The prevalence of hand abnormalities in diabetic patients is high and increases with the duration of diabetes. In many cases patients with hand abnormalities can be helped by surgery.

The effects of potential risk factors for Hodgkin's disease (HD) and for non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) were evaluated in a case-referent study encompassing 54 cases ofHD, 106 cases of NHL, and 275 referents, all alive. Exposure information was obtained by questionnaires posted to the subjects. Crude rate ratios were increased for various occupational exposures including solvents, welding, wood preservatives, phenoxy acids, and fresh wood (sawmill workers, lumberjacks, paper pulp workers). After further analyses based on logistic regression occupational exposures to welding and creosote remained as significant risk factors for HD. For NHL, occupational exposures to solvents, phenoxy acids, and creosote but also work as carpenter or cabinet maker and contacts with pets (other than dogs, cats, and birds) were associated with significantly increased risks.

No abstract

A four year follow up of the ventilatory function in former asbestos cement workers has been performed to determine whether any further decrease occurred after cessation of exposure. Seventy five of 125 subjects were eligible for re-examination and were compared with local referents. None showed signs of asbestosis but 32% had pleural plaques at the renewed examination. Cumulative asbestos exposure calculated as fibre x years had been estimated individually in the original examination. After adjustment for age, height, tracheal area, and smoking category the FVC and FEV, for all exposed subjects were on average 7% v 6% less than predicted from the referents and twice as much for the subjects with the highest exposure. The four year declines in FVC and FEV, were larger than in the referents, significantly so for FEV,.There were no significant correlations between pleural plaque and ventilatory function after adjustment for exposure. Thus the age adjusted reduction in ventilatory function had progressed during the follow up period despite the cessation of exposure and the lack of radiological signs of asbestosis.Many cross sectional studies of lung function among workers exposed to asbestos have been published but few longitudinal ones. The age adjusted results from cross sectional studies may not necessarily correspond with those of longitudinal studies and might not be valid for the determination of the prognosis.'Decreased ventilatory function was observed in a cross sectional study of Swedish asbestos cement workers.2 The aims of this four year follow up of the workers examined in 1976 were to compare the decline in ventilatory function with referents selected in 1976 from the same geographical area, to assess the exposure effect relations, to study the association between pleural plaques and loss of ventilatory function, and to examine the comparability of cross sectionally predicted versus longitudinally determined decrements after four years. STUDY GROUPSA health examination, including chest radiography and lung function testing, was offered to all workers at an asbestos cement plant in the middle of Sweden Received 3 December 1984 Accepted 7 January 1985 when production ceased in 1976. Only male, actively employed smokers and never smokers with at least ten years of employment were included in the calculations, ex-smokers and pensioners being excluded to obtain homogeneity. In 1976 the final study group comprised 77 smokers and 48 never smokers, a total of 125 subjects.Referents were chosen from three plants without exposure to asbestos and associated with the same industrial health centre that served the asbestos cement plant. These plants produced fertilisers, cement products, and wood products. Seventy six referents were selected to provide valid regression equations for companson.The degree of follow up is displayed in table 1. Forty three exposed smokers of the 77 originally examined and 32 exposed never smokers of the 48 originally examined took part in the 1980 follow up. The corresponding...

The workers' plasma levels of PBDEs fluctuated during the study period. Due to small changes in thyroid hormone levels it was concluded that no relevant changes were present in relation to PBDE exposure within the workers participating in this study.