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U Keil

Bio: U Keil is an academic researcher from University of Ulm. The author has contributed to research in topics: Asthma & Population. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 15 publications receiving 3853 citations.

Papers
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Journal Article
TL;DR: The variation in the prevalences of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic-eczema symptoms is striking between different centres throughout the world and will form the basis of further studies to investigate factors that potentially lead to these international patterns.

3,584 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Wolfgang Koenig1, M. Sund1, Edzard Ernst1, W Mraz1, Vinzenz Hombach1, U Keil1 
TL;DR: In this article, the relation between determinants of blood rheology and components of lipoproteins in a large sample of a population aged 25-64 years was studied.
Abstract: BACKGROUND Recent studies have suggested that several hemostatic factors, leukocyte count, and plasma viscosity are predictive of coronary heart disease. Detailed analyses on lifestyle correlates, in particular plasma lipids and lipoproteins, of determinants of blood rheology have not been reported from epidemiological studies. METHODS AND RESULTS We studied the relation between determinants of blood rheology and components of lipoproteins in a large sample of a population aged 25-64 years. The rheological parameters investigated were plasma viscosity, hemoglobin, and total serum protein; the lipoprotein variables included total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and the apoproteins A-I, A-II, and B. Covariables considered for possible confounding effects were age, body mass index, smoking behavior, alcohol consumption, and hypertension. Plasma viscosity was found to have a positive linear association with total cholesterol and apoprotein B (partial correlations after adjustment for all covariables including total serum protein for men and women were r = 0.23/0.19 and 0.24/0.25, respectively) and a small negative linear association with HDL cholesterol (r = -0.14/-0.10) and with apoprotein A-I (r = -0.08/-0.06). Polynomial regression showed a strong quadratic relation with HDL cholesterol in men, whereas no other variable revealed an appreciable deviation from linearity. The covariables had only a small, if any, confounding effect. Total serum protein, after control for the covariables, appeared to be associated only with total cholesterol. No association was found with hemoglobin. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that rheological mechanisms may be involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic syndromes in hyperlipidemias. However, the finding that in particular men with very low HDL cholesterol exhibit increased plasma viscosity cannot be explained in pure rheological terms but may be, at least in part, the result of concomitant hypertriglyceridemia. This was not assessed in this study.

88 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: There is a great need to develop and disseminate effective cessation interventions in low-income countries and successful interventions will contribute to a culturally sensitive and sustainable regional tobacco control infrastructure in the Middle East.
Abstract: OBJECTIFS : Decrire les raisons et les methodes du developpement d'interventions d'aide a l'arret du tabagisme tenant compte des donnees culturelles pour des contextes de soins primaires dans les pays en developpement. JUSTIFICATION: Au Moyen-Orient, les fumeurs ont de grandes difficultes a arreter de fumer. Les programmes efficaces d'aide a l'arret manquent actuellement au Moyen-Orient, et dans cette region, le developpement de programmes tenant compte des facteurs culturels est freine par la penurie d'informations standardisees concernant l'utilisation du tabac et la dependance. METHODES: Des methodes epidemiologiques et de laboratoire clinique sont necessaires pour determiner la prevalence des sites d'utilisation du tabac et de la dependance a la nicotine. Une strategie consiste a adapter les methodes d'aide a l'arret largement utilisees dans les pays developpes a l'environnement de la Syrie et du Moyen-Orient. Dans un projet mis en route recemment, le Centre Syrien pour les Etudes du Tabac a ete fonde pour s'occuper de ces problemes. Le travail initial se concentre sur la collecte de donnees formelles incluant des interviews-cle informatives, des focus-groupes, et des enquetes epidemiologiques pour determiner les types d'utilisation du tabac, les besoins et les ressources. Des techniques de laboratoire clinique sont egalement appliquees pour apprecier les effets physiologiques, comportementaux et subjectifs des methodes locales d'utilisation du tabac comme le fumage de narghile. Ces donnees seront utilisees pour que les interventions d'aide a l'arret du tabagisme existant dans les pays developpes, une fois adaptees, puissent etre evaluees dans un essai controle et randomise. CONCLUSION: Dans les pays en developpement, il est hautement necessaire de developper et de disseminer des interventions efficaces d'aide a l'arret. Des interventions efficientes contribueront a une infrastructure regionale de lutte contre le tabagisme qui tienne compte des facteurs culturels et puisse etre poursuivie dans le temps. Cet article decrit une approche du developpement d'une telle infrastructure actuellement en route au Moyen-Orient.

