1,721,020 research outputs found
Selected diseases and risk of cataract in women : a case-control study from northern Italy
No full textThe relationship between cataract extraction in women and current body mass index, history of clinically relevant obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia was considered in a case-control study conducted in northern Italy. A total of 287 women who had cataract extraction and 1227 control subjects who were in the hospital for acute, nonneoplastic, nonophthalmologic, nonmetabolic, nongastroenterologic diseases were interviewed during their hospital stay. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were derived from multiple logistic regression equations, including terms for age, education, smoking status, current body mass index, and simultaneously the four diseases considered. Elevated current body mass index (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2 to 3.8, for > or = 30 versus or = 60 years) indicated that the associations of diabetes and hyperlipidemia were stronger at a younger age: the OR for diabetes was 4.6 for those younger than 60 years and 1.7 for those age 60 or over, and for hyperlipidemia the ORs were 2.8 and 1.6, respectively. Thus, the results of this study support the association in women between cataract extraction and diabetes, current overweight, history of clinically relevant obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. These findings also suggest that these factors may have some biologically independent impact on the risk of cataract
Body weight and risk of nonfatal acute myocardial infarction among women: A case-control study from Northern Italy
No full textBackground. The relationship between nonfatal acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and self-reported body weight and body mass index (BMI; Quetelet index, kg/m2) has been investigated. Methods. A case-control study was conducted between 1983 and 1992 in northern Italy on 432 women with nonfatal AMI and 867 controls in hospital for acute, noncardiovascular, nonneoplastic, nondigestive, non-hormone-related conditions. Odds ratios (OR), with their 95% confidence intervals (CI), were computed by unconditional multiple logistic regression analysis, including terms for age, education, and smoking, plus history of selected diseases. Results. Women with body weight and BMI in the highest quartile had an increased risk of AMI after allowance for age, education, and smoking status (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0 to 2.2, and OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.4, respectively). Compared with leaner women, the risk was higher among women with BMI above the median, in association with a history of diabetes (OR 5.2) or hyperlipidemia (OR 6.0). Hypertensive women had similar OR in the two strata of BMI (OR 5.1 and 4.8). The association of BMI with risk of AMI was apparently stronger among women younger than 50 years and among less educated women, but was similar among smokers and never smokers. Conclusions. The results of this study confirm that AMI among women is related to excess BMI, with a population attributable risk of 17%. The excess risk was substantial among overweight women with history of diabetes or hyperlipidemia, stressing the importance of controlling body weight among these women
Beta-carotene intake and risk of nonfatal acute myocardial infarction in women
No full textThere are indications that beta-carotene, but not pre-formed vitamin A, is protective on the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The relationship between nonfatal AMI and the intake of beta-carotene and retinol was investigated in a case-control study conducted between 1983 and 1992 in northern Italy on 433 women with nonfatal AMI and 869 controls in hospital for acute, non-cardiovascular, non-neoplastic, non-digestive, non-hormone related conditions. Odds ratios (OR), with their 95% confidence intervals (CI), were computed by unconditional multiple logistic regression analysis, including terms for age, education, body mass index, smoking, alcohol and coffee drinking, menopausal status, hormone replacement therapy and history of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The risk of AMI was inversely related to beta-carotene intake, with an OR of 0.5 (95% CI: 0.3 to 0.8) for the highest quintile of intake compared to the lowest (chi2 trend = 10.53, p < 0.01). Retinol intake was not associated with AMI, with an OR of 0.9 (95% CI: 0.6 to 1.3) for the highest quintile of intake compared to the lowest. Analysis in separate strata of covariates indicated that the inverse association of beta-carotene intake with risk of AMI was appreciably stronger in younger, lean women with no history of diabetes or hypertension, and in current smokers. The results of this study indicate that the risk of nonfatal AMI in women is inversely related to intake of beta-carotene containing foods, but not foods containing retinol
Fats in seasoning and the relationship to pancreatic cancer
No full textThe relationship between consumption of fat in seasoning and the risk of pancreatic cancer has been considered in a case-control study conducted in Italy between 1983 and 1995 on 362 pancreatic cancer cases and 1502 controls in hospital for acute, not neoplastic, non-digestive tract disorders. Subjective scores (low, intermediate, high) for the intake of butter, margarine and oil were used to evaluate the use of fat in seasoning. No material association was observed for butter or margarine. The score for oil (mainly olive oil) intake was inversely related to the risk of pancreatic cancer: the multivariate odds ratios were 0.76 for the intermediate, and 0.60 for the highest score of intake, and the trend in risk was significant. These findings support the hypothesis that (olive) oil may have a comparatively more favourable impact on the risk of pancreatic cancer than other types of seasoning fats
Alcohol consumption and risk of prostate cancer
