ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Treatment of patients who attribute their environmental illness to mercury from amalgam fillings is largely experimental. On the Symptom Check List, overall distress, and somatization, obsessive-compulsive, depression, and anxiety symptom dimensions, were increased in 50 consecutive patients examined, and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire scores suggested less extroversion and increased degree of emotional lability. Succimer (meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid) was given at a daily dose of 30 mg/kg for five days in a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. Urinary excretion of mercury and lead was considerably increased in the patients who received the chelator. Immediately after the treatment and 5 to 6 weeks later, most distress dimensions had improved considerably, but there was no difference between the succimer and placebo groups. These findings suggest that some patients with environmental illness may substantially benefit from placebo.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Workers aged 65 and older had a workplace fatality rate 2.6 times that of workers aged 16 to 64 for 1980 through 1991 (14.1 per 100,000 vs 5.4), according to National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) data. The highest rates were in mining, agriculture, and construction. Compared with younger workers, older men were at an elevated risk for fatalities caused by machines, and older women for fatal falls and homicide. Prevention efforts should focus on older workers in agricultural settings, as well as those at increased risk of workplace falls or violence.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Results from animal and preliminary exposure studies have called into question whether the 5 mg/m38-hour time-weighted average threshold limit value (TLV) for zinc oxide fume is sufficient to protect workers against metal fume fever. The objectives of this study were to determine the clinical effects of exposures to low concentrations of zinc oxide and to ascertain whether these exposures elevated circulating levels of specific cytokines, which could account for the symptoms of the metal fume fever syndrome.Thirteen resting naive subjects inhaled, on separate days, air and 2.5 and 5 mg/m3of furnace-generated zinc oxide fume for 2 hours. Subjects recorded symptoms and temperature and had blood drawn before and after each exposure. The mean (± SE) maximum rise in oral temperature at 6 to 12 hours after exposure was 1.4 ± 0.3°F after 5 mg/m3, compared with 0.6 ± 0.5°F after air exposure (P < 0.05). Mean temperature was also elevated after exposure to 2.5 mg/m3zinc oxide (1.2 ± 0.3°F). In a parallel fashion, plasma levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), a pyrogen, were significantly elevated after exposure to 5 mg/m3zinc oxide. Mean IL-6 values (pg/mL) at pre-exposure and at 3 and 6 hours post-exposure were 1. 9 (± 0.6), 2.8 (± 0.7), and 2. 9 (± 0.6), respectively, on the air day and 1.6 (± 0.6), 4.4 (± 1.2), and 6.4 (± 1.1) on the 5 mg/m3zinc oxide day. Zinc oxide exposure did not significantly affect plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor. Total symptom scores peaked 9 hours after the 5 mg/m3zinc oxide exposure. Myalgias, cough, and fatigue were the predominant symptoms reported. Inhalation of zinc oxide for 2 hours at the current TLV of 5 mg/m3produces fever and symptoms along with elevation in plasma IL-6 levels.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Several devices have been developed for rapid motor or sensory median nerve conduction testing. We evaluated the validity and reliability of the Neurosentinel® (NS) and NervePace® (NP) electroneurometer for sensory and motor testing, respectively, compared with formal electrodiagnostic studies (EDS), and examined their potential role in workplace screening for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Thirty-two working subjects without CTS were examined and tested with the NS, NP, and EDS, and retested one week later. Subjects were selected who did not have CTS, other hand or nerve problems, or jobs with significant ergonomic risks, in order to decrease the likelihood of changes over time in median nerve function. Mean correlations of NP and NS with EDS latencies ranged fromr =0.69 tor =0.85, with somewhat better correlation for NS (sensory) than NP (motor). Test-retest reliability was greatest for motor EDS (r =0.86 to 0.91) and similar for sensory EDS, NS, and NP (r =0.72 to 0.79); mean results were very similar. Based on the observed relationship between NS or NP and EDS results, confidence intervals were calculated to represent the range of EDS results consistent with a single NS or NP measurement. These intervals ranged from ± 0.3 milliseconds (ms) for NS to ± 0.6 msec for NP, with similar ranges for change over time in an individual. The magnitude of these intervals for a single test or individual implies that the NS and NP are unlikely to identify individuals with CTS or to detect changes over time that are not accompanied by symptoms or signs. The screening devices are not likely to be useful in confirming early CTS, when single latency values may be normal, and detailed EDS may be necessary to detect nerve entrapment. Compared with EDS, these devices have moderate validity and similar reliability; they are probably most useful for cross-sectional or longitudinal studies of groups, but care must be taken in using them for pre-placement or surveillance tests of individual workers. False-positive results may lead to discrimination, inappropriate referrals and interventions; false-negative tests can result in inappropriate reassurance and missed opportunities for intervention.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The introduction of workplace smoking bans has resulted in smokers smoking outside their workplaces (exiled smoking). Social identity theory postulates that this may cause antagonism between smokers and non-smokers, or where non-smokers were friends with smokers, pressure on non-smokers to smoke. This study examines perceptions and beliefs about exiled smoking in 166 non-smoking workers. They saw smokers as having a work benefit not available to them, but otherwise they were generally not drawn to the activity. Half had joined smokers outside for breaks, but of these only one-third had ever smoked. Those who smoked reported that they did not have a regular pattern of joining the same group of smokers. Although it may provide a conduit for susceptible non-smokers to take up smoking, exiled smoking does not appear to influence those who are not otherwise vulnerable.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Because of concerns among veterans over agent Orange exposure, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has conducted a series of studies of specific cancers among Vietnam veterans. Lung cancer is the topic of investigation in this report.The VA's Patient Treatment File (PTF) was used to identify 329 Vietnam era veterans with a diagnosis of lung cancer made between 1983 and 1990. The PTF is a computerized hospitalized database of inpatient records, including patients' demographic data, and diagnoses. A record is created for each inpatient discharged from any one of the VA's Medical Centers. Variables abstracted from the military record include education, race, branch of service, Military Occupational Specialty Code, rank, and units served within Vietnam. Two hundred sixty-nine controls were randomly selected from the PTF file of men hospitalized for a reason other than cancer. A second control group numbering 111 patients with colon cancer was also selected from the PTF file. Data were also gathered on exposure to Agent Orange through the location of each individual ground troop veteran's unit in relation to an area sprayed and the time elapsed since that area was sprayed.The crude odds ratio between service in Vietnam and lung cancer was of borderline significance (odds ratio = 1.39 with 95% confidence interval = 1.01-1.92). The relationship disappeared when the confounder year of birth was considered.We conclude from these data that there is no evidence of increased risk in lung cancer associated with service in Vietnam at this time.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Work-related low-back disorders (LBDs) continue to be one of the single largest sources of compensation costs. The relative contributions of personal, workplace, organizational, and environmental variables to the development and severity of LBDs are not completely understood. The inclusion of personal variables in epidemiologic studies of LBDs has been inconsistent, and different authors have different opinions concerning the importance of such variables. Personal variables either known or suspected to influence outcomes are discussed to elucidate the importance of these variables with respect to understanding LBDs and conducting epidemiological studies in industry. The authors suggest that age, gender, injury history, relative strength, smoking, and psychosocial variables be studied further, and that height, weight, pathologies, genetic factors, maximum oxygen uptake, and absolute strength are unlikely to produce significant effects in industrial populations.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1997

数据来源: OVID