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Biomedical subjects

M Zimmerman

Publications and source records attributed to M Zimmerman.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Attitudes and knowledge about preventive dental care in Chilean refugees in Sweden.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a simplified oral health programme on attitudes to and knowledge of preventive dentistry. The subjects were Chilean refugees and the programme was delivered at one or two sessions in the form of group information/discussion. Because of increasing immigration, Sweden has become a multicultural society. The number of non-Nordic immigrants has doubled in the past decade. The major refugee groups have come from Iran, Chile and Poland. The subjects comprised 193 Chilean refugees: 106 in a single-visit group and 87 in a two-visit group. The oral health programme was completed by 94 and 65 subjects respectively and was evaluated after 6 months. Positive effects were discernible in attitudes to and knowledge of preventive dentistry, particularly with respect to oral hygiene. A key to success may have been group discussion in which the refugees could relate oral health problems to their own ethnic group. This could have an important function in bridging cultural, linguistic and situational barriers. Different forms of outreach programmes for oral health via groups, organisations or authorities in close contact with refugees shortly after arrival in Sweden are proposed. This approach may be particularly effective in a multicultural society and also in the context of the turbulent conditions the newly-arrived refugee experiences.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1993

A five-minute psychiatric screening interview.

Recent studies indicate that as many as 30% of primary care patients have some type of psychiatric disorder. Although common, these disorders are often neither detected nor treated by primary care physicians. A brief interview is described that can be used as an effective screening tool to identify patients who require further evaluation.

Humans↗
PubMed1993

Oral health in groups of refugees in Sweden.

In recent years the impact of ever-increasing numbers of refugees on the resources of the host countries has become a global concern. Health personnel face unanticipated demands complicated by different cultural, ethnic and religious factors and an unfamiliar disease panorama. Sweden today has around 1 million immigrants, 15% of the population. The aim of this thesis was to describe oral status with respect to caries and periodontal conditions, to analyse the need for dental treatment, to evaluate the effect of a preventive dental health programme, to study attitudes and knowledge of preventive dentistry and to describe and analyse utilization of dental services by different groups of adult refugees in Sweden. Three different methods were used: a descriptive clinical survey of a random sample of 193 Chilean and 92 Polish refugees, an experimental survey of a random sample of 159 Chilean refugees and a register survey, using national health statistics, consisting of a random sample of 2,489 refugees arriving in Sweden 1975-1985. The Chilean and Polish refugees had markedly poorer oral status than corresponding Swedish population groups. No association could be found between oral health or estimated treatment need and the length of time in Sweden. The simplified preventive program in the form of group discussion had a lasting effect on improved periodontal conditions and also improved knowledge of dental health care in the group of Chilean refugees. The register survey showed a generally low utilization of dental services but a high dental consumption among adult refugees in Sweden. The total treatment time for a course of treatment showed no marked decrease with subsequent courses of treatment. Immigration may have a profound effect on oral health care needs in a given population by introducing undetermined accumulated needs for oral care, and by stimulating changes in attitudes to and preferences in oral health and care.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1992

The mushroom message.

A basic law of ecology is that living things are tightly dependent on one another, often in ways that are not easy to imagine. Who, for example, would have predicted that when the last dodo was killed in 1675, that death would lead to the slow extermination of the tambalocoque tree, whose fruits germinate only after passing through the dodo's digestive system? Now no natural strands of tambalocoque younger than 300 years can be found. Or who would have predicted that clear-cutting tropical rainforests would so significantly alter local weather patterns that the tropical rainforest biome itself and its vast diversity of life might not survive? Such interactions are worth noting because of the possible ramifications of a phenomenon that ecologists have just begun to document. Mushrooms worldwide appear to be in a catastrophic state of decline. Throughout Europe, in countries with terrains as diverse as Holland, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and England, wild mushrooms are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Those fungi that are found are significantly smaller than those found years ago. Preliminary data suggest that the same troubling situation is occurring throughout North American as well. The decline has been so precipitous that biologists have begun to refer to it as a mass extinction. The 2 obvious explanations for the demise of the mushrooms--habitat destruction and overpicking of edible types by an ever growing human population--have been ruled out. Sophisticated sampling schemes designed by ecologists control for the fact that there is less land available for wild mushrooms; they have been declining at a rate that far exceeds the rate at which land is being developed. The fact that the decline has affected both edible and inedible mushrooms equally indicates that humans hunting for tasty treats are not the main cause of the problem. The loss of wild mushrooms worldwide might not seem like that big a deal, but the consequences may well be grave because of the way those fungi interact with other life forms. If the mushrooms die off, ecologists fear that our forests may not be far behind. Many mushrooms live in close association with trees; the mushrooms provide the trees with water and minerals while the trees supply the mushrooms with carbohydrates. The mushrooms' underground filaments often extend much deeper into the soil than do the roots of trees, thus making available to trees resources that would otherwise be unusable. Ecologists have found that trees lacking mushrooms are significantly more susceptible to environmental stress than those growing with the fungi. Eef Arnolds, an ecologist specializing in mushrooms at the Agricultural University of the Netherlands thinks that "severe frost or drought could lead to a mass dying of trees." Although the cause of the decline has not be pinpointed, most experts believe that the mushrooms are responding to abnormal atmospheric levels of nitrogen, sulfur, and ozone. Dr. Arnolds suggests that in Holland the main culprit appears to be excessive nitrogen applied as fertilizer to agricultural fields. Once again it appears that we are seeing the unpredicted effects of our wanton pollution of our environment. If the experts are correct about the cause of the decrease in mushroom populations, the mushrooms can provide us with some very critical information and insight like the canaries that miners used to bring into mine shafts to warn of a lack of breathable air, these small indicator species are warning us about the state of our planet. We can only hope that collectively we have enough sense to begin to pay attention.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed1992

