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Biomedical subjects

A Decarli

Publications and source records attributed to A Decarli.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Nutrition and diet in the etiology of endometrial cancer.

The risk of endometrial cancer in relation to nutrition and frequency of consumption of a few selected dietary items was evaluated in a case-control study of 206 patients with endometrial cancer and 206 control subjects with acute conditions unrelated to any of the established or potential risk factors for endometrial cancer. Obesity was strongly and positively associated with the risk of endometrial cancer, and several conditions related to body weight, such as early menarche, diabetes mellitus, or hypertension were more common in cases. The risk of endometrial cancer was elevated in subjects reporting (on a subjective basis) greater fat (butter, margarine, and oil) intake (relative risk estimate for the higher compared to the lower scores equals 5.65, with 95% confidence interval of 2.76-11.55). Cases reported less frequent intake of green vegetables, fruit, and whole-grain foods: thus, the risk of endometrial cancer appeared inversely related to indices of beta-carotene and fiber intake. Furthermore, cases consumed milk, liver and fish less frequently than controls. No significant difference was noted between cases and controls in the frequency of intake of carrots, meat, eggs, ham, and cheese. Alcohol consumption was somewhat larger among the cases, but this trend in risk was not significant. Dietary information collected in this study probably is too limited and inconsistent to permit analysis of biologic correlates of these findings or discussion of their potential implications in terms of prevention on a public health scale. Nonetheless, the mere existence of differences in reported diet between endometrial cancer cases and controls is of interest, and may warrant further, more detailed investigation.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Determinants of oral contraceptive use in northern Italy.

Socio-demographic characteristics, general lifestyle habits, reproductive and medical histories were compared of 328 women who had ever used oral contraceptives and 2306 never users from a case-control surveillance conducted in Northern Italy. Oral contraceptive use was positively and strongly related with the level of education and indicators of social class. The rate ratio of ever use (adjusted for age and diagnostic category) was 3.3 for women with 12 years of education or more compared with less than 7 years, and 3.0 for women of highest compared with lowest social class. The frequency of pill use was lower among never married women, and significantly elevated among smokers (rate ratio = 2.4 for heavy smokers). In contrast, no relation was evident between alcohol or coffee consumption and pill use. Likewise, ever users of oral contraceptives were not significantly different from women who had never used the pill with regard to major reproductive factors (parity and age at first pregnancy) or several medical variables of potential interest (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia), with the only possible exclusion of obesity which was less frequent among pill users. Thus, this study indicates that the major determinants of the persistently low frequency of oral contraceptive use in this Northern Italian population are social rather than reproductive or medical factors. These findings have important implications for epidemiological research on oral contraceptive and disease in this population, and underline the importance of selection and screening of oral contraceptive users on the basis of knowledge of medical factors and lifestyle habits.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Prevalence of cigarette smoking among subsequent cohorts of Italian males and females.

Prevalence of cigarette smoking among successive cohorts of Italian males and females born between 1890 and 1969 was estimated from data of the 1983 National Health Survey (based on 89,765 persons randomly selected within strata of geographical area, size of place of residence, and size of household), opportunely corrected for excess mortality of smokers. The overall participation rate for the original sample was 93.6%; impossibility of tracing or refusal of the interview led to substitution of 2,058 households. Among males, smoking prevalence in the young and middle-aged increased steadily up to the generation born in 1920-1929, which, in its 30s, showed the highest absolute smoking prevalence (68.3% in 1960). Moderate declines followed, chiefly on a calendar-period basis (i.e., between 1970 and 1980 in each birth cohort). These declines occurred later and at a lower rate than in several other Western countries. Among females, cigarette smoking was extremely rare for those generations born at the turn of the century (only about 3% of Italian females born in 1890-1899 ever smoked), but increased steadily in each birth cohort and calendar period to reach a rate only about one-third lower than that of males in the 1960-1969 cohort.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Nutrition, social factors and prostatic cancer in a Northern Italian population.

