The use of dietary supplements and medication among Finnish elite athletes

Background: Dietary supplements are widely used among elite athletes but the prevalence of dietary supplement use among Finnish elite athletes is largely not known. The use of asthma medication is common among athletes. In 2009, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) removed the need to document asthma by lung function tests before the use of inhaled β2-agonists. Data about medication use by Paralympic athletes (PA) is limited to a study conducted at the Athens Paralympics. Aims: To investigate the prevalence of the use of self-reported dietary supplements, the use of physician-prescribed medication and the prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma and allergies among Finnish Olympic athletes (OA). In addition, the differences in the selfreported physician-prescribed medication use were compared between the Finnish Olympic and the Paralympic athletes. Subjects and methods: Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in Finnish Olympic athletes receiving financial support from the Finnish Olympic Committee in 2002 (n=446) and in 2009 (n=372) and in Finnish top-level Paralympic athletes (n= 92) receiving financial support from Finnish Paralympic committee in 2006. The results of the Paralympic study were compared with the results of the Olympic study conducted in 2009. Both Olympic and Paralympic athletes filled in a similar semi-structured questionnaires. Results: Dietary supplements were used by 81% of the athletes in 2002 and by 73% of the athletes in 2009. After adjusting for age-, sex- and type of sport, the odds ratio OR (95% confidence interval, CI) for use of any dietary supplement was significantly less in 2009 as compared with the 2002 situation (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.43-0.90). Vitamin D was used by 0.7% of the athletes in year 2002 but by 2% in 2009 (ns, p = 0.07). The use of asthma medication increased from 10.4 % in 2002 to 13.7% in 2009 (adjusted OR 1.71; 95% CI 1.08-2.69). For example, fixed combinations of inhaled long-acting β2-agonists (LABA) and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) were used three times more commonly in 2009 than in 2002 (OR 3.38; 95% CI 1.26-9.12). The use of any physician-prescribed medicines (48.9% vs. 33.3%, adjusted OR 1.99; 95% CI 1.13-3.51), painkilling medicines (adjusted OR 2.61; 95% CI 1.18-5.78), oral antibiotics (adjusted OR 4.10; 95% CI 1.30-12.87) and anti-epileptic medicines (adjusted OR 37.09; 95% CI 5.92-232.31) was more common among the PA than in the OA during the previous seven days. Conclusions: The use of dietary supplements is on the decline among Finnish Olympic athletes. The intake of some essential micronutrients, such as vitamin D, is suprisingly low and this may even cause harm in those well-trained athletes. The use of asthma medication, especially fixed combinations of LABAs and ICS, is clearly increasing among Finnish Olympic athletes. The use of any physician-prescribed medicine, especially those to treat chronic diseases, seems to be more common among the Paralympians than in the Olympic athletes.

Eliittihaastattelu

Abstract: The elite interview

Euroeliitissä vai politiikan sivuraiteilla? : europarlamentaarikoiden asema suomalaisessa valtarakenteessa

Abstract: In the euro-elite or in the wilderness of politics? Position of MEP's in the Finnish power structure

Eliittien pelikenttä? Teknologiapolitiikan malli ja periaatteet Suomessa

Abstract: The Finnish technology policy model: beoynd the elite playground?