Caries prevalence among adults in communities with optimal and low water fluoride concentrations.

The aim of this study was to compare the dental health status of adults measured as caries prevalence in two socioeconomically similar communities with optimal and low water fluoride concentrations respectively. Other topical fluoride sources are also taken into consideration. The study is based on clinical and radiological examinations of 30-40-yr-old subjects who for all their lives have been drinking water with a fluoride concentration representative for the community. 260 individuals resident in the optimal fluoride area and 236 from the low fluoride are included in the study. The results show that caries prevalence was lower in the optimal fluoride area. Caries prevalence was higher in women than in men within both groups. The prevalence of primary caries was low but significantly higher in the low fluoride area, principally in the form of proximal caries. Caries prevalence was not influenced by other topical fluoride sources.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Salivary levels of lactobacilli, buffer capacity and salivary flow rate related to caries activity among adults in communities with optimal and low water fluoride concentrations.

In several human studies, scientists have sought to elucidate the connection between caries activity, high levels of lactobacilli, low buffer capacity and a low salivary flow rate, separately or in combinations. The aims of the study were to investigate if there was a difference in caries activity among adults in optimal versus low fluoride areas. It was further investigated if this difference was related to high lactobacilli levels, low buffer capacity and low salivary flow rate, separately or in combination. Finally, it was analysed if the lactobacilli levels were lower in an area with optimal fluoride water concentration. The study is based on clinical examinations of 30-40 year olds who all their lives had drunk water with a fluoride concentration representative for the community. 260 individuals living in the optimal fluoride area and 236 from the low fluoride area are included in the study. The results show a caries activity significantly lower among those in the optimal fluoride area. It is also shown that these differences can not be explained by differences in lactobacilli levels, buffer capacity and salivary flow, neither separately nor in combination. The fluoride concentration in the drinking water is wholly decisive. No difference in lactobacilli levels between optimal and low fluoride areas were demonstrable in this study.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Cathepsin B and L activities in isolated osteoclasts.

Cathepsin B and L activities were examined with chicken osteoclasts isolated by sequential filtration and inhibitors were added to disaggregated rat osteoclasts on cortical bovine bone. Z-Phe-Phe-CHN2, a selective inhibitor of cathepsin L, at 1, 5, and 10 microM, inhibited bone resorption by rat osteoclasts 50, 85, and 100 per cent and, in chicken osteoclasts, cathepsin L activity was comparably inhibited. Cathepsin L in avian osteoclasts was also 25-fold higher than cathepsin B. Chicken osteoclasts treated with Z-Phe-Ala-CHN2, a generalized cysteine proteinase inhibitor, had both cathepsins inhibited to the same extent. Cathepsin L may play a key role in resorption.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Major depression and personality disorder.

The authors examined an interview and paper-and-pencil assessment of the DSM-III personality disorders (PDs) in depressed inpatients, and depressed relatives of psychiatric patients and never-ill controls who had a lifetime history of major depression. The rates of PDs according to the Structured Interview for DSM-III Personality Disorders (SIDP) were similar in the two groups, except for borderline PD which was more frequent in the inpatients. Of the individuals with a PD, the patients were more likely than the relatives to have two or more PDs, and the borderline and histrionic patients were more prototypic of these disorders than were the borderline and histrionic relatives. In contrast to the SIDP results, the rates of PDs according to the Personality Disorders Questionnaire (PDQ) were higher in the patient sample. These results thus extend the previously described high rates of PDs in depressed patients to a sample of individuals with a lifetime history of treated or untreated depression, and they suggest that interview assessments of personality may be less sensitive to the state effects of depression than are questionnaires.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Health-related quality of life among patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

A randomized clinical trial was recently conducted to investigate whether a new antiplatelet agent could prevent restenosis in patients who had undergone percutaneous transluminal coronary artery angioplasty (PTCA). Approximately 1,200 patients were enrolled at 13 separate clinical sites. To assess the impact of this intervention on health-related quality of life, a patient questionnaire for telephone administration was developed. This questionnaire focused attention on several specific dimensions likely to be important in this patient population: physical well-being, perceived health, emotional well-being, home management, work, recreation, and social and sexual functioning. This paper describes the instrument that was used in this trial and reports on its psychometric [corrected] properties based on completed interviews with approximately 500 patients at study entry and 1 month after PTCA.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1991

DSM-IV: a nosology sold before its time?

