Biomedical subjects

C C Berry

Publications and source records attributed to C C Berry.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1998

Has the California tobacco control program reduced smoking?

CONTEXT: Comprehensive community-wide tobacco control programs are considered appropriate public health approaches to reduce population smoking prevalence. OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in smoking behavior before, during, and after the California Tobacco Control Program. DESIGN: Per capita cigarette consumption data (1983-1997) were derived from tobacco industry sales figures. Adult (> or =18 years) smoking prevalence data were obtained from the National Health Interview Surveys (1978-1994), the California Tobacco Surveys (1990-1996), the Current Population Surveys (1992-1996), and the California Behavioral Risk Factor Survey and its supplement (1991-1997). Trends were compared before and after introduction of the program, with the period after the program being divided into 2 parts (early, 1989-1993; late, 1994-1996). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in cigarette consumption and smoking prevalence in California compared with the rest of the United States. RESULTS: Per capita cigarette consumption declined 52% faster in California in the early period than previously (from 9.7 packs per person per month at the beginning of the program to 6.5 packs per person per month in 1993), and the decline was significantly greater in California than in the rest of the United States (P<.001). In the late period, the decline in California slowed to 28% of the early program so that in 1996 an average of 6.0 packs per person per month were consumed. No decline occurred in the rest of the United States, and in 1996, 10.5 packs per person per month were consumed. Smoking prevalence showed a similar pattern, but in the late period, there was no significant decline in prevalence in either California or the rest of the United States. In 1996, smoking prevalence was 18.0% in California and 22.4% in the rest of the United States. CONCLUSIONS: The initial effect of the program to reduce smoking in California did not persist. Possible reasons include reduced program funding, increased tobacco industry expenditures for advertising and promotion, and industry pricing and political activities. The question remains how the public health community can modify the program to regain its original momentum.

California↗

PubMed1998

Tobacco industry promotion of cigarettes and adolescent smoking.

CONTEXT: Whether tobacco advertising and promotion increases the likelihood that youths will begin smoking has important public policy implications. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between receptivity to tobacco advertising and promotional activities and progress in the smoking uptake process, defined sequentially as never smokers who would not consider experimenting with smoking, never smokers who would consider experimenting, experimenters (smoked at least once but fewer than 100 cigarettes), or established smokers (smoked at least 100 cigarettes). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with a 3-year follow-up through November 1996. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1752 adolescent never smokers who were not susceptible to smoking when first interviewed in 1993 in a population-based random-digit dial telephone survey in California were reinterviewed in 1996. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Becoming susceptible to smoking or experimenting by 1996. RESULTS: More than half the sample (n=979) named a favorite cigarette advertisement in 1993 and Joe Camel advertisements were the most popular. Less than 5% (n=92) at baseline possessed a promotional item but a further 10%(n=172) were willing to use an item. While having a favorite advertisement in 1993 predicted which adolescents would progress by 1996 (odds ratio [OR] = 1.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-3.20), possession or willingness to use a promotional item was even more strongly associated with future progression (OR=2.89; 95% CI, 1.47-5.68). From these data, we estimate that 34% of all experimentation in California between 1993 and 1996 can be attributed to tobacco promotional activities. Nationally, this would be over 700000 adolescents each year. CONCLUSION: These findings provide the first longitudinal evidence to our knowledge that tobacco promotional activities are causally related to the onset of smoking.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Detection of glaucoma with scanning laser polarimetry.

OBJECTIVE: To determine which retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) measures obtained with scanning laser polarimetry are most useful in detecting early to moderate glaucomatous visual field loss. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: One eye from 84 healthy individuals and 83 patients with early to moderate glaucomatous visual field loss (167 eyes) was assessed with a scanning laser polarimeter (Laser Diagnostic Technologies, San Diego, Calif). Three separate scans were obtained, and a baseline scan was created and used in the analyses. Integrated software (program GDx, version 1.0.02; Laser Diagnostic Technologies) was evaluated by assessing its sensitivity and specificity for detecting early and moderate glaucomatous visual field loss. Fisher linear discriminant functions also were developed in this population to assess sensitivity and specificity and were compared with the GDx analyses. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences between the healthy and glaucomatous eyes for 14 of the 15 RNFL measures (P = .001). However, considerable overlap in measurements between groups was found. With the GDx number, the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.78, and the sensitivity and specificity were 82% and 62%, respectively. Applying the best discriminant function using 3 variables (average thickness, ellipse modulation, and average ellipse thickness) to our study population resulted in an area under the ROC curve of 0.89 and a sensitivity and specificity of 74% and 92%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A combination of RNFL measures obtained using the scanning laser polarimeter improved the ability to differentiate between healthy eyes and eyes with early and moderate glaucomatous visual field loss. Analyses using GDx software did not differentiate between healthy and glaucomatous eyes as well as the discriminant analysis function did.

