Tero Vahlberg

• University of Turku

Background/objectives Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is best managed via lifestyle changes. We aimed at investigating to which extent women with GDM adhered to dietary recommendations and to which extent an impact was observed on the glycaemic control compared to women without GDM. Subjects/methods Women with overweight/obesity (n = 349) were...

Background Self-rated health (SRH) reflects biological, social, and functional aspects of an individual, incorporating personal and cultural beliefs as well as health behaviours. A deeper understanding of the structure of SRH can help health professionals focus on patients' personal health and functional goals and guide preventive health policies....

Objective To investigate the role of neuroinflammation in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) across different parkinsonian disorders—Parkinson's disease (PD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and multiple system atrophy (MSA)—by examining SNc dopaminergic neuron counts, neuroinflammatory T cells, and microglial activity. Methods Postmor...

Background While previous imaging studies have generally shown normal striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) binding in essential tremor (ET), emerging evidence suggests a partial dopaminergic mechanism in this condition and an epidemiological link between ET and Parkinson's disease (PD). This link seems particularly meaningful in ET patients with add...

Existing studies suggest that mindfulness‐based interventions (MBIs) can reduce ADHD symptoms when delivered as targeted clinical programs to young people diagnosed with ADHD. However, there is currently a lack of research on whether MBIs are effective in reducing elevated ADHD symptoms when delivered as universal programs to whole classes in schoo...

Background In this study in a tertiary care hospital, we examined the characteristics of the different microbial etiologies of infective endocarditis (IE) and the factors associated with embolic events. Materials and methods We included patients (aged ≥18 years) hospitalized for IE in Turku University Hospital in Finland between 2004-2017. Patient...

Introduction There is a scarcity of research with high quality methods on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on adolescents’ mental well-being. This study investigates the MBI effects on adolescents’ stress and self-kindness with an extensive cluster RCT design, and a role of self-kindness as a mediator for the association...

Background Approx. 14% of adolescents experience mental health disorders. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) could be one way to support adolescents’ well-being. We investigated the effectiveness of a 9-week school-based mindfulness intervention on adolescents’ well-being, moderated by gender, grade, and independent practice. Methods In total...

Background This study employs a cluster randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of a universal mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) in classrooms in improving emotional well-being and emotion regulation among adolescents with elevated ADHD symptoms. Methods The study comprised 342 students: 164 in an MBI group, 128 in a relaxa...

Nursing staff's pressure ulcer (PU) prevention knowledge in long-term older people care (LOPC) varies. In particular, more evidence is needed to improve the knowledge of nursing staff with a lower level of education with context-tailored interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of intervention on nursing staff's PU prevention...

We have earlier reported that inhaled xenon combined with hypothermia attenuates brain white matter injury in comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). A predefined secondary objective was to assess the effect of inhaled xenon on the structural changes in gray matter in comatose survivors after OHCA. Patients were randomly assign...

Wheezing children infected with rhinovirus (RV) have a markedly increased risk of subsequently developing recurrencies and asthma. No previous studies have assessed the association between cytokine response and the severity of acute illness in the first wheezing episode in children infected with RV. Forty-seven children treated both as inpatients a...

Background Successful ageing is the term often used for depicting exceptional ageing and can be measured with multidimensional models including physical, psychological and social wellbeing. The aim of this study was to test multidimensional successful ageing models to investigate whether these models can predict successful ageing, and which individ...

Objective This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of dietary caffeine intake on striatal dopamine function and clinical symptoms in Parkinson disease in a cross‐sectional and longitudinal setting. Methods One hundred sixty‐three early Parkinson disease patients and 40 healthy controls were investigated with [ ¹²³ I]FP‐CIT single photo...

INTRODUCTION Many elements of life can affect sexual health; thus, healthcare professionals require good knowledge of sexual medicine to encounter patients with these issues. We aimed to study final-year medical and midwifery students’ self-reported knowledge of factors associated with sexuality and their knowledge of how to evaluate and treat/coun...

Importance Maternal diabetes and overweight or obesity are known to be associated with increased risk of congenital heart defects (CHDs) in offspring, but there are no large studies analyzing outcomes associated with these factors in 1 model. Objective To investigate the association of maternal diabetes and overweight or obesity with CHDs among of...

