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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 -
Cancers Sep 2020Occupational carcinogens have been shown to cause a considerable disease burden at a national and global level [...].
Occupational carcinogens have been shown to cause a considerable disease burden at a national and global level [...].
PubMed: 32911599
DOI: 10.3390/cancers12092547 -
Journal of Occupational Health Jan 2021Work related stress is a major occupational health problem that is associated with adverse effects on physical and mental health. Healthcare workers are particularly... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVES
Work related stress is a major occupational health problem that is associated with adverse effects on physical and mental health. Healthcare workers are particularly vulnerable in the era of COVID-19. Physical methods of stress relief such as yoga and massage therapy may reduce occupational stress. The objective of this systematic review and network meta-analysis is to determine the effects of yoga, massage therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, and stretching on alleviating stress and improving physical and mental health in healthcare workers.
METHODS
Databases were searched for randomized controlled trials on the use of physical relaxation methods for occupational stress in healthcare workers with any duration of follow-up. Meta-analysis was performed for standard mean differences in stress measures from baseline between subjects undergoing relaxation vs non-intervention controls. Network meta-analysis was conducted to determine the best relaxation method.
RESULTS
Fifteen trials representing 688 healthcare workers were identified. Random-effects meta-analysis shows that physical relaxation methods overall reduced measures of occupational stress at the longest duration of follow-up vs baseline compared to non-intervention controls (SMD -0.53; 95% CI [-0.74 to -0.33]; p < .00001). On network meta-analysis, only yoga alone (SMD -0.71; 95% CI [-1.01 to -0.41]) and massage therapy alone (SMD -0.43; 95% CI [-0.72 to -0.14]) were more effective than control, with yoga identified as the best method (p-score = .89).
CONCLUSION
Physical relaxation may help reduce occupational stress in healthcare workers. Yoga is particularly effective and offers the convenience of online delivery. Employers should consider implementing these methods into workplace wellness programs.
Topics: COVID-19; Health Personnel; Humans; Network Meta-Analysis; Occupational Health; Occupational Stress; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Relaxation Therapy; Workplace; Yoga
PubMed: 34235817
DOI: 10.1002/1348-9585.12243 -
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 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2021
PubMed: 35145948
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.819545 -
Revista Brasileira de Medicina Do... 2022
PubMed: 36118058
DOI: 10.47626/1679-4435-2021-201 -
International Journal of Environmental... Feb 2021The cancer risk associated with exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens such as asbestos, benzene, radiation, or lifestyle carcinogens such as cigarette...
The cancer risk associated with exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens such as asbestos, benzene, radiation, or lifestyle carcinogens such as cigarette smoking depends on the entire history of exposure to the carcinogen, including the age of exposure and the time-varying intensity of exposure [...].
Topics: Asbestos; Benzene; Carcinogens; Carcinogens, Environmental; Epidemiologic Studies; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Occupational Diseases; Occupational Exposure
PubMed: 33668145
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18052215 -
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