Aged↗

PubMed1998

Determinants of dietary intake in a sample of white and Mexican-American children.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of several potential psychosocial determinants on children's eating behavior. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred fifty-one Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white children (mean age = 4.4 years old at baseline) participated in the San Diego Study of Children's Activity and Nutrition for up to 2.5 years. METHODS: Child's eating behavior was described by 3 dependent variables: total energy, percentage energy from fat, and sodium intake per 1,000 kcal. Dietary information was collected 4 days a year using a 24-hour food intake record, which was a combination of direct observation and interviews with food preparers. The 35 predictor variables from child, parental, demographic, and environmental domains were collected by behavioral observation, interviewer-administered questionnaires, and physical measurements. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Bivariate and regression analyses via mixed linear models were performed. RESULTS: Variables from the children's domain (such as skinfold thickness and weight) had the strongest associations with energy intake; parental variables (such as fat avoidance behavior and prompts to increase children's food intake) were associated with child's percentage energy from fat and sodium intake. In regression analyses, parsimonious subsets of variables accounted for 46% of variance in energy intake (3 variables), 40% of the variance in percentage of energy from fat (4 variables), and 44% of variance in sodium intake per 1,000 kcal energy (1 variable) in between-subject variance components. CONCLUSIONS: Fat and sodium intake of children may be improved by improving parents' nutrition habits and by having parents encourage children to eat a healthful diet. Few modifiable correlates of children's energy intake were identified.

California↗

PubMed1998

Direct home observations of the prompting of physical activity in sedentary and active Mexican- and Anglo-American children.

Social interactions are important correlates of physical activity in children. Previous studies used global measures; the present study examined the influence of specific social interactions on immediate physical activity in children with data obtained from the Behaviors of Eating and Activity for Child Health: Evaluation System (BEACHES). The study examined parental and peer prompting of physical activity at home among 178 Mexican-American and 113 Anglo-American children at age 4 years and again at age 6.5 years. Most activity prompts came from adults interacting with children when they were sedentary. A reduction in the frequency of prompts from baseline to follow-up occurred in the prompter group (adult or child peer), gender, ethnicity, and preprompted activity level categories. Children's responses to these prompts showed that as they aged, they seemed to rely less on the interpersonal (especially adult) aspects of their environment for cues to be more active.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Detection of early glaucomatous structural damage with confocal scanning laser tomography.

PURPOSE: The authors determine which optic disc topographic parameters obtained by the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT, Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) are most useful in detecting individuals with early glaucomatous visual field loss. METHODS: Ninety-nine eyes of 49 healthy individuals and 50 age-matched individuals with early glaucomatous visual field loss were included. Three images were obtained and the mean topography image was created and used in the analyses. The HRT discriminant analysis function (software version 2.01) was applied and compared to the Fisher linear discriminant function developed in this population. Analysis was repeated after stratifying by disc area (< 2 mm2 or 2-3 mm2). RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences between the healthy and glaucomatous groups for all optic disc topographic parameters (p < 0.05) measured. These differences remained after the analysis was repeated controlling for disc size, except for height variation contour. Applying the HRT discriminant function to this study population resulted in sensitivity and specificity of 62% and 94%, respectively. The sensitivity was 83% while specificity remained high (91%) for larger disc sizes. Using this data, additional discriminant functions that differentiated similarly between the two groups were found. The best formula used cup-shape measure (third moment), rim area, height variation contour, and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and had a sensitivity and specificity of 78% and 88%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Several different discriminant analysis formulas are capable of detecting early glaucomatous visual field loss in a comparable manner. The characteristics of the study population are likely to influence the discriminating power of these various formulas.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Genetic bias in immune responses to a cassette shared by different microorganisms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease associated with HLA-DRbeta1 alleles which contain the QKRAA amino acid sequence in their third hypervariable region(s). The QKRAA sequence is also expressed by several human pathogens. We have shown previously that an Escherichia coli peptide encompassing QKRAA is a target of immune responses in RA patients. Here we address two questions: first, whether QKRAA may function as an "immunological cassette" with similar, RA-associated, immunogenic properties when expressed by other common human pathogens; and second, what is the influence of genetic background in the generation of these responses. We find that early RA patients have enhanced humoral and cellular immune responses to Epstein-Barr virus and Brucella ovis and Lactobacillus lactis antigens which contain the QKRAA sequence. These results suggest that the QKRAA sequence is an antigenic epitope on several different microbial proteins, and that RA patients recognize the immunological cassette on different backgrounds. ANOVA of immune responses to "shared epitope" antigens in monozygotic twin couples shows that, despite significantly elevated responses in affected individuals, a similarity between pairs is retained, thus suggesting a role played either by hereditary or shared environmental factors in the genesis or maintenance of these responses.