The relationship between prostate cancer and indicators of nutrition, diet and social factors was evaluated in a case-control study of 166 patients with histologically confirmed prostatic carcinoma and 202 control subjects hospitalized for acute diseases other than malignant, hormonal or urogenital. The relative risk increased with increasing body mass index, men being moderately overweight showing a 2.3 elevated risk, and those grossly overweight an over four-fold higher risk of prostate cancer, when allowance was made for several identified potential confounding factors. Cases also reported more frequent consumption of milk and other dairy products and meat, but no significant difference was noted for vegetable intake. The risk of prostate cancer was unrelated to marital status or indicators of social class based on occupation.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Oral contraceptives and cancers of the breast and of the female genital tract. Interim results from a case-control study.

We analysed data from a case-control investigation conducted in Milan, Northern Italy, to evaluate the relation between the use of combination oral contraceptives and the risk of cancers of the breast, ovary, endometrium and cervix uteri. For the present analysis, 776 cases of histologically confirmed breast cancer, 406 of epithelial ovarian cancer and 170 of endometrial cancer aged under 60 were compared with a group of 1,282 subjects below age 60 admitted for a spectrum of acute conditions apparently unrelated to oral contraceptive use or to any of the known or potential risk factors for the diseases under study. Likewise, 225 cases of invasive cervical cancer were compared with 225 age-matched inpatient controls, and 202 cases of cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia with 202 outpatient controls identified in the same screening clinics. The age-adjusted relative risk estimates for ever vs. never use of combination oral contraceptives were 1.04 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73-1.37) for breast cancer, 0.68 (95% CI = 0.48-0.97) for epithelial ovarian cancer, 0.50 (95% CI = 0.23-1.12) for endometrial cancer, 1.49 (95% CI = 0.88-2.55) for cervical cancer and 0.77 (95% CI = 0.50-1.18) for cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia. The risk of ovarian cancer decreased and that of invasive cervical cancer increased with longer duration of use. Neither duration of oral contraceptive use nor time since first or last use significantly altered a user's risk of other neoplasms considered. Likewise, analysis of sub-groups of age, parity or other potentially important covariates did not show any important interaction, and allowance for them by means of logistic regression did not materially modify any of the results. These data confirm that combination oral contraceptives confer some protection against ovarian and endometrial cancers but may increase the risk of invasive cervical cancer if used for several years, and indicate that the past or current pattern of oral contraceptive use in Italy is unlikely materially to affect the risk of breast cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Cigarette smoking and the risk of cervical neoplasia.

The relationship between cigarette smoking and risk of cervical neoplasia was evaluated in a case-control study of 183 women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia compared with 183 age-matched outpatient controls, and of 230 cases of invasive cervical cancer compared with 230 controls in hospital for acute conditions unrelated to any of the identified or suspected risk factors for cervical cancer. Current cigarette smoking was associated with an elevated risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (relative risk = 1.76, 95 per cent confidence interval = 1.14-2.27) and of invasive cancer (relative risk = 1.69, 95 per cent confidence interval = 1.08-2.65). This association was only partially accounted for by a large number of identified potential confounding factors, including indicators of socioeconomic status and sexual habits. The risk increased with the number of cigarettes smoked and was apparently greater for women who started smoking at younger ages. The relative risk of intraepithelial neoplasia was elevated within 20 years after the start of smoking and showed little tendency to increase with increasing duration. On the other hand, the risk of invasive cervical cancer was apparently unaffected by smoking less than 20 years and increased steadily thereafter, reaching a point estimate of 3.63 after 40 years or more. If one assumes that intraepithelial neoplasia is an early stage of cervical cancer, this pattern of risk is consistent with the predictions from the multistage theory of carcinogenesis, if the effect of smoking is on one of the earlier stages. No obvious distorting factors, apart from the play of chance, is likely to produce such a risk pattern.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Age, period of death and birth cohort effects on suicide mortality in Italy, 1955-1979.