Background Rhinovirus (RV)‐induced first wheezing episodes in children are associated with a markedly increased risk of asthma. Previous studies have suggested that human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) may modify RV‐induced immune responses in young children. We investigated cytokine profiles of sole RV‐ and dual RV‐HBoV1‐induced first wheezing episodes, and...

Background Teachers are reporting increased stress, burnout, and workload at schools. Previous studies have shown that mindfulness-based (MF-based) programs are potential interventions to decrease stress and improve wellbeing among teachers. The aim of this Healthy Learning Mind -teacher study was to investigate the effects of a MF-based wellbeing...

Background Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have shown promising results on students’ well-being in several countries, including Finland. However, less is known of the long-term effects of MBIs. We investigated the effects of MBI on mental health in school-setting in a one-year follow-up in an extensive randomized controlled trial Healthy Lear...

Background and objectives: The trend in detection rates of asymptomatic unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) on brain computed tomography angiography/magnetic resonance angiography (CTA/MRA) is not well established. Our objective was to evaluate time trends in asymptomatic UIA detection rates on brain CTA/MRA between 2005 and 2019. Methods:...

N-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) and probiotics are generally considered to induce health benefits. The objective was to investigate 1) the impact of fish oil and/or probiotics on serum fatty acids (sFAs), 2) the interaction of sFAs with low-grade inflammatorion and 3) the relation of sFAs to the onset of gestational diabetes m...

Background As n‐3 long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and probiotics possess immunomodulatory properties, theoretically they could lower the risk of allergic diseases. But their effects remain controversial. We aimed to study the effects of fish oil and probiotics separately or in combination from early pregnancy onwards to lower the risk of all...

Objective: This study assessed the effect of empowering education on patient-reported outcomes and morbidity. Methods: A randomised controlled trial was conducted on adults with colorectal cancer (43 + 40). The intervention consisted of one-hour empowering patient education on nutrition impact side effects. The effect was compared with standard...

Background and objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) can mimic acute diverticulitis and can thus be misdiagnosed. Therefore, colonic evaluation is recommended after an episode of acute diverticulitis. The aim of this study was to analyze the risk of CRC after computed tomography (CT) verified uncomplicated and complicated acute diverticulitis in shor...

Background Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a neurological emergency, affecting a younger population than individuals experiencing an ischemic stroke; aSAH is associated with a high risk of mortality and permanent disability. The noble gas xenon has been shown to possess neuroprotective properties as demonstrated in numerous preclinical...

Scope: Modifying the composition of colostrum by external factors may provide opportunities to improve the infant's health. Here, we evaluated how fish oil and/or probiotics supplementation modify concentrations of colostrum immune mediators and their associations with perinatal clinical factors on mothers with overweight/obesity. Methods and res...

Establishing the neural mechanisms responsible for the altered global states of consciousness during anesthesia and dissociating these from other drug-related effects remains a challenge in consciousness research. We investigated differences in brain activity between connectedness and disconnectedness by administering various anesthetics at concent...

Background: Anaesthetic-induced unresponsiveness and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep share common neural pathways and neurophysiological features. We hypothesised that these states bear resemblance also at the experiential level. Methods: We compared, in a within-subject design, the prevalence and content of experiences in reports obtained a...

Background Successful ageing is the term often used for depicting exceptional ageing but a uniform definition is lacking. The aim was to re-examine and describe the successful agers living at home at the age of 84 years or over after a 20-year follow-up. The purpose was also to identify possible factors leading to their successful ageing. Methods...

Aims: The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases increases in women after menopause. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of conventional cardiovascular risk factors such as age, blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol, obesity, and glucose balance, but also menopausal state and sleep-disordered breathing on vascular impairment during meno...

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate whether parental views on child feeding and its impact on health differ between those parents whose self-perception was that they followed a healthy diet to those who do not. Furthermore, differences in the child's diet quality and weight were compared between the groups. Parents of 2-6-year-...

Importance: Congenital heart defects (CHDs) affect 1-2% of newborns and are associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Understanding risk factors underlying CHDs is essential for prevention. Objective: To determine the association between maternal diabetes and overweight/obesity and CHDs among offspring. Design: Nationwide population-base...

Background Various indexes have been developed to estimate the risk for mortality, institutionalization, and other adverse outcomes for older people. Most indexes are based on a large number of clinical or laboratory parameters. An index based on only a few parameters would be more practical to use in every-day clinical practice. Our aim was to cre...