Antigen Presentation↗

PubMed1997

Effect of cataract and pupil size on image quality with confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of pupil size and cataract on the reproducibility and image quality obtained with confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy. METHODS: Three image series were obtained with a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope (Heidelberg Retina Tomograph, Heidelberg, Germany) before and after pupillary dilation in each of 39 subjects (8 normal subjects, 5 glaucoma suspects, and 26 patients with glaucoma). The cataract density was measured with both a lens opacity meter and the Lens Opacities Classification System III system. The image quality of each image series was subjectively scored on a scale of 0 (poor) to 9 (high) by 2 independent observers who were unaware of the cataract density and pupil size during image acquisition. The image quality and reproducibility were objectively evaluated using the SD of the mean topography image of each subject. RESULTS: The mean pupil diameter in all subjects before and after dilation was 2.5 +/- 0.8 mm and 5.8 +/- 1.4 mm, respectively. After pupillary dilation, both the mean image quality score and mean SD of the mean topography image improved (from 4.5 +/- 3.5 to 7.4 +/- 2.3 and from 48.6 +/- 18.8 microns to 35.6 +/- 15.5 microns, respectively). The quality score of the images that were obtained before pupillary dilation was associated with the pupil size and density of nuclear and posterior subcapsular cataracts. The SD of the mean topography images that were obtained before pupillary dilation increased with a decreasing pupil size (P = .003) and an increasing density of the nuclear (P < .03), cortical (P = .02), and posterior subcapsular (P = .002) opacity. CONCLUSIONS: Although pupillary dilation improved the image quality in most subjects, the improvement was sometimes small. Those subjects with small undilated pupils and/or cataracts may benefit most from pupillary dilation.

Aged↗

PubMed1997

Breast implants in patients with differentiated and undifferentiated connective tissue disease.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of breast implantation and the relationship of the implants to the onset of symptoms in patients with differentiated and undifferentiated connective tissue disease (CTD). METHODS: We evaluated an inception cohort of patients with differentiated and undifferentiated CTD and symptoms of < 12 months duration when enrolled in 1983-1987. The risk of having breast implants in those patients with early symptoms of CTD was determined in comparison with that in a non-concurrent control group. RESULTS: Only 3 of 323 women in the cohort had historical, physical, or chest radiographic evidence of breast implantation. In 1 of the 3 patients, the symptoms of CTD began before the breast implantation. The odds ratio was calculated at 1.15, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 0.23 to 3.41. CONCLUSION: This study showed an absence of significant risk for prior breast implantation surgery in patients with well-defined or undifferentiated CTD.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Race affects the decline in blood pressure with hospitalization.

Hospitalization routinely lowers blood pressure (BP). This study examined the effects of race and psychologic characteristics on this phenomenon. Data are reported from two separate cohorts of hypertensive and normotensive black and white men and women who were studied following a stay at a clinical research center where sodium intake was held constant. Blacks (N = 88), as compared to whites (N = 77), showed consistently smaller declines in systolic BP (P < .01) following hospitalization (-11.6 mm Hg SBP v -19.5 mm Hg SBP, respectively). A multiple regression model that treated BP as a function of physiologic and psychologic attributes indicated that preadmission BP level, body mass index, stress level, and anger expression were related to the drop in systolic (r2 = 65%) and diastolic (r2 = 45%) BP brought about by hospitalization (P < .0001). In blacks, high environmental stress ratings were unrelated to the change in BP with hospitalization. In contrast, whites with high environmental stress ratings lowered their BP noticeably with hospitalization. Given that the reduction in BP with hospitalization can be similar to that attained with pharmacologic therapy, these findings may have a bearing on studies examining BP in the hospital.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Depressive symptoms in California adolescents: family structure and parental support.

