Cold exposure and health : A study on neurological and vascular hand symptoms in northern Sweden
Background: Living in a cold climate is associated with several adverse health effects. The main purpose of this thesis was to describe cold exposure characteristics in northern Sweden, and investigate the associations between such exposure and the reporting of neurological and vascular hand symptom...
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Umeå universitet, Avdelningen för hållbar hälsa
2021
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ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-182187 2023-10-09T21:53:46+02:00 Cold exposure and health : A study on neurological and vascular hand symptoms in northern Sweden Köldexponering och hälsa : En studie av neurologiska och vaskulära handsymptom i norra Sverige Stjernbrandt, Albin 2021 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-182187 eng eng Umeå universitet, Avdelningen för hållbar hälsa Umeå : Umeå universitet Umeå University medical dissertations, 0346-6612 2106 orcid:0000-0001-6082-8465 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-182187 urn:isbn:978-91-7855-419-5 urn:isbn:978-91-7855-418-8 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Cold climate Sweden Hand Frostbite Raynaud disease Peripheral nerve injuries Occupational Health and Environmental Health Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis text 2021 ftumeauniv 2023-09-22T13:56:33Z Background: Living in a cold climate is associated with several adverse health effects. The main purpose of this thesis was to describe cold exposure characteristics in northern Sweden, and investigate the associations between such exposure and the reporting of neurological and vascular hand symptoms. One common cold-related hand symptom is Raynaud’s phenomenon, defined as episodic attacks of acral pallor or cyanosis. There is evidence to suggest that cold exposure can act both as a causal factor and a trigger for such vasospastic symptoms. Other important associated factors include exposure to hand-arm vibration and the presence of rheumatic disease. A somewhat similar clinical entity, cold sensitivity, is defined as a collection of acquired symptoms, resulting in an abnormal aversion to cold, with pain, sensory alterations, stiffness, or color changes, which may occur after a traumatic injury. The condition is hypothesized to mainly originate from nerve injury. The effects of cold exposure on hand function, the occurrence of cold sensitivity in the general population, the link between cold exposure and cold sensitivity, as well as the interface between cold sensitivity and Raynaud’s phenomenon are not fully understood. Therefore, this thesis was also intended to expand the knowledge on Raynaud’s phenomenon and cold sensitivity. Methods: Postal surveys were sent to a sample of men and women between 18 and 70 years of age, living in Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Västernorrland, and Jämtland, drawn from the national Swedish population register. The first survey collected data on 12,627 subjects, and the results were used to describe cold exposure characteristics, and broadly investigate the statistical associations with different neurological and vascular hand symptoms (Paper I). A follow-up survey was sent to a subset of responders, to form nested case–control studies on cold sensitivity (N=1,230; Paper II) and Raynaud’s phenomenon (N=1,400; Paper III). Subjects with cold sensitivity (N=12) from Paper II were ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Norra Sverige Northern Sweden Norrbotten Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Cold climate Sweden Hand Frostbite Raynaud disease Peripheral nerve injuries Occupational Health and Environmental Health Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin |
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Cold climate Sweden Hand Frostbite Raynaud disease Peripheral nerve injuries Occupational Health and Environmental Health Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin Stjernbrandt, Albin Cold exposure and health : A study on neurological and vascular hand symptoms in northern Sweden |
topic_facet |
Cold climate Sweden Hand Frostbite Raynaud disease Peripheral nerve injuries Occupational Health and Environmental Health Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin |
description |
Background: Living in a cold climate is associated with several adverse health effects. The main purpose of this thesis was to describe cold exposure characteristics in northern Sweden, and investigate the associations between such exposure and the reporting of neurological and vascular hand symptoms. One common cold-related hand symptom is Raynaud’s phenomenon, defined as episodic attacks of acral pallor or cyanosis. There is evidence to suggest that cold exposure can act both as a causal factor and a trigger for such vasospastic symptoms. Other important associated factors include exposure to hand-arm vibration and the presence of rheumatic disease. A somewhat similar clinical entity, cold sensitivity, is defined as a collection of acquired symptoms, resulting in an abnormal aversion to cold, with pain, sensory alterations, stiffness, or color changes, which may occur after a traumatic injury. The condition is hypothesized to mainly originate from nerve injury. The effects of cold exposure on hand function, the occurrence of cold sensitivity in the general population, the link between cold exposure and cold sensitivity, as well as the interface between cold sensitivity and Raynaud’s phenomenon are not fully understood. Therefore, this thesis was also intended to expand the knowledge on Raynaud’s phenomenon and cold sensitivity. Methods: Postal surveys were sent to a sample of men and women between 18 and 70 years of age, living in Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Västernorrland, and Jämtland, drawn from the national Swedish population register. The first survey collected data on 12,627 subjects, and the results were used to describe cold exposure characteristics, and broadly investigate the statistical associations with different neurological and vascular hand symptoms (Paper I). A follow-up survey was sent to a subset of responders, to form nested case–control studies on cold sensitivity (N=1,230; Paper II) and Raynaud’s phenomenon (N=1,400; Paper III). Subjects with cold sensitivity (N=12) from Paper II were ... |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Stjernbrandt, Albin |
author_facet |
Stjernbrandt, Albin |
author_sort |
Stjernbrandt, Albin |
title |
Cold exposure and health : A study on neurological and vascular hand symptoms in northern Sweden |
title_short |
Cold exposure and health : A study on neurological and vascular hand symptoms in northern Sweden |
title_full |
Cold exposure and health : A study on neurological and vascular hand symptoms in northern Sweden |
title_fullStr |
Cold exposure and health : A study on neurological and vascular hand symptoms in northern Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cold exposure and health : A study on neurological and vascular hand symptoms in northern Sweden |
title_sort |
cold exposure and health : a study on neurological and vascular hand symptoms in northern sweden |
publisher |
Umeå universitet, Avdelningen för hållbar hälsa |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-182187 |
genre |
Norra Sverige Northern Sweden Norrbotten |
genre_facet |
Norra Sverige Northern Sweden Norrbotten |
op_relation |
Umeå University medical dissertations, 0346-6612 2106 orcid:0000-0001-6082-8465 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-182187 urn:isbn:978-91-7855-419-5 urn:isbn:978-91-7855-418-8 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1779317106674761728 |