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the blood pressure increase observed during menopausal transition is affected by sleep‐disordered breathing and the menopause itself. Further, we aimed to find new sleep‐disordered breathing related markers that would predict the development of hypertension. Sixty‐four community‐dwelling premenopausa...

Objectives: To evaluate whether a fish oil and/or probiotics intervention in pregnant women with overweight or obesity would influence the tendency of their 24-month-old children to become overweight and alter their body fat percentage. Methods: Women (n = 439) were double-blindly randomized into 4 intervention groups: fish oil+placebo, probioti...

Gambling disorder (GD) is major public health issue. The disorder is often characterized by elevated impulsivity with evidence from analogous substance use disorders underlining prominent roles of brain monoamines in addiction susceptibility and outcome. Critically, GD allows the study of addiction mechanisms without the confounder of the effects o...

Background Maternal metabolic disturbances and diet may influence long-term infantile neurodevelopment. We investigated whether maternal gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), obesity, and diet could affect the neurodevelopment of 2-year-old children. Methods Neurodevelopment of children ( n = 243) born to mothers with overweight or obesity was asse...

This study evaluates the effect of nursing staff's renewed consistent pressure ulcer (PU) prevention practice on PU prevalence and the PU prevention implemented for residents. A quasi‐experimental intervention study was conducted. The data were collected from 232 residents (n = 115 in intervention and 117 in comparison group) in two public long‐ter...

Introduction Sexual health is an important aspect of quality of life, yet both healthcare professionals and patients might hesitate to bring up the topic during appointments. Our study investigated obstetrician‐gynecologists' (OB/GYNs') self‐reported competences in discussing and treating sexual problems, as well as the barriers to bringing up the...

Background Cerebrovascular involvement of Kawasaki disease (KD) is poorly studied. White matter hyperintensities (WMH) indicate cerebral small vessel disease and increase the risk for stroke. Purpose To investigate whether childhood KD is associated with WMHs and other cerebrovascular findings later in adulthood. Materials and methods In this cas...

Purpose We compared the predictive accuracy of early-phase brain diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS), and serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) against the motor score and epileptic seizures (ES) for poor neurological outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Methods The predictive accuracy of D...

Objectives Physicians and midwives meet patients with sexual health issues regularly; however, they may have limited sexual medicine education. The study’s aim was to evaluate the self-reported competence of medical and midwifery students to bring up sexual health issues with their patients and to assess the barriers that hinder these discussions....

Background: The 5-visual analogue scale Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire subjective sleep measure is widely used in intensive care. A cut-off score indicative of good quality sleep has not been established and is required to guide the categorisation of individual patient and unit wide sleep quality. Design and methods: The aim was to determin...

Purpose Iodine insufficiency during pregnancy may adversely influence fetal growth and development. There is a lack of information on iodine status in pregnant women and infants in many countries including Finland. The aim of this study is to determine dietary intake of iodine and the iodine status in a population of Finnish pregnant women and thei...

Background A ubiquitous human pathogen, Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus, GAS) causes infections from mild pharyngitis to severe septic infections. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a condition of prompt decline of renal function. The aim of the present study was to report the incidence and outcome of AKI in GAS bacteraemia and to evaluate...

Importance Investing in health care staffs’ education can change the scope of action and improve care. The effectiveness of staff education remains inconclusive. Objective To examine whether an evidence-based educational intervention for nurses decreases the use of seclusion rooms in psychiatric hospitals compared with usual practice. Design, Set...

Micrographia is a common symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and it may precede other motor symptoms. Despite the high prevalence of micrographia in PD, its neurobiological mechanisms are not known. Given that levodopa may alleviate consistent micrographia and that nondopaminergic essential tremor (ET) is not associated with micrographia, microgra...

The current pilot study examines the effects of a mindfulness intervention versus relaxation-based active control on psychophysiological reactivity measured by heart rate (HR), high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), skin conductance level (SCL), and number of skin conductance responses (SCR) in adolescents. A total of 110 students, ages 12...

Background: The 5-visual analogue scale Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire subjective sleep measure is widely used in intensive care. A cut-off score indicative of good quality sleep has not been established and is required to guide the categorisation of individual patient and unit wide sleep quality. Design and methods: The aim was to determ...

