Hunt for the origin of allergy - comparing the Finnish and Russian Karelia.

The Finnish and Russian Karelia are adjacent areas in northern Europe, socio-economically distinct but geoclimatically similar. The Karelia Allergy Study was commenced in 1998 to characterize the allergy profiles in the two areas. Allergy prevalence had increased in Finland since the early 1960s, but the situation in Russia was unknown.

Environmental factors as predictors of alcohol use among ninth-grade adolescents in Pitkaranta (Russian Karelia) and in eastern Finland.

Background: In Russia, tobacco and alcohol use by adolescents are serious problems. In Finland, as in many other European countries, alcohol use is a growing concern.

Aims: This study aimed to find out whether similar environmental factors predict adolescents' alcohol use among 15-year old adolescents in two politically and economically different cultures: in the Pitkäranta district in Russian Karelia and in eastern Finland.

A disparity in the association of asthma, rhinitis, and eczema with allergen-specific IgE between Finnish and Russian Karelia.

Background: A substantial variation in the association of asthma, rhinitis and eczema with elevated serum allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) levels between different populations has been reported. Here, we wanted to clarify whether these proportions are different in Finnish and Russian Karelia, and compared the ability of questionnaires, skin prick tests (SPT) and sIgE measurements to detect atopic conditions in these adjacent areas with different living conditions.

Methods: Randomly selected schoolchildren, aged 6-16 years, and their mothers from Finland (n = 344 children, 344 mothers) and Russia (427 and 284 respectively) participated.

Environmental factors as predictors of smoking among ninth-grade adolescents in Pitkäranta (Russian Karelia) and in eastern Finland.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether similar environmental factors predict adolescents' smoking in two different cultures: in the Pitkäranta district in Russian Karelia and in eastern Finland. The data were gathered by self-administered questionnaires from ninth-grade students in 10 comprehensive schools in Pitkäranta (n = 385) and from age-matched students in 24 schools in eastern Finland (n = 2,098). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test whether similar path structures fit for boys and for girls in Pitkäranta and in eastern Finland, and to test whether regression coefficients were similar between the cultures by sex.

Smoking patterns among ninth-grade adolescents in the Pitkäranta district (Russia) and in eastern Finland.

This study describes how ninth-grade adolescents' smoking behavior in the Pitkäranta district (Russia) differs from their eastern Finland counterparts. Cross-sectional data from the second North Karelia Youth Study and the Pitkäranta Youth Study were used. Subjects were all (n=385) ninth-grade students in 10 comprehensive schools in Pitkäranta and all (n=2098) students of the same age in 24 comprehensive schools in eastern Finland.