

Cigarette smoking and alcohol use habits in Finland and Sweden were studied using data from the Finnish and Swedish studies on like-sexed adult twin pairs aged 18-47 (total of 20 056 pairs). Finnish men were heavier consumers of tobacco and alcohol than Swedish men. When heavy consumers (greater than 500g of alcohol/month and greater than 20 cigarettes/day) were considered, the prevalence rate was 9.7% in Finnish men and 5.1% in Swedish men. This difference might account for the higher morbidity in Finland than in Sweden from many smoking- and alcohol-associated diseases. Genetic factors in smoking and alcohol use were assessed by comparing observed and expected coincidence rates, and by multivariate analyses. Genetic and familial effects were defined as an excess coincidence in monozygotic (MZ) pairs compared to dizygotic (DZ) pairs, and by an increased DZ coincidence rate compared to that expected. Significant genetic and familial effects were observed for cigarette smoking, and for smoking more than one pack of cigarettes a day. Significant familial effects for alcohol use was observed, and a significant genetic effect was obtained for men. A significant genetic effect could not be observed for the combined heavy use of alcohol and heavy smoking. The genetic and familial effects seemed to be mostly independent of country and sex.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

A cross-national epidemiological resource: the Swedish and Finnish cohort studies of like-sexed twins.

Two large-scale studies of adult like-sexed twin pairs are ongoing in Sweden and Finland. Both studies comprise an unselected series that has been studied in a comparable fashion. Zygosity determination and health questionnaire data-gathering were carried out in 1973 for the Swedish study and in 1975 for the Finnish study for the comparable age groups. Data on hospital usage, cancer incidence and mortality are collected by record-linkage from the respective national registries. Cross-national twin studies can permit testing of hypotheses of the relationships between genetic and cultural factors and major chronic diseases and their risk factors.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Sleep disorders in relation to coronary heart disease.

In a cross-sectional study of 5419 Finnish adult men, a higher prevalence of diagnosed myocardial infarction was found among those who slept more than 9 hours, whilst those sleeping less than 6 hours per night had more symptomatic coronary heart disease (CHD). This relationship held after controlling by multivariate analysis for age, sleep quality, use of sleeping pills and tranquilizers, smoking, alcohol use, Type A score, neuroticism, use of cardiovascular drug and history of hypertension. The cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology of sleep is reviewed and the relationship of some specific sleep disorders to CHD is discussed.

Adult↗