Background Sleep disturbances and mood symptoms are common in late pregnancy; according to the literature, they can affect delivery and newborn outcomes. This study evaluated the effect of sleep and mood symptoms on delivery and newborn health, because there are insufficient and partly contradictory studies on the topic. Methods A cohort of 1414 m...

Cerebrobascular involvement of Kawasaki disease (KD) is poorly studied. White matter hyperintensities (WMH) indicate cerebral small vessel disease and increases risk for stroke. We investigated if childhood KD is associated with WMHs later in adulthood. In this case-control study, patients diagnosed with KD (cases) at our tertiary hospital between...

Purpose An optimal diet for lowering the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is still to be defined, but may comprise of nutrient intakes, dietary patterns, diet quality, and eating frequency. This study was designed to investigate the contribution of diet in developing GDM in a comprehensive way. Methods The dietary intake of overweight o...

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women. The risk of CVD increases in women after menopause. The aim was to study how sleep parameters and cardiovascular risk factors in 46-year-old women predict future carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) 10 years after. Methods Prospective study of 92 healthy women, aged 46...

Background This paper presents the baseline characteristics and their moderators in the Healthy Learning Mind (HLM)– school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial. Objectives The paper evaluates the state of various measures of well-being, their moderators and how these results compare to national and global norms/population studies. Methods D...

Purpose To evaluate the burden of illness caused by hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and association of readmissions due to HG with maternal, environmental and pregnancy-related factors, and different pregnancy outcomes. Methods Data of women with HG diagnosis in Finland, 2005–2017, were retrieved from health-care registers. Associations between readmi...

Abstract Background Older adults are more susceptible to respiratory tract infection than healthy working age adults. The increased susceptibility of older adults is thought to be interlinked with vitamin D status, nourishment, and immunological state in general. Data are scarce whether these parameters could serve as prognostic markers. Aim To stu...

Introduction The relationship of prodromal markers of PD with PD mortality is unclear. Electronic health records (EHRs) provide a large source of raw data that could be useful in the identification of novel relevant prognostic factors in PD. We aimed to provide a proof of concept for automated data mining and pattern recognition of EHRs of PD patie...

Background and aims Elevated circulating levels of CathepsinD (CatD) have been linked to metabolic deviations including liver inflammation. We investigated 1) whether supplementation with probiotics and/or fish oil affects CatD and 2) whether the CatD concentration would associate with gestational diabetes (GDM), low-grade inflammation, lipid metab...

Objectives Many chronic diseases and their medications may induce sexual problems. This study aimed to evaluate whether general practitioners (GPs) raise sexual health issues during appointments with patients who have chronic diseases. Study design A web-based questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 1,000 GPs in Finland. Main outcome...

Introduction There is accumulating evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness‐based interventions in alleviating depressive symptoms. A crucial question is, however, whether mindfulness interventions are more effective for some individuals than others, depending on individual characteristics before a mindfulness intervention. We exploratorily in...

Background: Various indexes have been developed to estimate the risk for mortality, institutionalization, and other adverse outcomes for older people. Most indexes are based on a large number of clinical or laboratory parameters. An index based on only a few parameters would be more practical to use in every-day clinical practice. Methods: A prospe...

Background Up to 20% of older patients admitted to Emergency Department (ED) are readmitted within 30 days after being discharged. Geriatric assessment in ED has shown to be associated with preferable discharge rates and reduction of readmission rates in older patients. Methods Subjects of this prospective study were ≥75-year-old home-dwelling cit...

Objectives To analyze the long‐term side effects of radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer (HNC). Methods Retrospective chart analysis of all 688 HNC patients treated during 2010–2015 at Turku University Hospital, Finland. All patients who survived for more than a year after RT/chemoRT were included (n = 233). Intensity modulated RT (IMRT...

Object We investigated the impact of a school-based 9-week mindfulness program vs . active control program (relaxation) and inactive control group on children’s self-reported Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) moderated by gender, grade, and independent practice. Method In total 3519 (50/50% boys/girls) Finnish students aged 12–15 years from 5...

Background If a pregnant woman is overweight, this can evoke metabolic alterations that may have health consequences for both mother and child. Methods Pregnant women with overweight/obesity (n = 358) received fish oil+placebo, probiotics+placebo, fish oil+probiotics or placebo+placebo from early pregnancy onwards. The serum metabolome was analyse...

