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Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) Jun 2022Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is caused by exposure to noxious particles and gases. Smoking is the main risk factor, but other factors are also associated... (Review)
Review
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is caused by exposure to noxious particles and gases. Smoking is the main risk factor, but other factors are also associated with COPD. Occupational exposure to vapours, gases, dusts and fumes contributes to the development and progression of COPD, accounting for a population attributable fraction of 14%. Workplace pollutants, in particular inorganic dust, can initiate airway damage and inflammation, which are the hallmarks of COPD pathogenesis. Occupational COPD is still underdiagnosed, mainly due to the challenges of assessing the occupational component of the disease in clinical settings, especially if other risk factors are present. There is a need for specific education and training for clinicians, and research with a focus on evaluating the role of occupational exposure in causing COPD. Early diagnosis and identification of occupational causes is very important to prevent further decline in lung function and to reduce the health and socio-economic burden of COPD. Establishing details of the occupational history by general practitioners or respiratory physicians could help to define the occupational burden of COPD for individual patients, providing the first useful interventions (smoking cessation, best therapeutic management, etc.). Once patients are diagnosed with occupational COPD, there is a wide international variation in access to specialist occupational medicine and public health services, along with limitations in workplace and income support. Therefore, a strong collaboration between primary care physicians, respiratory physicians and occupational medicine specialists is desirable to help manage COPD patients' health and social issues.
Topics: Dust; Gases; Humans; Occupational Diseases; Occupational Exposure; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; Risk Factors
PubMed: 35513770
DOI: 10.1111/resp.14272 -
Muscle & Nerve May 2024Occupational nerve injuries span a broad array of pathologies and contribute toward functional limitation, disability, and economic impact. Early and accurate... (Review)
Review
Occupational nerve injuries span a broad array of pathologies and contribute toward functional limitation, disability, and economic impact. Early and accurate recognition, treatment, and management of workplace factors rely on a thorough understanding of the anatomic and biomechanical factors that drive nerve injury. This review explores the interplay between anatomy, biomechanics, and nerve pathology common to occupational nerve injury and provides the treating physician with a rational, evidence-based approach to diagnosis and to occupational aspects of management. Assessment of potential occupational nerve injury begins with a detailed understanding of the employee's work duties through a biomechanical lens. One must consider likelihood of occupational causation while accounting for predisposing conditions or preexisting symptoms. Beyond overt crush injury or laceration, potential mechanisms of nerve injury, with effects compounded over time, include compression, stretch, vibration, and repetitive or high-force movements of regional muscles and joints. Injury often occurs at nerve locations that experience higher pressures, changes in pressure over time, or abrupt changes in trajectory, often near a tethered point. This understanding, coupled with condition-specific knowledge presented in this review, equips managing physicians to diagnose occupational nerve injury and enhance treatment recommendations with rational activity modifications or equipment that can protect the nerve or decrease likelihood of continued injury. Long-term management often involves follow-up to assess effectiveness of interventions in the setting of the work environment, with gradual progression of the worker toward return to unrestricted duty or to a point of maximal medical improvement.
PubMed: 38717246
DOI: 10.1002/mus.28099 -
La Tunisie Medicale Jun 2023To assess the impact of non-insulin-requiring Type 2 diabetes (T2D) on professional activity in terms of absenteeism, presenteeism, reduced productivity and daily...
AIM
To assess the impact of non-insulin-requiring Type 2 diabetes (T2D) on professional activity in terms of absenteeism, presenteeism, reduced productivity and daily activities.
METHODS
We conducted a comparative cross-sectional survey of two groups of employees in the Cap Bon textile sector: 75 diabetic and 75 workers free from any endocrinological pathology, seen in the occupational medicine group of Nabeul. The study was spread over 10 months from March 2020.A questionnaire was administered containing the Arabic version of WPAI-GH « Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire-General Health » to assess absenteeism, presenteeism, decreased productivity and daily activity.
RESULTS
A total of 150 workers participated in our study. Diabetes was responsible for absenteeism of 5.1 ± 8.9%, presenteeism of 4.8 ± 6,4%, a decrease in productivity of 7.3 ± 7.8% and a decrease in the daily activity of 14,6 ± 10%. The rate of presenteeism, decrease in productivity and daily activity were significantly higher in T2D (p = 0.015). Absenteeism was associated with degenerative complications (p< 0,001). Presenteeism was associated with the duration of the course of diabetes (p < 0,001).
CONCLUSION
Diabetes has a negative impact in productivity and general activity. Early and multidisciplinary management of these patients improves their professional performance.
Topics: Humans; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Cross-Sectional Studies; Efficiency; Surveys and Questionnaires; Absenteeism
PubMed: 38372549
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Aug 2023Occupational medicine is a clinical discipline that draws attention to the health of workers and their ability to work [...].
Occupational medicine is a clinical discipline that draws attention to the health of workers and their ability to work [...].
PubMed: 37629340
DOI: 10.3390/jcm12165298 -
La Tunisie Medicale Mar 2024Several clinical and epidemiological data point to a possible link between smoking exposure and contact dermatitis (CD).
