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T Bernhardt

Publications and source records attributed to T Bernhardt.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

alpha1-Antitrypsin inhalation reduces airway inflammation in cystic fibrosis patients.

The airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are characterised by neutrophils that release high amounts of elastase overwhelming the local antiprotease shield. Inhalation of alpha(1)-antitrypsin (AAT) may restore the protease-antiprotease balance and attenuate airway inflammation in CF airways. The aims of the present study were: 1) to assess the best deposition region for inhaled AAT by two different inhalation strategies; and 2) to examine the effect of 4 weeks of AAT inhalation on lung function, protease-antiprotease balance and airway inflammation in CF patients. In a prospective, randomised study, 52 CF patients received a daily deposition by inhalation of 25 mg AAT for 4 weeks targeting their peripheral or bronchial compartment. The levels of elastase activity, AAT, pro-inflammatory cytokines, neutrophils, immunoglobulin G fragments and the numbers of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were assessed in induced sputum before and after the inhalation period. Inhalation of AAT increased AAT levels and decreased the levels of elastase activity, neutrophils, pro-inflammatory cytokines and the numbers of P. aeruginosa. However, it had no effect on lung function. No difference was found between the peripheral and bronchial inhalation mode. In conclusion, although no effect on lung function was observed, the clear reduction of airway inflammation after alpha(1)-antitrypsin treatment may precede pulmonary structural changes. The alpha(1)-antitrypsin deposition region may play a minor role for alpha(1)-antitrypsin inhalation in cystic fibrosis patients.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed2006

[Attitudes towards predictive genetic testing for Alzheimer's disease].

Most neuropsychiatric disorders have a complex aetiology. Discovery of the underlying genetics will provide insights into the disorders and allow the subsequent development of therapeutic interventions based upon an understanding of causality. The first vulnerability genes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been identified. The contribution of each vulnerability gene to the disorder is limited and does not enable prediction of course and onset in individual cases, only modification of the a priori risk. However, people may wish to be informed about this modification. Professionals have not favoured this form of predictive testing due to an awareness of its limitations and its potential for harm. However, little is known about public attitudes and understanding of such genetic testing in neuropsychiatric disorders. The aim of our study was to assess the attitudes of the general population and to explore the influence on these attitudes of knowledge about the illness and the understanding of risk information. In our study, a representative sample of the German general population (n=2001), relatives of patients with Alzheimer's disease (n=101) and physicians (n=43) were interviewed about their attitudes towards genetic tests for Alzheimer's disease and their perception and interpretation of risk information. To assess the influence of genetic counselling on these factors, 234 people were questioned before, and four weeks after, they were provided with detailed relevant information. Our results indicate that a substantial proportion of the German population (57%) is in favour of psychiatric genetic testing for AD in general. Even when the explanatory power of a genetic test is limited, a substantial proportion of the population (47%) expressed an interest in genetic testing. Counselling slightly decreased the interest in having a genetic test for oneself (from 47% to 38%). Physicians were more hesitant than both relatives and the general population concerning predictive genetic testing. Only a minority (11%) favoured prenatal genetic testing. Our results also show that both knowledge about AD and the capacity to interpret risk estimates are limited. While physicians' estimation of their personal risk for developing AD approximated to the actual average risk for the population, people in the general population and the relatives of AD patients tended to overestimate their personal risk. However, most of the general population still perceived this risk as average or low. While most physicians could correctly interpret information regarding the probability of risk, only one third of AD patients' relatives or members of the general population could. As the decision of an individual to undergo predictive testing relies mainly on his understanding of risk, the ability to correctly interpret risk information will be of crucial importance in the future. From a medical perspective, the prevailing approach of professional associations to genetic testing appears reasonable and therefore should not be changed at present.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Effects of arousing emotional scenes on the distribution of visuospatial attention: changes with aging and early subcortical vascular dementia.

BACKGROUND: The modulation of attention by emotionally arousing stimuli is highly important for each individual's social function. Disturbances of emotional processing are a supportive feature for the diagnosis of subcortical vascular dementia (SVD). We address here whether these disturbances might be useful as an early disease marker. METHODS: In order to examine the modulation of visual attention by emotionally arousing stimuli of different valence, 12 elderly patients with early SVD, 12 age-comparable healthy adults and 12 young healthy subjects were studied while looking at pairs of pictures from the International Affective Picture Battery that were either neutral-neutral, neutral-positive or neutral-negative in terms of emotional content. Eye movements were recorded with an infrared eye-tracking system. The direction of the first saccade and the dwell time during the 10 s of presentation were measured and compared among groups with parametric tests. RESULTS: All subjects showed a modulation of initial attentional orienting as well as a higher percentage of dwell time towards the pictures containing emotional material. Patients with SVD and old controls did not differ in either experimental measure. Young patients showed a stronger bias towards emotionally negative material than both groups of older individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Modulation of visuospatial attention is preserved in early SVD. This might have implications for therapeutic interventional approaches. A weakened sustained attention towards negative but not positive emotional pictures in the elderly is in accordance with the socioemotional selectivity theory, describing a relative selection of positive stimuli with aging.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Psychosocial work factors and dementia.

