Among 4928 consecutive consultations in urban general practice in Mid-Norway anemia was found in 106 patients. Eighty-nine patients had their anemia worked out and treated by their general practitioner, 11 patients were referred to hospital or specialist, and in 6 patients no clear-cut reason for the anemia could be found. The patients could be broadly divided into four groups: iron deficiency in pregnancy (48%), iron deficiency secondary to bleeding (21%) anemia of chronic diseases (17%) and miscellaneous (7%).
Nikolai Astrup (1880-1928) is recognized as one of the most famous Norwegian painters of his time. He grew up in Jllster, in the western part of Norway, and has become known as the painter of the West Coast, not only because of his landscapes but even more so because of the atmosphere and special mood reflected in his paintings. Most of his paintings depict scenes from spring and summer nights in Jllster. From a medical point of view it is interesting to know that Astrup suffered from asthma all his life, and one wonders whether his motives appeared to him during long walks at night while plagued by severe attacks of asthma. One also wonders what sort of impact the disease had on the composition of his paintings. There is reason to believe that his asthma not only hampered his creative activity and brought his life to a premature end, but also influenced his visionary imagination and helped him to discover the motives for his pictures.
Quality control surveys combined with teaching courses and expert consultations were offered to laboratories serving general practitioners in the county of Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. Fifty-one laboratories participated in the programme and the surveys during 1988-89. During the study period the number of laboratories having acceptable accuracy of their haemoglobin determination increased from approximately 80% to more than 90%. A similar increase was found also in precision where CV declined from 6.7% to approximately 2%. Additional positive effects were more close co-operation and more fruitful dialogues between the specialist laboratory and that of the general practitioners. The results offer promising perspectives to the control of laboratory performance in primary health care and the optimal use of laboratory tests.
