| 1. |
- Nilsson, Sigrid, 1997-
(författare)
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Vasomotor Symptoms, Cardiovascular Risk and the Role of Physical Activity in Midlife Women
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: The menopausal transition is, for most women, accompanied by hot flushes and night sweats (i.e., vasomotor symptoms, VMS). VMS has been associated with a worsened cardiovascular risk profile, but whether VMS constitutes an independent risk marker for developing subclinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is still uncertain. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) contributes more to systemic low-grade inflammation than abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT), enhancing atherosclerosis development. Physical activity is an effective behavioral strategy to maintain and improve cardiovascular health. Whether a resistance training intervention (RTI) could reduce low-grade inflammation and VAT volume in postmenopausal women with VMS remains unclear, and whether the RTI-associated effects could be maintained over time requires further investigation.Material and Methods: This thesis is based on three studies. Study 1 was conducted on a subset of participants from the cross-sectional population-based Swedish CArdioPulmonary BioImage Study (SCAPIS), including women 50-64 years of age. The women underwent comprehensive cardiovascular assessments and completed an extensive female-specific questionnaire. VMS was assessed on a 4-point scale. Subclinical ASCVD was detected via coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), computed tomography (CT), and carotid ultrasound. Study 2 is a sub-study of 65 postmenopausal women with VMS and low physical activity, randomized to either three days/week of an RTI or unchanged physical activity for 15 weeks. Women underwent anthropometric measurements, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and blood sampling at baseline and after 15 weeks. During the last followup contact in Study 2 after two years, 35 women agreed to attend an additional clinic visit to reevaluate cardiovascular risk markers, marking the inception of Study 3.Results: Of 2995 women included in Study 1, 14.2% reported severe VMS (n = 425), 18.1% moderate VMS (n = 543), and 67.7% no or mild VMS (n = 2027). Current or previous severe VMS, but not moderate VMS, was significantly associated with CCTA-detected coronary atherosclerosis, with odds ratio (OR) before and after multivariable adjustment 1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08 – 1.72 and 1.33, 95% CI 1.02 – 1.72, respectively. This association was only present for >5 years durations of severe VMS or when the onset of severe VMS occurred before menopause. Adjustment for menopausal hormone therapy strengthened the association for women with severe VMS >5 years (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.16 – 2.40). Women compliant with an RTI had compared to a control group (CG), decreased adiponectin (p < 0.01), ASAT (p < 0.01), VAT (p < 0.01), total abdominal adipose tissue (TAAT) (p < 0.01) and fat ratio (p <0.001). Furthermore, an RTI reduced moderate to severe VMS frequency to six months post-intervention compared to a CG, but did neither contribute to preserved cardiovascular health markers nor improved health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after two years compared to a CG.Conclusions: There is a need for extra vigilance regarding cardiovascular risk factors in the group of women suffering from severe VMS. Implementing a 15-week RTI in these women could counteract the VAT redistribution and alter the frequency of moderate to severe VMS with maintained effects up to six months.
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| 2. |
- Bomark, Niklas, 1984-
(författare)
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Drawing Lines in the Sand : Organizational Responses to Evaluations in a Swedish University
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- As organizations are increasingly evaluated, evaluative practices are becoming central to organization theory. While highlighting how organizations may respond to evaluations, earlier work on organizations and evaluation has been limited to inter-organizational evaluations, such as third-party rankings or ratings. As a consequence, the prevailing perspective on organizational responses has been developed almost entirely based on an idea that what is being evaluated in the first place – the evaluation entities – is unproblematic. Acknowledging that the definition of the evaluation entity may be ambiguous prior to the evaluation, and that this definition might vary over time, some interesting areas of inquiry emerge in relation to current understandings of organizational responses to evaluations.First, it raises questions of how entities are defined in evaluations, and how this can be seen as an organizational response? Second, it raises questions about our current understanding of the dynamics of organizational responses and how organizational responses shape organizational adaptation and change. Third, it raises question about how entity definitions shape how organizations become evaluated. Despite recent interest in understanding organizational responses to evaluations, organizational scholars have largely refrained from entertaining these questions.The objective of this dissertation is to revisit the assumption of the unambiguously defined evaluation entity in the current theorizing on organizational responses to evaluations. An opportunity to investigate this question emerged when the oldest university in Sweden, Uppsala University, decided to carry out two large evaluations of the research activities within the university – in 2007 and in 2011. The evaluation was made public and aimed to identify and evaluate (partly through a rating) the research achievements of the departments of the university. This presented an opportunity to study organizational responses to evaluations in a setting that is different from what has been studied previously. Based on a study of 44 of the departments within the university my main finding show how entities are defined and how this can be seen as an organizational response to evaluations. My findings also show how entity definitions interact with the more traditional responses taken after an evaluation, and that entity definitions shape the evaluation of the department. This dissertation thus lends support for the idea that apart from responding by changing activities or their organizational units, organizations can also respond to evaluations by the way they shape what will be evaluated – the entities being subject for the evaluation. The findings in this dissertation holds consequences for organizational theory and the evaluation of organizations.