Rhinovirus‐induced early wheezing has been recognized as a major risk factor for subsequent wheezing and childhood asthma.1 Synergistic risk factors include aeroallergen sensitization, high type 2 cytokine expression, Moraxella‐dominant microbiota, rhinovirus C infection and risk genes (CDHR3 and polymorphism at 17q).

Objective To develop and evaluate a stand-alone Elementary School-aged Children’s Index of Diet Quality (ES-CIDQ). Design In this cross-sectional study, children filled in a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) with 29 multiple-item questions on the consumption of foods, portion sizes and eating frequency and a five-day food diary. Nutrient intakes...

Background: There is limited evidence about diet quality and associated factors in a representative population-based sample of preschool-aged children in Finland. Objective: The aims of this study were to investigate (1) the extent to which child diet quality and the consumption of health indicator foods (vegetables, fruits, berries, vegetable o...

Objectives To assess the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension (OH) and the association of OH with the risk of falls among community-dwelling older adults with a previous fall. Design Longitudinal study. Setting and Participants The subjects (n = 561) were participants in fall prevention conducted in western Finland. Methods Blood pressure (BP)...

OBJECTIVES: This explorative substudy aimed at determining the effect of inhaled xenon on left ventricular function by echocardiography in comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. DESIGN: A randomized two-group single-blinded phase 2 clinical drug trial. SETTING: A multipurpose ICU in two university hospitals. PATIENTS: Of t...

Background and objectives Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) is a safe and effective way to examine an N0 neck in early-stage oral cavity cancer (OCC). In this study, we evaluated the variables of SNB detection, surgery, and outcome. Material and methods Ninety-two patients with N0 OCC examined with SNB were included. Number and brightness of nodes detect...

Infective endocarditis (IE) is associated with high mortality. However, data on factors associated with length of stay (LOS) in hospital due to IE are scarce. In addition, long-term mortality of more than 1 year is inadequately known. In this large population-based study we investigated age and sex differences, temporal trends, and factors affectin...

Purpose: The ageing population is increasingly multimorbid. This challenges health care and elderly services as multimorbidity is associated with institutionalization. Especially dementia increases with age and is the main risk factor for institutionalization. The aim of this study was to assess the association of chronic conditions and multimorbi...

Objective Although sexual problems are common, they are rarely brought up in appointments with general practitioners (GPs). We aimed to assess the barriers that hinder GPs from bringing up sexual health issues and to evaluate the need for education on sexual medicine. Design A web-based questionnaire was used. Setting Four fields were included: A)...

Background Somatostatin receptors (SSTR) and chemokine receptor CXCR4 are expressed in lymphomas, while the abundance is known to be heterogeneous in different subtypes of lymphomas. Targeting tumor cells expressing these receptors might add to therapeutic opportunities while radiolabeled ligands for both imaging and therapy have been developed. Th...

Introduction The proportion of patients who are frequent attenders (FAs) varies from few percent to almost 30% of all patients. A small group of patients continued to visit GPs year after year. In previous studies, it has been reported that over 15% of all 1-year FAs were persistent frequent attenders (pFAs). Objectives This study aimed to identif...

Background Chemotherapy-induced side effects may have a negative effect on nutrition intake, thus increasing the risk of malnutrition and consequently, other serious complications for patients with cancer. The prevalence of malnutrition is common among patients with colorectal cancer. Nurse-led empowering education may have a positive effect on sel...

Background Objective health measures, such as registered illnesses or frailty, predict mortality and institutionalization in older adults. Also, self-reported assessment of health by simple self-rated health (SRH) has been shown to predict mortality and institutionalization. The aim of this study was to assess the association of objective and subje...

Background Acute rhinovirus-induced wheezing is common in young children and may respond to systemic corticosteroid. There are no trials on the efficacy of inhaled beta2-agonist in this clinical scenario. Objective To study post hoc the short-term (up to 2 months) efficacy of inhaled beta2-agonist with and without oral corticosteroid in the first...

Objective The primary objective of the trial was to assess the clinical effectiveness of medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty versus total knee arthroplasty in patients with isolated medial osteoarthritis of the knee. Design Prospective, randomised, 2 years, assessor-blind, multicentre, superiority trial. Setting The patients were enrolled b...