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between family structure, parental social support, and depressive symptoms among California adolescents. METHODS: The depressive symptom instrument consisted of a previously validated self-report scale. The sample was the 1993 California Youth Tobacco Survey respondents (N = 5,531). The analysis classified adolescents in the highest 15% on the depressive symptom scale as having notable depressive symptoms and related the prevalence of depression to family structure (two-parent, single-mother, single-father, and neither parent present) and to parental support (adolescents naming parents as someone they could talk to about problems). RESULTS: Girls reported significantly higher rates of depressive symptoms than boys. Although adolescents in single-parent households tended to show slightly higher rates of depressive symptoms, these rates did not differ significantly across the four types of family structures for either sex. Significantly higher rates of depressive symptoms were found among both boys and girls who resided with parent(s) not named as supportive than those who lived with supportive parent(s). Girls appeared particularly vulnerable if they lived in a nonsupportive, single-father household. CONCLUSION: Lack of perceived parental social support is highly related to depressive symptoms in California adolescents. Helping parents establish and maintain supportive relationships with the children in their household may decrease the likelihood of depressive symptoms among adolescents.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Physical activity levels and prompts in young children at recess: a two-year study of a bi-ethnic sample.

We investigated physical activity and encouragement for activity in a bi-ethnic cohort during recess. Activity and associated interactions of 287 children were recorded at preschool and again 2.2 years later. Children expended nearly twice as much energy at preschool recess than at elementary recess. Activity levels declined as recess time elapsed. At preschool, European-American children engaged in more moderate to vigorous activity than Mexican-Americans. As participants moved to elementary school, teachers' prompts to be active decreased and prompts from peers increased. Boys and girls received similar amounts of activity prompts at preschool, but prompts to boys increased over time. The findings suggest that school environments could be altered to promote healthful physical activity among young children.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1997

Reports on contrast media reactions: analysis of data from reports to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

PURPOSE: To compare U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and manufacturer data about patient reactions to ionic and nonionic, low- and high-osmolar contrast media from 1990 through 1994. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Reactions to all available high-osmolar and four low-osmolar contrast media (ioxaglate, iohexol, iopamidol, and ioversol) were compared. Ioxaglate is composed of charged particles, and data are reported separately. Reactions were also compared with data from 1980 to 1984, when only high-osmolar contrast media were available. RESULTS: With high-osmolar contrast media compared with the three noncharged low-osmolar media, the incidence (per million examinations) was highest for all reported reactions (193.8 vs 44.4), severe reactions (37.4 vs 10.5), and deaths (3.9 vs 2.1). With high-osmolar media compared with ioxaglate, respectively, the incidence of total reactions was higher (193.8 vs 142.5), of severe reactions was almost the same (37.4 vs 33.6), and of death was lower (3.9 vs 6.4). The incidence of severe reactions to total reactions was higher with nonionic media (23.7%) and ioxaglate (23.6%) than with ionic media (19.3%). The incidence of death to severe reactions was 19.7% with nonionic media, 19.0% with ioxaglate, and 10.4% with high-osmolar media. The incidence of renal failure (as a percentage of total reports) was approximately 3.6 times higher with all low-osmolar contrast media (2.3%) than with high-osmolar media (0.6%), usually in patients with pathologic cardiac conditions. CONCLUSION: All of these factors merit consideration in the evaluation of the utility of a given contrast medium.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Menstrual cycle effects on catecholamine and cardiovascular responses to acute stress in black but not white normotensive women.

