This study aims to demonstrate the prevalence of pain as a reason for seeing a physician in primary care. We also performed an analysis of the localization, duration and frequency of pains, as well as the diagnoses of patients having pain. A total of 28 physicians at 25 health centers in Finland collected the data, comprising 5646 patient visits. Pain was identified as the reason for 2237 (40%) of the visits. The most common localizations were in the lower back, abdomen and head. One-fifth of the pain patients had experienced pain for over six months. Analysis of the diagnoses revealed half of the pains to be musculoskeletal. Patients experienced considerable limitations in various activities of life due to pain. A quarter of the pain patients of active working age received sick leave. Our results confirm that pain is a major primary health care problem, which has an enormous impact on public health.

Most researchers agree that obesity is an important modulator of the metabolic syndrome, 1 2 which is a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors associated with insulin resistance-such as hypertension, hypertriglyceridaemia, a low concentration of high density lipoprotein cholesterol, abnormal glucose metabolism, and hyperinsulinaemia.3 Little is known, however, about the association between relative weight change from childhood to adulthood and the development of metabolic syndrome in adulthood. Material, methods, and resultsWe recently published data of a population study for the metabolic syndrome, performed during 1993-4 in Pieksämäki, Finland. All subjects (n = 1008) born in the years 1947, 1952, and 1957 were examined according to a protocol described elsewhere.4 Data on both weight and height at age 7 years (the start of primary school) were also collected.Altogether, 712/1008 (70.6%) subjects participated in the study. Weights and heights at age 7 were traced for 439/712 (61.7%) participants. Obesity was defined both in childhood and in adulthood as a sex specific highest third of the body mass index (weight(kg)/ (height (m) 2 )). The metabolic syndrome was defined as a cluster of (a) hypertension (a systolic blood pressure >140 mm Hg, a diastolic blood pressure >90 mm Hg, or treatment with antihypertensive drugs); (b) dyslipidaemia (hypertriglyceridaemia (>1.70 mmol/l) or a high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration of < 1.00 mmol/l ( < 1.20 mmol/l in women), or both dyslipidaemia and hypertriglyceridaemia); and (c) insulin resistance (abnormal glucose metabolism according to the World Health Organisation's criteria or hyperinsulinaemia (>78 pmol/l), or both). 2-4Of the 439 subjects, 75 had been obese and 219 not obese in both childhood and adulthood; 71 had not been obese as children but were obese as adults; and 74 had been obese as children but were not obese as adults. The metabolic syndrome was present in 18/219 (8%) men and in 12/220 (5%) women. Of the 30 subjects having this syndrome, 28 were obese as adults; 21 of them had also been obese as children (table). In exact logistic regression analysis (LogXact), the risk of metabolic syndrome was 2.9 (95% confidence interval 1.1 to 7.6) for the subjects who had been obese as children and 26.7 (6.4 to 237) for the subjects who were obese as adults, compared with their non-obese controls. None of the 74 subjects who had been obese as children but who were not obese as adults had the metabolic syndrome. The increased risk of the metabolic syndrome was still present when the population was split into thirds for weight but not when it was split into thirds for height. CommentOur results show that half of the obese children had become obese adults with an especially high risk of the metabolic syndrome and that childhood obesity overall increases the risk for the metabolic syndrome in adulthood. The risk of the syndrome was lower among the obese adults who had not been obese as children than among the obese adults who had also been obese as childr...

Table of contentsP001 - Sepsis impairs the capillary response within hypoxic capillaries and decreases erythrocyte oxygen-dependent ATP effluxR. M. Bateman, M. D. Sharpe, J. E. Jagger, C. G. EllisP002 - Lower serum immunoglobulin G2 level does not predispose to severe flu.J. Solé-Violán, M. López-Rodríguez, E. Herrera-Ramos, J. Ruíz-Hernández, L. Borderías, J. Horcajada, N. González-Quevedo, O. Rajas, M. Briones, F. Rodríguez de Castro, C. Rodríguez GallegoP003 - Brain protective effects of intravenous immunoglobulin through inhibition of complement activation and apoptosis in a rat model of sepsisF. Esen, G. Orhun, P. Ergin Ozcan, E. Senturk, C. Ugur Yilmaz, N. Orhan, N. Arican, M. Kaya, M. Kucukerden, M. Giris, U. Akcan, S. Bilgic Gazioglu, E. TuzunP004 - Adenosine a1 receptor dysfunction is associated with leukopenia: A possible mechanism for sepsis-induced leukopeniaR. Riff, O. Naamani, A. DouvdevaniP005 - Analysis of neutrophil by hyper spectral imaging - A preliminary reportR. Takegawa, H. Yoshida, T. Hirose, N. Yamamoto, H. Hagiya, M. Ojima, Y. Akeda, O. Tasaki, K. Tomono, T. ShimazuP006 - Chemiluminescent intensity assessed by eaa predicts the incidence of postoperative infectious complications following gastrointestinal surgeryS. Ono, T. Kubo, S. Suda, T. Ueno, T. IkedaP007 - Serial change of c1 inhibitor in patients with sepsis – A prospective observational studyT. Hirose, H. Ogura, H. Takahashi, M. Ojima, J. Kang, Y. Nakamura, T. Kojima, T. ShimazuP008 - Comparison of bacteremia and sepsis on sepsis related biomarkersT. Ikeda, S. Suda, Y. Izutani, T. Ueno, S. OnoP009 - The changes of procalcitonin levels in critical patients with abdominal septic shock during blood purificationT. Taniguchi, M. OP010 - Validation of a new sensitive point of care device for rapid measurement of procalcitoninC. Dinter, J. Lotz, B. Eilers, C. Wissmann, R. LottP011 - Infection biomarkers in primary care patients with acute respiratory tract infections – Comparison of procalcitonin and C-reactive proteinM. M. Meili, P. S. SchuetzP012 - Do we need a lower procalcitonin cut off?H. Hawa, M. Sharshir, M. Aburageila, N. SalahuddinP013 - The predictive role of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin biomarkers in central nervous system infections with extensively drug resistant bacteriaV. Chantziara, S. Georgiou, A. Tsimogianni, P. Alexandropoulos, A. Vassi, F. Lagiou, M. Valta, G. Micha, E. Chinou, G. MichaloudisP014 - Changes in endotoxin activity assay and procalcitonin levels after direct hemoperfusion with polymyxin-b immobilized fiberA. Kodaira, T. Ikeda, S. Ono, T. Ueno, S. Suda, Y. Izutani, H. ImaizumiP015 - Diagnostic usefullness of combination biomarkers on ICU admissionM. V. De la Torre-Prados, A. Garcia-De la Torre, A. Enguix-Armada, A. Puerto-Morlan, V. Perez-Valero, A. Garcia-AlcantaraP016 - Platelet function analysis utilising the PFA-100 does not predict infection, bacteraemia, sepsis or outcome in critically ill patientsN. Bolton, J. Dudziak, S. Bonney, A. Tridente, P. NeeP017 - Extracellular histone H3 levels are in...

The cause of dyspepsia was organic in 45%. Functional disorders, when symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux was included, were diagnosed in 55%. The latest classification of functional dyspepsia is not in accordance with the symptom complex.