Sangyō eiseigaku zasshi = Journal of occupational health
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Sangyo Eiseigaku Zasshi · May 2003
Review[Central nervous system involvement in patients with decompression illness].
Dysbarism or decompression illness (DCI), a general term applied to all pathological changes secondary to altered environmental pressure, has two forms decompression sickness (DCS) and arterial gas embolism (AGE) after pulmonary barotrauma. Cerebral and spinal disorders have been symptomatically categorized as AGE and DCS, respectively. Magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of divers with DCI showed multiple cerebral infarction in the terminal and border zones of the brain arteries. ⋯ We propose that there is a difference between clinical and mechanical diagnoses in the criteria of brain DCI. In contrast to brain injury, the spinal cord is involved only in compressed air divers, and is caused by disturbed venous circulation due to bubbles in the epidural space. The best approach to prevent diving accidents is to make known the problems for professional and amateur divers.
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Sangyo Eiseigaku Zasshi · Nov 2000
Review[Job stress control at workplace: how to plan and conduct].
This review addressed that stress control activities at workplace could be classified into four categories: (1) improvement of work environment; (2) education/training; (3) health care for stress; (4) mental health service. Research has demonstrated that each of these activities is effective to some extent. The review also pointed out that stress control at workplace could be planned and conducted under occupational health systems, e.g., occupational safety & health management system. Then I proposed a possible effective strategy for planning and conducting stress control at workplace.
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Sangyo Eiseigaku Zasshi · Jan 1997
[A study of waste anesthetic gases monitoring and working environmental controls in hospital operating rooms].
There are hazardous factors threatening health care workers, and many hazardous chemical substances have been reported in operating rooms, central supply facilities, laboratories and so on. In Japan, little attention has been paid to exposure to these chemicals and to working environmental controls. Waste anesthetic gases are chemicals concerned, and we conducted environmental monitoring continuously and measured exposure to nitrous oxide, isoflurane and sevoflurane in operating rooms, and examined working environmental controls. ⋯ Managing general ventilation system and airflow direction, working area under scavenged system, environmental concentration levels of nitrous oxide could be reduced to 20-30 ppm. In order to control occupational exposure to anesthetic gases, it is not sufficient to merely adapt scavenging systems in operating rooms. Working environmental control and occupational hygiene management should be required.
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This review describes the usefulness of computed tomography (CT) and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in image evaluation in pneumoconiosis. For pneumoconiosis, in the same way as for other diffuse lung diseases, conventional CT includes 10 mm collimation scans at 1 cm intervals from the apex to the base of the lung, whereas HRCT uses five to six 1.2 to 3 mm collimation scans at predetermined representative locations including the aortic arch, the tracheal carina, and 2 cm above the dome of the right hemidiaphragm. The CT scans are performed in the supine position in silicosis and coal workers' pneumoconiosis, and both in the supine and prone position in asbestosis. ⋯ In coal workers' pneumoconiosis, the HRCT is useful in detecting nodules located in the subpleural and fissural subpleural areas. In asbestosis, the conventional CT can detect pleural plaques more sensitively than chest radiography. HRCT is also especially useful in detecting earlier fibrotic change in asbestosis in lung parenchyma, apparent as subpleural lines, parenchymal bands, subpleural curvilinear line shadows and so on.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)