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| 3. |
- Erlandsson, Anna, 1973-
(författare)
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Neural Stem Cell Differentiation and Migration
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Neural stem cells are the precursors of neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. During neural development, the division of stem cells takes place close to the lumen of the neural tube, after which they migrate to their final positions within the central nervous system (CNS). Soluble factors, including growth factors, regulate neural stem cell proliferation, survival, migration and differentiation towards specific cell lineages.This thesis describes the function of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and stem cell factor (SCF) in neural stem cell regulation. PDGF was previously suggested to stimulate neuronal differentiation, but the mechanisms were not defined. This study shows that PDGF is a mitogen and a survival factor that expands a pool of immature cells from neural stem cells. The PDGF-treated cells can be stained by neuronal markers, but need further stimuli to continue their maturation. They can become either neurons or glia depending on the secondary instructive cues. Moreover, neural stem cells produce PDGF. Inhibition of this endogenous PDGF negatively affects the cell number in stem cell cultures. We find that SCF stimulates migration and supports the survival of neural stem cells, but that it has no effect on their proliferation or differentiation into neurons and glia. Intracellular signaling downstream from the receptors for PDGF and SCF includes activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). This investigation shows that active ERK is not needed for the differentiation of stem cells into neurons, at least not during early stages.Neural stem cells have a future potential in the treatment of CNS disorders. To be able to use neural stem cells clinically we need to understand how their proliferation, differentiation, survival and migration are controlled. The results presented in this thesis increase our knowledge of how neural stem cells are regulated by growth factors.
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| 4. |
- Isetun, Sindra, 1966-
(författare)
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Solid-phase Microextraction and Detection of Organophosphate Triesters in Indoor air
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the work underlying this thesis solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was evaluated as a passive sampling technique for organophosphate triesters in indoor air. These compounds are used on a large scale as flame-retarding and plastizicing additives in a variety of materials and products, and have proven to be common pollutants in indoor air. The main objective of this work was to develop an accurate method for measuring the volatile fraction. Such a method can be used in combination with active sampling to obtain information regarding the vapour/particulate distribution in different indoor environments. SPME was investigated under both equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions and parameters associated with these different conditions were estimated. In Paper I, time-weighted average (TWA) SPME under dynamic conditions was investigated in order to obtain a fast air sampling method for organophosphate triesters. Among the investigated SPME coatings, the absorptive PDMS polymer had the highest affinity for the organophosphate triesters and was consequently used in all further work. Since the sampling rate is dependent on the agitation conditions, the linear airflow rates had to be carefully considered. Sampling periods as short as 1 hour were shown to be sufficient for measurements in the ng-μg m-3 range when using a PDMS 100-μm fibre and a linear flow rate above 7 cm s-1 over the fibre. SPME under equilibrium conditions is rather time-consuming, even under dynamic conditions, for slowly partitioning compounds such as organophosphate triesters. Nevertheless, this method has some significant advantages. For instance, the limit of detection is much lower compared to 1 h TWA sampling. Furthermore, the sampling time can be ignored as long as equilibrium has been attained. In Paper II, SPME under equilibrium conditions was investigated and evaluated for organophosphate triester vapours. Since temperature and humidity are closely associated with the distribution constant a simple study of the effect of these parameters was performed. The obtained distribution constants were used to determine the air levels in a common indoor environment. SPME and parallel active sampling on filters yielded similar results, indicating that the detected compounds were almost entirely associated with the vapour phaseTo apply dynamic SPME method in the field a sampler device, which enables controlled linear airflow rates to be applied, was constructed and evaluated (Paper III). This device was developed for application of SPME and active sampling in parallel.A GC/PICI-MS/MS method was developed and used in combination with active sampling of organophosphate triesters in indoor air (Paper IV). The combination of MS/MS and the soft ionization achieved with methanol as reagent gas yielded high selectivity and detection limits comparable to those provided by GC with nitrogen-phosphorus detection (NPD). The method limit of detection, when sampling 1.5 m3 of air, was in the range 0.1-1.4 ng m-3. In Paper V, the developed MS method was used in combination with SPME for indoor air measurements.The levels detected in the investigated indoor environments range from a few ng to μg m-3. Tris(2-chloropropyl) phosphate was detected at a concentration as high as 7 μg m-3 in a newly rebuilt lecture room.