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether American psychiatrists believe that DSM-IV is being published too soon after DSM-III-R. METHOD: The authors conducted a mail survey of the attitudes of practicing psychiatrists (N = 454), residency program directors (N = 128), residents (N = 1,331), and researchers (N = 196) toward the scheduled publication of DSM-IV in the early 1990s. RESULTS: They found that the majority of all four groups believed that DSM-IV is being published prematurely. In contrast to respondents who believed that the timing of DSM-IV is appropriate, those who indicated that it is being published too soon had more recently completed their residency training and also believed that DSM-III-R was published prematurely. There was no association between the psychiatrists' responses and their theoretical orientation, Board certification status, ownership of the DSM manuals, the length of time they had used DSM-III, and the diagnostic manual (DSM-III or DSM-III-R) they were currently using. CONCLUSIONS: The belief that DSM-IV is being published too soon could contribute to underuse of DSM-IV by substantial numbers of psychiatrists. Thus, to foster compliance with it, APA must preserve in its efforts to demonstrate that the advantages of publishing it in 1993 outweigh the disadvantages of adopting yet another manual.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Fluoride sources and dental attendance habits among adults in communities with optimal and low water fluoride concentrations.

The aim of this study was to obtain data on local fluoride supply, dental attendance, and dental care habits in two sociologically similar municipalities with optimal, 1.0 ppm, and low, 0.3 ppm, water fluoride concentrations, respectively. The participants in the study were 30- to 40-year-old lifetime residents in the two municipalities: 569 individuals from the 1-ppm fluoride community and 466 from the low-fluoride community. There were no intergroup differences in the fluoride mouthrinse utilization rate of 1%. Fluoride toothpaste was much more common in the low-fluoride area. In the 1-ppm fluoride area more people drank tea, and they went more regularly to the dentist. It is suggested that dental attendance habits and various fluoride sources should be taken into account in studies evaluating the effect of fluoride in drinking water.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Number of remaining teeth among adults in communities with optimal and low water fluoride concentrations.

The aims of this study was to compare the dental health status measured as the number of remaining teeth, also considering local fluoride administration in two sociologically equal communities with optimal and low drinking water fluoride concentrations. The study is based on self-answer enquiries and clinical examinations. To be part of the study the subjects were required to have used a drinking water with a fluoride concentration representative of the community for all their lives. The participants were 30-40 years old: 320 met the criteria in the optimal fluoride concentration community compared to 284 in the low fluoride community. Of these 18% did not turn up to the clinical examination. The results of the study show no differences in the number of still remaining teeth between optimal and low fluoride communities respectively. There were also no statistically significant differences as to the reasons for toothloss. The number of remaining teeth were neither influenced by local fluoride administration in the two groups. Removable dentures were only present in 0.9% with no differences between optimal and low fluoride communities.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Hepatotoxicity of oriental hornet venom].

Reports of hepatic damage following multiple stings by hornets led to this study of the effects of venom sac extract (VSE) from the oriental hornet. We used in-vivo models (serum of cats following a single exposure, and of rats following repeated exposures), in-situ models (perfusion of intact livers) and in-vitro models (monolayers of fetal rat liver tissue culture). Enzyme activities were measured in serum, in perfusates, and in media of cultures, as well as in liver fractions obtained by ultracentrifugation. In cats, levels of albumin, total proteins, electrolytes, urea, cholesterol, bilirubin and blood gases were determined. Bile acids were determined in bile secreted from perfused rat livers. Histologic, histochemical and electron-microscopic studies were also performed. It is concluded that VSE is the first animal product known to possess hepatotoxic properties. The venom mainly damages hepatic cellular membranes, and mitochondria are the organelles most severely injured; cholestasis also results. The damage is partially reversible, and occurs in mammals, including man.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Diagnosing personality disorders in the community. A comparison of self-report and interview measures.

The rapidly expanding empirical study of personality disorders is the result of the publication of operational diagnostic criteria in DSM-III and the development of instruments to assess these criteria. Few researchers have examined the comparability of measures of personality disorders, and to our knowledge there are no studies of the factors associated with discordance between measures. In the present study, 697 relatives of psychiatric patients and healthy controls were interviewed with the Structured Interview for Personality Disorders (SIDP) and completed the Personality Disorders Questionnaire (PDQ). Significantly more individuals had a personality disorder according to the SIDP; however, multiple personality disorders were more frequently diagnosed on the PDQ. Schizotypal, compulsive, dependent, and borderline personality disorders were significantly more frequently diagnosed by the PDQ, whereas the SIDP more frequently diagnosed antisocial and passive-aggressive personality disorder. The corresponding dimensional scores of the two measures were all significantly correlated; however, the concordance for categorical diagnoses was poor. Discrepancies between the PDQ and the SIPD dimensional scores were significantly associated with current level of depressive symptoms and PDQ lie scale scores.

Adult↗