Trends in death rates from all suicides and specific methods of suicide in Italy over the period 1955-79 were analysed on the basis of age-specific and age-standardised rates, and through a log-linear Poisson model to isolate the effects of age, birth cohort and calendar period. In both sexes, a large decrease in mortality from suicide was evident in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Thereafter, death certification rates showed fluctuating trends up to the mid 1970's, when steady increases became evident for both sexes. Nevertheless, overall age-standardized mortality rates from suicide in the late 1970's were still considerably lower than in the two previous decades (15% in males, 7% in females). The observed variations in suicide mortality, mostly in males, can be explained in terms of period of death effect and be related to changes in the Italian economic situation. This view finds further support from analysis of age-specific trends (e.g. mortality rates in the younger age groups started rising in the early 1970's, together with a rise in unemployment rates among the young). Cohort curves for males born in the current century were U-shaped as well, with marked declines for generations born between 1905 and 1930, and moderate increases for more recent cohorts. For females, the cohort curve was remarkably flat. Some of the changes in the various methods of suicide can be explained in terms of well-defined exogenous factors (e.g., the large fall in poisoning by domestic gas is obviously attributable to domestic gas detoxification).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Mortality from alcohol related disease in Italy.

Trends in death certification rates from the five major alcohol related causes of death in Italy (cancers of the mouth or pharynx, oesophagus, larynx, liver and cirrhosis of the liver) were analysed over a period (1955-79) in which per capita alcohol consumption almost trebled. Age standardised mortality from liver cirrhosis almost doubled in males and increased over 70% in females. In males, mortality from cancers of the upper digestive or respiratory tract showed increases of between 27% and 44%, and liver cancer increased by over 100%. In the late 1970s, the four alcohol related cancer sites accounted for about 12% of all cancer deaths in males and 4.5% in females. Mortality from liver cirrhosis alone accounted for 4.8% of all deaths in males (9.2% of manpower years lost) and 2.3% in females (6.3% manpower years lost) in females. These figures were even higher in selected areas of north eastern Italy, where alcohol consumption is greater. In absolute terms, the upward trends observed correspond to about 10,000 excess deaths per year in the late 1970s compared with rates observed two decades earlier and are thus second only to the increase in tobacco related causes of death over the same calendar period.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Environmental factors and cancer mortality in Italy: correlational exercise.

Mortality rates for 21 cancer sites in 20 Italian regions have been correlated with several economic and dietary variables (including alcohol and coffee consumption), patterns of cigarette smoking and reproductive habits. In both sexes, a large number of strong correlations emerged, the most notable ones being the strong positive coefficients between cigarettes sold in the early 1950s and lung cancer mortality in middle-aged males in the early 1970s, between gross internal product or meat consumption and cancer of the intestines in both sexes, between total per caput consumption and cancer of the prostate and between mean age at first birth, gross internal product and milk consumption and cancer of the breast. Cancer of the ovary was positively correlated with mean age at the first birth, and negatively with average number of births. Among the unexpected correlations observed, the most remarkable ones were the strong positive coefficient between skin cancer mortality and latitude (which can however be explained in terms of different constitutional characteristics of skin color in various Italian regions), and the pattern of coefficients emerging for gastric cancer, showing positive correlations with gross internal product or meat and negative ones with bread, pasta or fish. These and other results (including the analysis of several first-order partial correlation coefficients) are discussed with regard to their limitations and major points of interest, and in comparison with similar studies conducted on different populations.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Trends in ischemic heart disease mortality in Italy, 1968-78.

In Italy during the period 1968-78, female heart disease mortality decreased in all age groups up to age 79, with an average annual rate of decline in the 35-74 age-standardized rate of over 0.7 per cent. In males, age-specific death rates in some age groups were stable or increased moderately, but in middle-aged (50 to 59) males there was a consistent increase so that the rise in the 35-74 age standardized male death rate was approximately 1 per cent per year.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Trends in mortality from motor vehicle accidents in Italy, 1955-79.