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| 5. |
- Jansson, Markus, 1982-
(författare)
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Pelvic Floor Dysfunction and Perineal and Vaginal Tears in Primiparous Women
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD), including urinary incontinence, faecal incontinence (FI), and pelvic organ prolapse, is highly prevalent among parous women. There is evidence that pregnancy, vaginal delivery, and obstetric perineal tears increase the risk of pelvic floor dysfunction, but many of the studies in this field are retrospective. The overall aim of this thesis was to prospectively examine risk factors for perineal and vaginal tears and postpartum PFD in primiparous women.Study I was a validation study of a protocol for documentation of perineal tears, including 187 primiparous women in 2015–2016. The coverage of documentation was higher in the protocol compared to the obstetric record system (ObstetriX). Incidence of second degree perineal tears was 26% according to the protocol and 11% according to ObstetriX.Studies II–IV utilized a cohort of initially nulliparous women (n=1049) prospectively included in early pregnancy in 2014–2017. Women completed questionnaires on PFD in early and late pregnancy and at 8 weeks and 1 year postpartum.Study II (n=644) showed that high foetal weight and vacuum extraction were risk factors for both second degree tears and OASI, suggesting that these tears should be viewed as a continuum rather than different entities. Risk factors for high vaginal tears were large foetal head circumference, vacuum extraction, and heredity of PFD/connective tissue deficiency. Study III (n=670) found that vaginal delivery increased the risk of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) but not urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) 1 year postpartum. No single characteristic of the vaginal delivery was associated with SUI. SUI during pregnancy increased the risk of SUI postpartum, and UUI during pregnancy increased the risk of UUI postpartum.Study IV (n=898) showed that FI increased by late pregnancy, and that this increase persisted 1 year postpartum. Obstructed defecation was associated with increased FI postpartum, suggesting that post-defecatory faecal loss may be an underlying mechanism of FI. Overall conclusion: The extent to which pregnancy, vaginal delivery, and their respective characteristics contributed to the development of PFD differed between the pelvic floor disorders studied. For SUI, both the pregnancy and the vaginal delivery increased the risk, whereas for FI it was the pregnancy itself rather than the vaginal delivery that was demonstrated to increase the risk.
