Search

Anxiety 34 37 36 Headache 28 23 26 Abdominal pain 1 3 2 Weakness 13 4 9 Depression 5 0 3 Impaired sleep 4 8 7 Nicturia 7 0 5 Chest pain 11 7 9 Excitement 13 6 10 Nonlocalized pain 4 4 4 Hunger 3 4 3 Lack of appetite 5 5 5 Fever 1 3 2 Nausea 1 5 4 Urticaria 3 0 2 Palpitation 28 23 26 Heartburn 11 7 10 Generalized itching 22 30 25 Non respiratory symptoms in asthma as possible predictors of exacerbations Gennaro Liccardi, MD, Gennaro Baldi, MD, Adriano Berra, MD, Emanuela Carpentieri, MD, Marina Cutajar, MD, Maria D’Amato, MD, Mario Del Donno, MD, Bruno Del Prato, MD, Ilenia Folletti, MD, Federica Gani, MD, Domenico Gargano, MD, Domenico Giannattasio, MD, Michele Giovannini, MD, Antonio Infantino, MD, Carlo Lombardi, MD, Mario Lo Schiavo, MD, Francesco Madonna, MD, Mauro Maniscalco, MD, Antonio Meriggi, MD, Manlio Milanese, MD, Carmen Montera, MD, Antonio Pio, MD, Maria Russo, PhD, Antonello Salzillo, MD, Patrizia Scavalli, MD, Nicola Scichilone, MD, Bruno Sposato, MD, Anna Stanziola, MD, Antonio Starace, MD, Alessandro Vatrella, MD, Gennaro D’Amato, MD, and Giovanni Passalacqua, MD

The ribosomal gene activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes was studied in a group of 27 females working in seven small pottery industries exposed to a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons (AH) (xylene, toluene, trimethylbenzene isomers; tricloroethylene). All were relatively young and healthy women who have worked in this sector for an average of 9 years. The control group consisted of a sample of 27 women not employed in the ceramics industry matched for age ( +/- 2 years) residence and parity ( +/- 1). Lymphocyte cultures and chromosome preparations were set up by standard methods. Slides were silver stained and ribosome gene activity was evaluated in terms of the number of silver positive NORs (nucleolus organizing regions) per cell in 100 cells per subject by an observer who operated blind in the microscope. The difference in the mean number of NORs of the exposed group ( x = 8.00) compared to the control group ( x = 7.98) was not statistically significant. A multivariate analysis of the data was underta...

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that chronic occupational exposure to high temperatures may be detrimental to male reproduction. The study was based on 92 healthy ceramics oven operators with a long exposure to high temperatures, and 87 controls, recruited from the shipment department of the same industry. Interviews with all subjects provided data on sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and fertility problems. Semen analysis was carried out on 46 of the workers exposed to high temperatures, and 14 of the controls, and included evaluation of the sperm concentration, morphology, and motility, including computer-assisted sperm motion analysis (velocity, linearity, ALH, BCF). The results of the questionnaire showed that exposed individuals had a higher incidence of childlessness and of self-reported difficulty in conceiving than controls. The semen analysis showed no significant differences except in sperm velocity. Although differences in semen parameters, taken singly, were not statistically significant, the overall evaluation of the sperm parameters indicated a higher prevalence of pathologic sperm profiles among the exposed compared to the controls.