Trends in death certification rates from all motor vehicle accidents and motor-cycle accidents in Italy over the period 1955-79 were analysed. For both sexes, age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population increased steadily up to the early 1970's, reaching 40.08/100,000 males in 1972 and 11.05/100,000 females in 1973. Marked downward trends followed, and the 1977-79 rates were comparable with 1955 for males (around 28/100,000), though the total number of motor vehicles increased almost six-fold (and the number of cars over 14-fold). When age-specific rates were considered, the largest increases between the late 1950's and the early 1970's were for younger (under 25) and older (55 and over) males and younger (under 35) females. The decreases from 1974 onwards applied to both sexes and all age groups. Motor-cycle death rates increased in males up to the mid 1960's, mostly in younger (15-25) and older (over 55) age groups. A sudden, marked inversion of trends followed, starting from the younger age groups and spreading to all age groups in the mid 1970's. This pattern corresponds roughly to a 50% decrease in male death certification rates per registered motor-cycle. In absolute terms, the decline in the second half of the 1970's corresponds to about 4,000 fewer deaths per year. This is one of the major changes observed in mortality from any cause during the 1970's in Italy. Provisional data for the period 1980-82 suggest that further downward trends, albeit moderate, have continued.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1986

Coffee consumption and the risk of breast cancer.

The relationship of breast cancer to coffee drinking habits was evaluated in a case-control study of 616 women with breast cancer and 616 control subjects with nonmalignant disorders, apparently unrelated to coffee consumption. Compared with women who had never drunk coffee, the relative risk estimates for those women who drank less than two, two or three, and four or more cups each day were 1.5, 1.3, and 1.0, respectively. There was no apparent association with duration of consumption or use of other methylxanthine-containing beverages. The results were not modified by several potential confounding factors, including the major risk factors for breast cancer. The findings suggest that coffee consumption does not increase the risk of malignant neoplasms of the breast.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Correlations between cancer mortality rates from various Italian regions.

Death certification rates from 17 non-sexual and 4 sexual cancers were used to examine patterns of correlation between various cancers within the 20 Italian regions. A large number of strongly positive correlations emerged, reflecting the geographical distribution of cancer mortality in Italy which shows substantially higher rates for several common sites in northern areas. The most notable findings were the high positive correlations between various tobacco-related cancers in both sexes (however somewhat higher in males), the positive correlations between most intestinal sites and between a well defined group of other cancers including intestines in both sexes, breast and ovary in females and prostate in males, previously described in several widely heterogeneous populations. Various alcohol-related cancers showed high positive coefficients in males but not in females. Several suggestions which emerged from previous correlation studies but which generally lacked convincing biological or epidemiological consistency were not confirmed by the present data. Conversely, a few strong correlations emerged in the present study which are not explainable in terms of available knowledge of the causes of cancer, or obvious confounding. Though probably incidental, the existence of these correlations between cancers with widely heterogeneous or largely undefined etiology is still an indirect indication that these neoplasms are largely avoidable, since it is unlikely that the same genetic determinants are strongly associated with such different malignancies.

Female↗
PubMed1985

Trends in cancer mortality in Italy, 1955-1978.

Trends in age-specific and age-standardized cancer death certification rates in Italy from 1955 to 1978 were analyzed. In males total cancer mortality rates increased in all age groups. However, when respiratory and other tobacco-related neoplasms were excluded, death certification rates were roughly stable up to age 64. Moderate decreases in overall cancer mortality have been apparent at younger ages (35-44) since the early 1970's. In females, all the age-specific and the age standardized, under-65 death certification rates decreased; the downward trends were more pronounced (-18.5%) in the younger age group considered (35-44 years). Respiratory cancer mortality increased sharply in males: lung cancer death rates reached a plateau in the early 1970's in the 35-44-year age group, but increased at all subsequent ages. In females, the increase in lung cancer mortality was about 50% in the 45-54 and 55-64-year age groups, but no upward trend was evident in younger women. Other tobacco-related cancers (mouth or pharynx, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, kidney and bladder) also rose considerably. In both sexes, gastric cancer mortality dropped about 50% below age 65, but mortality rates from cancer of the stomach were still considerably higher than in other Western countries. Likewise, mortality from cancer of the (cervix) uteri decreased markedly, mostly in younger age groups. Upward trends in death certification rates were evident for cancers of the bowel (colon and rectum, about 50% in males, and 35% in females below age 65), and of the breast in females. However, these trends have levelled off since the late 1960's, at least in the younger age groups. Certified death rates from cancer of the skin (melanoma) increased over all the periods considered in the young of both sexes. Cancer mortality rates showed marked increases in older (greater than or equal to 65) males, but this can be partially explained in terms of better case ascertainment and more accurate death certification.

Adult↗