60 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Wolfgang Koenig1, M. Sund1, Edzard Ernst1, U Keil1, J Rosenthal1, Vinzenz Hombach1 
TL;DR: Results indicate that BP is positively associated with plasma viscosity, and increased levels of plasma proteins (particularly fibrinogen as the main determinant of plasma Viscosity) may represent the cause for elevated plasma viscoity.

58 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The change of associations in participants that reported allergy-related avoidance of carpets suggests that the observed effects are a result of asthmatics’ changed behavior, and underline the need of establishing a precise temporal relationship between disease and exposure.
Abstract: Background: The indoor home environment has been shown to be associated with the presence of respiratory symptoms and atopic disease. Methods: Two cross-sectional

40 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The evidence for adverse effects on health of selected air pollutants is discussed, and it is unclear whether a threshold concentration exists for particulate matter and ozone below which no effect on health is likely.

4,010 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The rise in prevalence of symptoms in many centres is concerning, but the absence of increases in prevalence in asthma symptoms for centres with existing high prevalence in the older age-group is reassuring.

3,762 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: The variation in the prevalences of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic-eczema symptoms is striking between different centres throughout the world and will form the basis of further studies to investigate factors that potentially lead to these international patterns.

3,584 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 May 2004-Allergy
TL;DR: This report provides a wealth of information that will be an invaluable source of information for those who wish to explore available data on the burden of asthma by region and will be extremely useful to develop background materials for World Asthma Day activities in 2004 and well into the future.
Abstract: It is estimated that as many as 300 million people of all ages, and all ethnic backgrounds, suffer from asthma and the burden of this disease to governments, health care systems, families, and patients is increasing worldwide. In 1989 the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) program was initiated in an effort to raise awareness among public health and government officials, health care workers, and the general public that asthma was on the increase. The GINA program recommends a management program based on the best available scientific evidence to provide effective medical care for asthma tailored to local health care systems and resources. Working in continued collaboration with leaders in asthma care from many countries, GINA sponsors World Asthma Day (first Tuesday in May) which has been extremely successful. A vast number of people have made a commitment to bring awareness about the burden of asthma to their local health care officials, and to implement programs of effective asthma care. Beginning in 2003, the theme of World Asthma Day has been the ‘‘Global Burden of Asthma.’’ GINA commissioned Professor Richard Beasley, Wellington, New Zealand (member, GINA Dissemination Committee) to provide available data on the burden of asthma. A summary of this report is provided in this publication; the full document with data sets for 20 different regions worldwide may be obtained from the GINA website (http://www.ginasthma.com). Professor Beasley and his colleagues obtained data on the burden of asthma from literature primarily published through the International StudyofAsthmaandAllergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECHRS). Methodologies differ in these studies, and epidemiological data on asthma are very difficult to collect, as Professor Beasley carefully describes in his segment on ‘‘Methodological Issues.’’ Nonetheless, the full report provides a wealth of information, along with a large number of scientific references. The study regions have been grouped according to geographical, political, historical, and racial considerations based on official data from WHO, the United Nations (UN), and other sources, and to some extent, the availability of asthma epidemiological data within the study region. Using the United Nations World Population Prospect Population Database (http://esa.un.org/unpp) as a source within each region, all countries were included, and in some cases territories and dependencies if specific asthma epidemiological data were available. For simplicity some data from small territories have been omitted or lumped in a larger sub-regional unit. The report will be updated as new information becomes available and following feedback from individual countries and regions. The GINA Executive Committee is indebted to Professor Beasley and his colleagues for providing this report that will be an invaluable source of information for those who wish to explore available data on the burden of asthma by region. It will be extremely useful to develop background materials for World Asthma Day activities in 2004 and well into the future. Matthew Masoli, Denise Fabian, Shaun Holt, Richard Beasley for the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Program

3,418 citations