Evankelikaalien nousu eliitti-instituutioihin

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Liiketaloustiede

Liiketaloustieteen pääkokoelma sijaitsee pääkirjastossa (Linnassa), jossa painettu yleis- ja käsikirjastokokoelma koostuu noin 10000 nimekkeestä monografioita (painettujen monografiasarjojen osat mukaan lukien). Monografiakokoelmasta kartoitettiin yhdeksän osa-aluetta. Johtamista käsitteli 29 % kirjoista (2930 nimekettä), joten se oli selvin painopisteala. Organisaatiota käsitteli 18 % (1751 nimekettä); kauppaa, markkinointia, mainontaa, asiakaspalvelua 16 % kirjoista (1573 nimekettä); yrittäjyyttä, yrityksen kehitysvaiheita ja yrityksen kokoa 12 % kirjoista (1225 nimekettä); sekä henkilöstöjohtamista 11 % (1102 nimekettä). Laskentatoimen (9 % / 910 nimekettä); materiaalitalouden, logistiikan ja tuotekehityksen (9 % / 862 nimekettä); yrityksen talouden (6 % / 595 nimekettä); sekä suhdetoiminnan ja organisaatioviestinnän (3 % / 296 nimekettä) osuudet kirjakokoelmasta olivat pienehköjä. Käsikirjaston noin 110 nimekkeen kokoelma sisälsi bibliografioita (12 nimekettä), alan standardeja, sanastoja, sanakirjoja, lyhennesanakirjoja, käsikirjoja, hakuteoksia ja hakemistoja sekä liikekirjeiden ja asiakirjojen oppaita. Painettuja lehtiä oli 16 nimekettä (Tilintarkastus – Laskentatoimi, Kauppalehti, Tilisanomat, Kauppalehti Optio, Fakta: talous ja tekniikka tänään, Liiketaloudellinen aikakauskirja, Ekonomi : Ekonomiuutiset – Ekonomnytt, Kuluttaja, Yrittäjä: suomalaisen yrittäjän ammattilehti, Markkinointi ja mainonta, Kehittyvä kauppa, Retail digest, Service industries journal, Myynti & markkinointi, KM Kaupan maailma ja Tampereen kauppakamari). Sähkökirjoja kokoelmassa oli yhteensä 1421 nimekettä: 11 suomalaista verkkokirjaa WSOYpro – yritysonline –tietokannassa; 13 kirjaston ostamaa verkkokirjaa WSOYpro – organisaation verkkokirjat –tietokannassa; 1311 nimekettä (subject-haulla Business) Ebrary –tietokannassa; 17 nimekettä NetLibrary -tietokannassa ja 69 liiketaloustieteen käsikirjaa Nellin E-käsikirjastossa. Verkkolehtiä kokoelmassa oli n. 691. Tietokantoja oli 14, joista kokotekstilehtiä EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost Business Search Elite, Emerald Journals, JSTOR, Sage Premier, ScienceDirect, Wiley Interscience, Scientific Journals International (Open Access aineisto) ja viitetietokantoja Econlit (Ebscohost), Helecon Classic, Helecon Mix, Helecon Scima, Helecon tietokanavat ja KULTU (kuluttajatutkimuksen tietokannat).

Kielikeskuksissa toimivien kieltenopettajien käsityksiä ja kokemuksia massayliopiston luomista haasteista

Challenges of mass university conceived and experienced by university language centre language teachers The massification of the university involved not only an expansion but also a transition from one period to another, from elite higher education to mass higher education. Massification cannot be viewed as expansion and structural change but it has to be viewed in a context of a number of changes involving universities, state, economy, society and culture as well as science, technology, education and research. In the Finnish academic context, massification is often associated with negative development and it may be used as an excuse for poor teaching. The objective of the present study is to find out how the mass context is manifested in the work of university language centre language teachers. The data were collected by means of semi-structured questionnaires from 32 language teachers working at language centres at the universities of Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Tampere and Turku in Finland. Both Finnish and native speakers, 6 male and 26 female teachers, were included. All the teachers in the study had taught more than 10 years. The data were complemented by interviews of four teachers and email data from one teacher. Phenomenographic analysis of the informants’ conceptions enabled a description of their experiences of students at a mass university, conceptions of teaching and learning and of issues related to work health. Some conceptions were consonant with earlier results. The conceptions revealed differences between two teacher groups, teachers of subject-specific language, or language for specific purposes (LSP), and teachers of elementary and advanced language courses (general language teachers). For the first, the conceptions of the investigated teachers provided a picture of the students as a member of a mass university. The students were seen as customers who demanded special services to facilitate their studies or were selective about the contents of the course. The finding that appeared only in the LSP teachers’ data was the unengaged attitude towards language study, which appeared as mere hunt for credits. On the other hand, the students were also seen as language learning individuals, but a clear picture of a truly interested language learner was evident in the data of general language teachers. The teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning revealed a picture of experienced teachers with a long background of teaching, reflecting experiences from different time periods and influences from their own education and illustrating the increasing problems with organizing individual tutoring due to large, heterogeneous groups. It seemed, however, that in spite of the large student groups, general language teachers were able to support the students’ learning processes and to use learner-centred methods, whereas LSP teachers were frequently compelled to resort to knowledge transmission type of teaching. The conditions of the mass university were clearly manifested in the respondents’ conceptions about work satisfaction: there were a number of factors related to administration, teaching arrangements and the status of the language centres that were likely to add to the teachers’ work stress, whereas traditional characteristics of academic work were viewed as promoting work satisfaction. On the basis of the teachers’ conceptions, it is safe to assume that academic mass context and students’ orientations have an effect on the teacher’s approach to teaching, while there is no unequivocal association between mass university teaching and poor teaching.

Maamme

Soitinnus: mieskuoro.

Iloa ja surua

Soitinnus: mieskuoro.

Porilaisten marssi

Julkaisussa säveltäjäksi ilmoitettu Christian Fredrik Kress.

Terve, Suomeni maa

Soitinnus: mieskuoro.

Suomen laulu

Soitinnus: mieskuoro.

Urheilusta, lääkkeistä ja hieman Lahdestakin

Kirjallisuusarvostelu