Inspired by the sensory turn in the humanities, anthropologists have coined the term ‘an anthropology of the senses’ to describe the study of the perceptual construction and output of bodily sensations and sense-modalities (cf. Howes 2006; Nichter 2008). Starting from the premise that different cultures and social settings configure, elaborate and extend the senses in different directions, key ...

Background: Functional genomics in a processual analysis cover the time-dependent changes in transcriptomics and epigenetics before diagnosis of a disease, reflecting the changes in both life style and disease processes. The aim of this paper is to explore the dynamic, time-dependent mechanisms of the metastatic processes, using blood transcriptomics and including time in a continuous manner. For ...

Bodily conditions that are difficult to identify, explain and treat with the aid of medical knowledge and technology appear to be particularly challenging to medical encounters. Patients are often dissatisfied with the help they receive, and they often experience that their medical needs are not met. To explore factors facilitating patient satisfaction among patients with a medically unexplained ...

Background: In the light of an aging population, risk factors for adverse outcomes in the elderly constitute an important field of research. Frailty is an age-related syndrome of increased vulnerability to stressors due to declines in several physiologic systems. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of frailty and to investigate its ability to predict all- cause mortality in a Norwegian ...

Aim of the study: A vast majority of human malignancies are associated with ageing, and age is a strong predictor of cancer risk. Recently, DNA methylation-based marker of ageing, known as ‘epigenetic clock’, has been linked with cancer risk factors. This study aimed to evaluate whether the epigenetic clock is associated with breast cancer risk susceptibility and to identify potential epigenetics-based ...

Background: <br>Most patients presenting with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) in primary care are prescribed an antibiotic, which may not always be appropriate and may cause harm. C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute-phase biomarker that can be rapidly measured at the point of care and may predict benefit from antibiotic treatment in AECOPD. It is not clear ...

Objective: <br>The aim of this study was to examine the associations between changes in leisure time physical activity and changes in cardiovascular risk factors over 16 years and whether they differ between two ethnic groups in Norway. <br>Methods: <br>Data were extracted from two population-based studies. Altogether, 3671 men and women participated in both surveys, and 30% reported being of ...

Background: Many complementary therapies offer benefits for patients with cancer. Others may be risky for patients due to negative interactions with conventional treatment and adverse effects. Therefore, cancer patients need guidance from health care providers to assess complementary modalities appropriately to receive benefits and avoid harm. <br> Method: In a self-administered questionnaire-based ...

Background: <br>Early-onset prostate cancer is often more aggressive and may have a different etiology than later-onset prostate cancer, but has been relatively little studied to date. We evaluated occupation in relation to early-onset and later-onset prostate cancer in a large pooled study. <br>Methods: <br>We used occupational information from census data in five Nordic countries from 1960-1990. ...

The incidence of complete Achilles tendon rupture is 18 per 100 000 patient-years and is usually diagnosed clinically by GPs. The extent of clinical misdiagnosis is unknown in Norway, but may be high. This is important as delayed treatment has unfavourable consequences. We report how a GP, with no clinical ultrasound experience, recorded images with a pocket-sized ultrasound device (PSUD) under ...