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| 6. |
- Kivling, Anna
(författare)
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Combinations of type 1 diabetes, celiac disease and allergy : An immunological challenge
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The immune system is composed of a complex network of different cell types protecting the body against various possible threats. Among these cells are T-helper (Th) cells type 1 (Th1) and type 2 (Th2), as well as T regulatory (Treg) cells. Th1 and Th2 are supposed to be in balance with each other, while Tregs regulate the immune response, by halting it when the desired effect, i.e. destroying the threat, is acquired. However, sometimes this intricate interplay in the immune system is disturbed, leading to diseases as type 1 diabetes (T1D), celiac disease or allergic disease. According to the paradigm claiming that Th1- and Th2-cells inhibit each other a coexistence of a Th1-deviated disease and a Th2-deviated disease seems unlikely.This thesis aimed to examine the immune response with focus on subsets of T-cells in children with T1D, celiac disease, allergy, or a combination of two of these diseases, in comparison to reference children (healthy).In line with previous findings we observed that children with celiac disease showed a decreased spontaneous Th2-associated secretion, whereas children with allergic disease showed increased birch- and cat-induced Th2-associated response.The most remarkable results in this thesis are those observed in children with combinations of diseases. The combination of T1D and celiac disease decreased the Th1-associated response against several antigens, but instead displayed a more pronounced Treg-associated response. Further, in children with combined T1D and allergy an increased Th1- and Th2-associated response was seen to a general stimulus, and an increased birch-induced Th1-, Th2-, Treg- and pro-inflammatory response. In contrast, the combination of allergy and celiac disease showed a decreased spontaneous Th1-, Th2-, Treg- and pro-inflammatory response.In conclusion, we observed that two Th1-deviated diseases in combination suppress the immune response and increase the regulatory activity. Further it seems that allergy has the ability to shift the immune response in diverging directions depending on which disease it is combined with. The observed suppressive effect might be due to exhaustion of the immune system from the massive pressure of two immunological diseases in combination, while the pronounced Treg response might be caused by an attempt to compensate for the dysfunction. These results shed some light on the intriguing and challenging network that constitutes the immune system, and hopefully give clues regarding disease prevention and treatment.
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| 7. |
- Nilsson, Anita, 1960-
(författare)
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Att vårda äldre personer med kognitiv svikt i sjukhusmiljöer : attityder, processer, innebörder
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Inledning: Äldre personer med kognitiv svikt, exempelvis i form av demenssjukdom, delirium eller depression, är en vanligt förekommande population inom svensk sjukhusvård. Dessa äldre kan ha särskilda behov till följd av en försämrad kognition, men litteraturen tyder på att akutsjukhusens miljö, organisation och vårdprocesser inte alltid stödjer tillgodoseendet av dessa behov.Syfte: Det övergripande syftet med avhandlingen var att belysa vården av äldre personer med kognitiv svikt i sjukhusmiljöer.Metoder: Avhandlingen består av fyra delstudie. I studie I tillämpades en tvärsnittsdesign för att utforska personalens attityder till äldre patienter med kognitiv svikt, personalens tillfredsställelse med vården och arbetet samt upplevelsen av personcentrerat vårdklimat (n=391). I studie II användes en Grounded theory design för att undersöka hinder för personcentrerad vård för äldre personer med kognitiv svikt på en akutmedicinsk vårdavdelning. I studie III tillämpades en tvärsnittsdesign för att utforska de psykometriska egenskaperna i den svenska versionen av ”The Person-centred care of Older People with cognitive impairment in Acute Care scale” (POPAC) i ett urval av sjukhuspersonal (n=293). I studie IV användes en fenomenologisk hermeneutisk design för att belysa innebörder av att vårda äldre patienter med kognitiv svikt på akuta sjukvårdavdelningar utifrån vårdpersonals (n=13) berättelser.Resultat: Studie I visade att deltagande personal skattade en neutral attityd till äldre patienter med kognitiv svikt i spektret mellan negativa och positiva attityder, samt att faktorer som att vara yngre, undersköterska och att uppleva vården av de äldre som betungande, hade samband med mer negativa attityder. Resultaten visade också att vårdpersonal upplevde att äldre patienters kognition sällan utvärderades under vårdtiden, samt att man sällan baserade vården på evidensbaserade riktlinjer för vård av äldre med kognitiv svikt. Studie II belyste att ett organisatoriskt fokus på medicinska behov, åtgärder och rutiner bidrog till att personal hamnade steget efter i relation till att synliggöra och möta dessa äldre personers multidimensionella behov, och att detta kunde medföra tecken på vårdlidande för de äldre, utanförskap för närstående och frustration för personal. Studie III stödde en fortsatt användning av POPAC-skalan för skattningar av upplevd förekomst av personcentrerade vårdprocesser för äldre patienter med kognitiv svikt, men att ytterligare studier rekommenderades framförallt av skalans olika dimensioner. Studie IV belyste att ju större avstånd som upplevs mellan vad vårdpersonalen kan göra (verklig vård) och vad de vill göra (ideal vård) för äldre patienter med kognitiv