INTRODUCTION
Several clinical and epidemiological data point to a possible link between smoking exposure and contact dermatitis (CD).
AIMS
To identify the clinical and epidemiological differences of CD in smoking and non-smoking subjects, and to determine the influence of smoking on the allergological profile of CD.
METHODS
Retrospective descriptive study who consulted the Department of Occupational Medicine and Occupational Pathology of the Farhat Hached University Hospital of Sousse (Tunisia) during a period of 8 years for exploration of CD and who were tested with the European Standard Battery (ESB).
RESULTS
A total of 767 patients were enrolled during the study period, 40% of whom were smokers. The group of smokers was characterized by a male predominance (p=10-3) and a greater professional seniority compared to non-smokers (p=0.01). Personal history of atopy was predominant in non-smokers (p=0.02). Among the ESB allergens, there was a significant association between smoking and CD due to metals (chromium, cobalt) and conservatives. After binary logistic regression, the variables associated with smoking exposure were male gender (OR=12.12 ; 95% CI=[6.07 - 24.21]; p=10-3), Kathon CG allergy (OR=3.69 ; 95% CI=[1.24 - 10.81]; p=0.018), and right hand involvement (OR= 2.83; 95% CI=[1.29 - 6.17]; p=0.005).
CONCLUSION
Our study revealed an effect of smoking on the clinical and allergological characteristics of CD.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact; Retrospective Studies; Smoking; Allergens; Occupations
PubMed: 38545712
DOI: 10.62438/tunismed.v102i3.4226 -
La Medicina Del Lavoro Dec 2019.
UNLABELLED
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BACKGROUND:
The Clinica del Lavoro of Milan provided several contributions to industrial hygiene and occupational toxicology during the twentieth century.
OBJECTIVES:
Describe the first years of the laboratory of industrial hygiene of Milan through three figures who played a leading role: Enrico Carlo Vigliani, Nicola Zurlo and Gianmario Cavagna.
METHODS:
Scientific literature of the period 1948-1970 was investigated, also interviewing first-hand witnesses of that period.
RESULTS:
Enrico Vigliani was the first European scholar to understand the importance of a laboratory of industrial hygiene within his institution. Thanks to the support of private (Montecatini) and public (INAIL) institutions he succeeded in creating a laboratory in 1948. Nicola Zurlo, who directed this structure in the first thirty years, conducted innovative studies on chronic mercury intoxication, lead intoxication and silicosis, designing and creating instruments for capturing and analyzing atmospheric dust and protection devices. He conducted analysis of the health effects of organophosphorus insecticides and started to study the air pollution. Zurlo also provided an epistemological and methodological content to the discipline. Gianmario Cavagna, one of the first Italian toxicologists, contributed to the discovery of the origin of fevers caused by the inhalation of metal fumes and to the studies on the pathogenesis of byssinosis, hypothesizing a role of bacterial endotoxins in the genesis of this disease.
CONCLUSIONS:
The contributions provided by these three protagonists to industrial hygiene and occupational toxicology were relevant and made in those years the Clinica del Lavoro of Milan as a landmark, not only in Italy but also abroad.
Topics: History, 20th Century; Humans; Italy; Laboratories; Lead Poisoning; Occupational Health; Occupational Medicine
PubMed: 31846445
DOI: 10.23749/mdl.v110iS1.8875 -
The Journal of Allergy and Clinical... Feb 2024
Topics: Humans; Asthma; Occupational Diseases; Occupational Exposure
PubMed: 38336395
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaip.2023.11.042 -
Journal of UOEH 2024The population of people in Japan over 65 years old is expected to exceed 30% by 2025. As the society ages, there are not only healthy workers and employers, but also an...
The population of people in Japan over 65 years old is expected to exceed 30% by 2025. As the society ages, there are not only healthy workers and employers, but also an increasing number of diseased or injured workers. Falls, the most common occupational hazard, increase in incidence with age. The management of osteoporosis and prevention of bone fractures from falls are emerging in elderly female workers, to reduce the loss of work productivity. Rheumatoid arthritis is a representative musculoskeletal disease that causes functional decline because of joint damage mainly in working women, but appropriate treatment improves disease activity and work productivity in workers with rheumatoid arthritis. It is also important not only to digitize subjective information by converting it into digital form (digitization), but also to digitalize the physiological information related to health, labor and disease (digitalization). In the future, artificial intelligence (AI) will be able to analyze vast amounts of physiological information (big data) obtained from workers and patients via the Internet of things (IoT), which will improve the information value linked to health promotion and optimal treatment practices, and contribute to the Digital transformation (DX).
Topics: Humans; Female; Aged; Occupational Medicine; Artificial Intelligence; Health Promotion; Efficiency; Arthritis, Rheumatoid
PubMed: 38479878
DOI: 10.7888/juoeh.46.79 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2021
PubMed: 35145948
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.819545 -
European Journal of Clinical... Jun 2023
PubMed: 37071379
DOI: 10.1007/s10096-023-04604-x