AIMS: To evaluate the association between psychosocial workplace factors and dementia in a case-control study. METHODS: Patients with dementia (aged 55-99 years) were recruited from 23 general practices in the city of Frankfurt-on-Main and surrounding area in 1998-2000. Of these, 108 were suffering from possible Alzheimer's disease, 59 from possible vascular dementia, and 28 from secondary or unclassified dementia. A total of 229 control subjects (aged 60-94 years) was recruited from the same study region: 122 population controls and 107 dementia-free ambulatory patients. A detailed job history was elicited in a structured personal interview (next-of-kin interviews of cases). Psychosocial work exposure was assigned to cases and control subjects by linking lifetime job histories with a Finnish job-exposure matrix. Data were analysed using logistic regression, to control for age, region, sex, dementia in parents, education, smoking, and the psychosocial network at age 30. RESULTS: There were decreased odds ratios for high challenge at work, high control possibilities at work, and high social demands at work. High risks for error at work revealed a significant positive association with the diagnosis of dementia. Restriction of the analysis to cases with possible Alzheimer's disease or to cases with possible vascular dementia led to similar results. CONCLUSIONS: These results support a role for psychosocial work factors in the aetiology of dementia. As an alternative explanation, people might have chosen jobs with poor work factors due to preclinical dementia, which becomes clinically manifest decades later.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

[Effect of daily living-related cognitive training on attention and memory performance of persons with dementia].

There are few results of controlled studies about psychological interventions, i.e. training of cognitive functions in dementing illnesses. Most frequently very specific memory strategies are trained, (the effects of) which cannot be generalized to activities of daily living. Thus, a memory training program was developed considering the different cognitive abilities of the participants and which was meant to be generalized to daily tasks. Short-term and long-term memory were trained as well as activities of daily living in 12 lessons for a period of 6 weeks. We can show significant improvements of attention and memory performance in our experimental group in comparison to the control group.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2002

[The effect of psychosocial factors on risk of dementia].

In the etiology of dementia several genetic and various environmental factors are assumed to interact. Most epidemiological studies on risk factors have focused on "constitutional" factors like age, sex, birth order, dementia in the family and "life style" factors like smoking and alcohol consumption. Only few studies have investigated the role of psychosocial factors at work and during leisure time on the risk to develop dementia. Our paper gives a systematic review of all published results of controlled studies about psychosocial risk factors. A positive association has been observed between dementia and living alone, having no close social ties, not participating in social and leisure activities, and never having married. Recent studies have found that Alzheimer's disease in particular is negatively associated with diversity of activities and intensity of intellectual activities and positively associated with psychosocial inactivity, unproductive working style, living with a dominant spouse and with physical inactivity.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

The effects of medical group practice and physician payment methods on costs of care.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of payment methods on the costs of care in medical group practices. DATA SOURCES: Eighty-six clinics providing services for a Blue Cross managed care program during 1995. The clinics were analyzed to determine the relationship between payment methods and cost of care. Cost and patient data were obtained from Blue Cross records, and medical group practice clinic data were obtained by a survey of those organizations. STUDY DESIGN: The effects of clinic and physician payment methods on per member per year (PMPY) adjusted patient costs are evaluated using a two-stage regression model. Patient costs are adjusted for differences in payment schedules; patient age, gender, and ACG; clinic organizational variables are included as explanatory variables. DATA COLLECTION: Patient cost data were extracted from Blue Cross claims files, and patient and physician data from their enrollee and provider data banks. Medical group practice data were obtained by a mailed survey with telephone follow-up. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Capitation payment is correlated with lower patient care costs. When combined with fee-for-service with withhold provisions, this effect is smaller indicating that these two clinic payment methods are not interchangeable. Clinics with more physician compensation based on measures of resource use or based on some share of the net revenue of the clinic have lower patient care costs than those with more compensation related to productivity or based on salary. Salary compensation is strongly associated with higher costs. The use of physician profiles and clinical guidelines is associated with lower costs, but referral management systems have no such effect. The lower cost clinics are the smaller, multispecialty clinics. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that payment methods at both the medical group practice and physician levels influence the cost of care. However, the methods by which that influence is manifest is not clear. Although the organizational structure of clinics and their use of managed care programs appear to play a role, this influence is less than expected.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

The organizational structure of medical group practices in a managed care environment.

This article analyzes the organizational structures of 155 medical group practices providing services in the highly competitive managed care environment in the upper midwest. The structure of the group practices and the methods of physicians' payment are analyzed in terms of the proportion of revenue obtained from financial risk-sharing managed care payment systems and the length of time involved with those systems.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans↗
PubMed1996

Data organizations and data networks in Minnesota.

The state of Minnesota offers examples of data-driven organizations as well as a statewide effort to electronically link these into an integrated network. The examples provided by Blue Cross Blue/Shield of Minnesota demonstrate an array of analytical tools to improve quality and enhance financial performance. Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Minnesota uses a clinical severity measurement system to aid in the development of an inpatient hospital reimbursement methodology which enables hospitals to better manage the quality of care delivered to the patient population. They also make use of population-based utilization analysis in a collaborative environment with providers to improve quality and efficiency of care. The Minnesota Health Data Institute was created by the state legislature to support the information needs of the health care stakeholders in Minnesota. One of its first initiatives is to develop a uniform method of comparing health care plans.

Computer Communication Networks↗