This study examined cardiovascular and catecholamine responses to two standardized laboratory stressors in 33 healthy age- and weight-matched black and white normotensive women (mean age, 32 years) during two phases of the menstrual cycle. Subjects were studied in a randomized order at the same time of day on two separate occasions approximately six weeks apart, once during the follicular phase (days 7 to 10 after menses) and once during the luteal phase (days 7 to 10 after the leutenizing hormone surge) of the menstrual cycle. Black women has higher systolic (P=.01) and diastolic (P=.01) pressures compared with white women. Black women showed greater diastolic pressure (P <.01) and plasma epinephrine (P <.05) responses to stress during the follicular compared with the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle; white women showed no significant changes in these variables. The findings extend the literature on race differences in responsivity to stress and indicate that in contrast to white women, reproductive hormones do influence cardiovascular and catecholamine responsivity to stress in black women.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Lymphocyte subset redistribution in response to acute experimental stress: effects of gender, ethnicity, hypertension, and the sympathetic nervous system.

This study examined demographic and adrenergic characteristics associated with enumerative immune responses to acute laboratory stress. Lymphocyte subsets and plasma catecholamines were measured in 110 subjects at rest and following a naturalistic speaking stressor. Lymphocyte beta 2-adrenergic receptor sensitivity and density were measured at rest. The speaking task caused marked increase in natural killer cells, T-suppressor/cytotoxic cells, total WBC, norepinephrine, and epinephrine and decreases in T-helper cells, B cells and the T-helper/suppressor ratio. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that, in general, cellular immune responses were best predicted by a combination of lower basal norepinephrine, higher beta 2-adrenergic receptor sensitivity, and a greater stress-induced increase in norepinephrine. The findings suggest that traditional epidemiologic characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, and mild hypertension have limited influence on lymphocytosis. Rather, interindividual differences in sympathetic nervous system characteristics play a more prominent underlying role in acute cellular immune system activation.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Preparing children with congenital heart disease for cardiac surgery.

Compared the effects of two methods of preparing children for cardiac surgery. Forty-eight child-caregiver dyads were assigned to a treatment group, receiving information and coping skills training, or a control group, receiving information as routinely provided. Treatment group children were more cooperative and less upset in the hospital; better adjusted at home after discharge; higher functioning in school; and their functional health status improved faster. Treatment group caregivers expressed greater confidence in their ability to care for their children in hospital and at home after discharge. Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive appraisal model of stress coping using a multidimensional assessment of treatment effects.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1995

Modulation of disease activity in murine systemic lupus erythematosus by cytokine gene delivery.

Somatic gene therapy is a novel approach with the potential to achieve prolonged increases in circulating levels of peptide hormones and cytokines. The present study evaluates the effects of monthly, intramuscular injections of cDNA expression vectors encoding for transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) or interleukin 2 (IL-2) on disease activity in the MRL/lpr/lpr murine model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Monthly injections of plasmids cDNA between 6 and 26 weeks significantly elevated the serum levels of TGF beta (P < 0.005) and IL-2 (P < 0.05) compared with a control plasmid without insert. TGF beta encoding plasmid had beneficial effects in murine SLE with a prolonged survival of 70% at 26 weeks compared with 40% in the control group, decreased anti-chromatin and rheumatoid factor antibodies and a 50% decrease in total IgG production. Renal function was improved with reduced BUN levels and kidney inflammation as estimated by an histologic score. Those beneficial effects occurred in the apparent absence of local or systemic side-effects. In contrast, IL-2 cDNA injections appeared harmful with a decreased survival to 20% at 26 weeks, enhanced total IgG synthesis and autoantibodies production with a 4.5-fold increase in antichromatin antibodies. These results indicate that somatic gene therapy may provide a simple, inexpensive and effective mechanism for the long-term control of autoimmune diseases.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Variability and tracking of physical activity over 2 yr in young children.

The purpose of this study was to examine tracking of physical activity at home and recess in young children. Three hundred fifty-one Mexican-American and Anglo-American children entered the study (mean age = 4.4 yr), and 83% completed 2 yr of measurement. Physical activity was directly observed on 10 d over 2 yr. Measurement waves occurred every 6 months, and each wave consisted of 2 d of observation within 1 wk. Children were observed for 60 min at home on a weekday evening and up to 30 min during recess at preschool or school. Maximum likelihood procedures using a linear mixed-effects model indicated that most of the variance in home and recess physical activity was accounted for by short-term/weekly factors. Tracking of physical activity accounted for 15% of the total variance at home and 8% at recess. Pearson correlations for physical activity over time were higher at home than at recess. Tracking of home physical activity was r = 0.15 when single days were correlated and r = 0.36 when the means of 4 d were correlated. There was a small, but detectable, stable component of physical activity in young children, at least at home.

Child Behavior↗