No full textBecause alcohol influences metabolism and serum levels of sex hormones and specifically increases metabolic clearance of testosterone, some role of alcohol consumption in the process of prostatic carcinogenesis is biologically plausible. The relationship between prostate cancer and total alcohol consumption was therefore investigated in a case-control study conducted in Northern Italy between 1985 and 1992 on 281 cases and 599 controls admitted to hospital for acute nonneoplastic diseases apparently unrelated to alcohol and tobacco consumption. No noteworthy relationship was found for major measures of alcohol intake: compared with teetotallers, the multivariate relative risks (RRs) of prostate cancer, after adjustment for age, study center, education, marital status, body mass index, and smoking status, were 1.3, 0.9, 1.2, and 1.1, respectively, for men drinking fewer than three, three to less than five, five to less than eight, or more than eight alcoholic beverages per day. None of the estimates was significant, nor was the trend in risk significant. Multivariate risks were also close to unity in the separate analysis of intake of wine (RR = 1.2 and 0.9 for or = 40 yrs, multivariate RRs = 1.1 and 1.3, respectively), and the alcohol-related risk estimates were similar for men or = 70 years of age.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS
Trends in mortality from major diseases in Europe, 1980-1993
No full textTrends in age-standardized death certification rates from all causes, coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular diseases, all neoplasms and lung cancer were analysed over the period 1980-1993 in 20 major European countries. There were steady and substantial declines of overall mortality in all western European countries for both sexes, although appreciable geographic differences persisted. These favourable trends reflect a decline in CHD mortality in most western countries, besides a persisting fall in cerebrovascular disease, and a substantial stability (with some decline in a few northern and central European countries) in cancer mortality. In contrast, in eastern European countries appreciable rises were registered in mortality from major causes of death considered for males. For females, only moderate declines were observed in Eastern Europe. In the early 1990s, overall mortality was 30 to 100% higher for males and 20 to 100% higher for females as compared to Western Europe. As indicated by the trends in lung cancer death rates, this reflects a major impact of the tobacco-related disease epidemic in subsequent cohorts, as well as more unfavourable lifestyle factors (i.e. aspects of diet, other environmental factors), and a delayed control of hypertension in Eastern Europe, together with a substantial excess of suicides, (road) accidents, homicides and alcohol-related diseases, and the delayed introduction of rational treatment for some conditions. An indication of reversal of mortality trends was evident in the early 1990s only in Poland. In conclusion, there is ample scope for intervention on avoidable mortality in eastern European countries
Moderate Beer Consumption and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer
No full textThe relationship between beer consumption and the risk of colon and rectal cancer was considered in a case-control study conducted in northern Italy. The study was based on 828 histologically confirmed incident cases of colon cancer, 498 of rectal cancer, and 2, 024 controls in hospital for a wide spectrum of acute, nonneoplastic, nonalcohol-related diseases. Beer drinking was reported by 6% of colon cancer cases, 7% of rectal cancer cases, and 10% of controls; regular beer drinkers (≥1 drinks/day) made up 2.6% of colon cancer cases, 3.2% of rectal cancer cases, and 4.1% of controls. Thus the multivariate relative risks (RR) for irregular drinkers were 0.6 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.4-1.0] for colon and 0.7 (95% CI 0.4-1.2) for rectum. Corresponding values for regular drinkers were 0.7 (95% CI 0.4-1.2) for colon and 0.9 (95% CI 0.5-1.5) for rectal cancer. Despite the low frequency of beer drinking in this study, and hence its limited statistical power, the originality of the population in terms of colorectal cancer incidence, patterns of risk factor exposure, and the large dataset provide interesting and useful confirmation that moderate beer drinking is not associated with elevated colon or rectal cancer risk
Liver cirrhosis and the risk of primary liver cancer
No full textThe relationship between liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma is recognized, but quantification of risk is still uncertain. Therefore, we analysed data from a case-control study conducted in Italy between 1984 and 1997 on 499 cases of incident, histologically confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma and 1,552 controls in hospital with acute, non-neoplastic disease. Overall, 87 (17.4%) cases vs 10 (0.6%) controls reported clinical history of liver cirrhosis. The corresponding odds ratio (OR) was 27.5 (95% confidence interval (CI), 14.3-15.2) after allowance for sociodemographic factors, and 16.2 (95% CI, 7.9-32.9) after simultaneous allowance for all identified confounding factors, including alcohol consumption and clinical history of hepatitis. The association was of similar magnitude for subjects whose cirrhosis was diagnosed or = 10 years since diagnosis of cirrhosis. The association was stronger in males (OR = 23.4) than in females (OR = 5.9), similar in various age groups, and somewhat stronger in more educated subjects (OR = 53.7), with history of hepatitis (OR = 33.1), reporting heavy alcohol consumption (OR = 24.9) or high body mass index (OR = 58.1), although the interaction term was significant only for sex. In terms of population attributable risk, 17% of hepatocellular carcinomas in this population can be attributed to clinical history of liver cirrhosis
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