svikt i akuta vårdmiljöer, desto meningslösare upplevs vården, och desto större blir hotet mot personalens personlig-professionella integritet. Den tolkade helheten visar på att vårda äldre patienter med kognitiv svikt inom akutsjukvård betyder att försöka ge omvårdnad i miljöer som inte stödjer vårdpersonalens personlig-professionella integritetSlutsatser: En rimlig konklusion av dessa resultat är att det i sjukhusmiljöer där äldre patienter ofta vårdas kan finnas anledning att diskutera och ytterligare studera hur attityder, synsätt på och målsättningar för vården och dess innehåll, åtgärder och interventioner kan främja eller motverka en god omvårdnad för de äldre med kognitiv svikt. Det kan också finnas anledning att se över hur personalen kan stödjas i att ge person-centrerad vård till de äldre, exempelvis genom riktlinjer för vård av äldre personer med kognitiv svikt, standardiserade skattningar av kognition, samt implementering av vårdprocesser som stödjer en personcentrerad vård för dessa patienter. Det kan också finnas behov av att ytterligare kritiskt granska hur organisatoriska och miljömässiga faktorer på avdelningar stödjer eller motverkar en personcentrerad vård för äldre patienter med kognitiv svikt. Därtill kan det finnas behov av att skapa ytterligare förutsättningar för vårdpersonalen att bevara och utveckla sin personlig-professionella integritet genom att utveckla miljöer som ger möjligheter för dem att ge en god omvårdnad till dessa äldre.
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| 8. |
- Nilsson, Christina, 1959-
(författare)
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Förlossningsrädsla : med fokus på kvinnors upplevelser av att föda barn
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aim: The overall aim of this study is to describe experiences of, and the association between, fear of childbirth and birth experiences of women with fear ofchildbirth.Methods: In studies I, II, and IV, a reflective lifeworld approach based on phenomenological philosophy was used to describe women’s experiences of fear of childbirth (I), previous birth experiences (II), and fear of childbirth and of birth experience in a long-term perspective (IV). In study III, differences between women who reported fear of childbirth and those who did not were calculated using risk ratios with a 95 % confidence interval and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Data were collected from interviews with eight (I) and nine (II) pregnant women with intense fear of childbirth, and with six women who had sought care for intense fear of childbirth 7 to 11 years prior to the interview (IV), and via questionnaire from a sample of 763 women during pregnancy and again one year following birth (III).Findings: Fear of childbirth was described as “to lose oneself as a woman into loneliness” (I). Previous birth experience was described as “a sense of not being present in the delivery room and an incomplete childbirth experience” (II). Fear of childbirth was associated with a previous negative birth experience and a previous emergency caesarean section (III). From a long-term perspective, fear of childbirth and birth experience was described as “an effort to make all the pieces come together” (IV).Conclusions: This thesis generates evidence on the importance of previous birth experience for women with fear of childbirth, from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. These perspectives illustrate the complexity where women´s experiences in the delivery room are central. To avoid creating fear of childbirth, it is important that maternity care services focus on women’s birth experiences and critically evaluate care in relation to childbirth.
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| 9. |
- Nilsson, Karin, 1962-
(författare)
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Adherence to Venous Blood Specimen Collection Practice Guidelines Among Nursing Students and Healthcare Staff
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background Patient safety is an undisputable part of healthcare. The use of clinical practice guidelines, usually based on evidence-based practice/best practice, promotes patient safety and high quality care, reduces unnecessary patient suffering, and healthcare costs. Analysing results from venous blood specimen collection is one of the most commonly used services within healthcare, and a substantial number of decisions on diagnosis, treatment, and treatment evaluation are based on the results. Hence, the accuracy of these tests are vitally important. Earlier research has demonstrated that healthcare staff report suboptimal adherence to venous blood specimen collection guidelines together with the need for improved practices. Blood sample collection is carried out by several professionals, among them registered nurses and, as a consequence, nursing students too. University nursing students learn and practice venous blood specimen collection in one of their first semesters. After initial skill training at clinical skill laboratories, they continue to perform the task during clinical placements in various clinical settings. Few or no studies have been performed on nursing students, hence it seemed important to assess guideline adherence to venous blood specimen collection among university students as well as to further explore adherence to guidelines among healthcare staff. Therefore, the overall aim for this thesis was to explore adherence to, and factors influencing venous blood specimen collection guidelines practice among university nursing students and healthcare staff.Methods The thesis includes four studies. Study I-III had a quantitative, cross-sectional design, study IV had a qualitative approach. Study I included 164 healthcare staff from 25 primary healthcare centres. Study II included 101 nursing students in their 5th and 6th semesters, and study III included 305 nursing students in their 2nd, 4th, and 6th semesters. To assess adherence to venous blood specimen collection guidelines, data were collected using the Venous Blood Specimen Questionnaire, completed with background variables (I, II, III) and additional scales (III). Descriptive statistics, multilevel and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to analyse the data. In study IV, data were collected through five focus group interviews among 6th semester nursing students (n=26). Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.Results Workplace affiliation was found to explain variances in reported adherence between different primary healthcare centres. Associations between reported venous blood specimen collection practices and individual as well as workplace factors were revealed. Nursing students were found to increasingly deviate from guideline adherence during their education. Also among students, several associations between guideline adherence and other ivfactors were revealed. Reported research use at clinical practice was associated with higher levels of adherence, as were higher capability beliefs regarding both evidence-based practice and academic ability. Analyses from focus group interviews summarised students’ reflections on deviations from VBSC guidelines in the overall theme ‘Striving to blend in and simultaneously follow guidelines’.Conclusion Both healthcare staff at primary healthcare centres and nursing students demonstrate decreasing levels of guideline adherence with time. Factors influencing adherence are both individual as well as contextual. This indicate that both students and staff are subjected to socialisation processes that influences levels of adherence. In order to enhance venous blood specimen collection practices and thereby patient safety, actions must be taken - both in healthcare clinical contexts and by educators. The use of models in practical skill training, and in the ambition to bridge the theory-practice gap may be the path to success. It is reasonable to assume that collaboration between, on the one hand, education representatives and on the other, supervising RNs in clinical settings, will be fruitful. Finally, by empowering students their self-efficacy may be strengthened, and hence their ability to maintain guideline adherence.
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| 10. |
- Runesson, Anton, 1988-
(författare)
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Blod, kött och tårar : Kroppslig erfarenhet i Sverige, ca 1600–1750
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The study investigates how ordinary people in Sweden understood the body to function between c. 1600-1750, aiming thereby to enhance our understanding of everyday life during this period. Questions of how the body worked was then primarily a topic for the physiological sciences, and previous research has thus largely focused on the dissemination and reworking of medical traditions within medical thought and practice, considering the body to have been interpreted either as an open, humoral entity, or in mechanistic terms. To discern the ways that ordinary men and women understood the body, this study departs from a phenomenological perspective and takes people's descriptions of their experiences as starting points. The considered period was characterized by Lutheran orthodoxy and the effects of confessionalization on legal thought and practice. It also saw a rise in popular participation in the activities of criminal courts. The empirical evidence consists of roughly 800 legal investigations into crimes such as bestiality, magic, murder, homicide, suicide, infanticide and various sexual offences, examined in order to access ordinary people's perspectives on the body and other aspects of existence. The methodological assumptions guiding the interpretation of the sources are firstly that legal statements remain within the scope of the probable and possible, and secondly that descriptions of experiences can inform on how people understood the body. The study is divided into five empirical chapters designed to capture both physiological topics and aspects of existence. The chapters deal with how people understood the body to function in relation to principles of life; sickness and health; perception and consciousness; influences from God and the Devil; and confession in court. All in all, the study concludes that the lived body was primarily understood as an entity that worked when its parts, abilities and seats of consciousness could be accessed and used. Together and in coordination, these could then form a functioning whole. In accordance with this perspective, influences that prevented the body’s usual functioning and which made a person’s existence different were generally understood as deviations from the usual way of being. In turn, restored functionality implied conforming to the previous and usual way. The identified understanding of the body thus departed from the usual state and nature of specific bodies as a starting point for how people understood change. Negations of usefulness of parts or capabilities further demonstrate both how the body was commonly understood to work, and why it needed to function as usual. The functional understanding of the body was rooted in people’s existential conditions and in the needs that they had to be able to use their bodies. They needed their bodies to be able to work and to acquire religion. The study ends with suggestions for future research, such as varieties within the identified understanding of the body, and how it transformed as its existential conditions changed.
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