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Biomedical subjects

M Swanson

Publications and source records attributed to M Swanson.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Risk of premenopausal breast cancer and use of electric blankets.

Electric blanket use, estimated to significantly increase background exposure to 60-Hz electromagnetic fields, has been hypothesized to increase breast cancer risk. From 1986 to 1991 in western New York State, the authors investigated the use of electric blankets as a risk factor for breast cancer in a case-control study of premenopausal women. A total of 290 premenopausal breast cancer cases and 289 age-matched randomly selected community controls were queried in regard to their use of electric blankets in the previous 10 years, including frequency of use in season and mode of use. After adjusting for age, education, and other risk factors, the odds ratio for use of an electric blanket at any time in the previous 10 years (40% of cases and 37% of controls) was 1.18 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83-1.68). Estimates of risk did not differ in a dose-response fashion for number of years of electric blanket use. The risk associated with daily use in season relative to nonuse was 1.27 (95% CI 0.86-1.88). The risk of breast cancer among those who reported use of the blanket through the night was 1.43 (95% CI 0.94-2.17). However, the risk for those who reported daily use in season, continuously throughout the night for the previous 10 years was 1.10 (95% CI 0.59-2.05). These findings do not support the hypothesis that electric blanket use is associated with an increased risk for breast cancer. Studies with improved measures of more highly exposed individuals with quantification of total electromagnetic field exposure might clarify the uncertainties regarding risk of breast cancer associated with such exposure.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Early intervention in low-birth-weight premature infants. Results through age 5 years from the Infant Health and Development Program.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the persistence of effects on health and development at age 5 years of the Infant Health and Development Program, an early childhood intervention that was provided to low-birth-weight (LBW) premature infants from neonatal discharge through age 3 years. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled, multicenter trial, stratified by two LBW groups: lighter (< or = 2000 g) and heavier (2001 to 2500 g). SETTING: Eight socioeconomically heterogeneous clinical sites. PARTICIPANTS: Of 985 eligible infants weighing 2500 g or less and at 37 weeks' or less gestational age, 377 infants were randomly assigned to the intervention group and 608 to the follow-up only group. About two thirds of the infants in each group were in the lighter LBW stratum, and one third were in the heavier LBW stratum. INTERVENTION: The intervention group received home visits (from neonatal discharge through age 3 years) as well as center-based schooling (from 1 to 3 years of age). Children in both groups received pediatric surveillance. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cognitive development, behavioral competence, and health status. RESULTS: At age 5 years, the intervention group had full-scale IQ scores similar to children in the follow-up only group. However, in the heavier LBW stratum, children in the intervention group had higher full-scale IQ scores (3.7 points higher; P = .03) and higher verbal IQ scores (4.2 points higher; P = .02). No significant differences between intervention and follow-up only groups in cognitive measures at age 5 years were noted in the lighter LBW infants. The intervention and follow-up groups were similar in behavior and health measures regardless of LBW stratum. CONCLUSION: The early childhood intervention provided in the first 3 years of life had effects on heavier LBW premature infants' IQ and verbal performance at age 5 years that were not observed for lighter LBW premature infants. The intervention did not affect health or behavior at age 5 years in either LBW stratum.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed1994

A protective association between the HLA-A2 antigen and nasopharyngeal carcinoma in US Caucasians.

Analyzing data from Caucasians participating in a multicentered population-based case-control study of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and HLA type in the US, we found persons with the A2 antigen to have a significantly lower risk than those with other antigens at the A locus [odds ratio (OR), 0.46; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.21-0.96]. The protective association was stronger among presumptive homozygotes for A2. Similar results were obtained when cases were compared with US Caucasians typed either as part of the Collaborative Transplant Study, or by the 9th International Histocompatibility Workshop. These results are supported by a statistical summary of odds ratios for A2 from a number of previous studies in non-Chinese (summary OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.54-0.88). The odds ratio for patients with squamous-cell carcinomas was 0.56; among 7 patients with undifferentiated tumors the OR was 0.14. Results from in vitro studies of immune response to Epstein-Barr virus have found that the HLA-A2 antigen efficiently presents the EBV gene product LMP-2, which has been detected in NPC tumor cells. This offers a rationale for the observed protective association between the HLA-A2 antigen and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Antigen Presentation↗
PubMed1994

Progress on smoking control in Western Australia.

In 1990, 20 years of campaigning by the Western Australian branch of the Australian Council on Smoking and Health succeeded in getting tobacco advertising banned in Western Australia and a fund set up to replace the sponsorship of sport by tobacco companies. The council coordinated the activities of the mainly professional medical organisations that formed its members, ensuring that messages about the dangers of tobacco were consistently presented from different angles. The campaigners also ensured that medical data were reworked for presentation to decision makers and public, invaded the corporate world, and minimised opposition by enlisting the support of sportspeople opposed to tobacco sponsorship. The council hopes now that elimination of advertising will reduce the prevalence of smoking.

Advertising↗
PubMed1994

Exposure to breastmilk in infancy and the risk of breast cancer.

Early childhood nutrition may affect the subsequent risk of breast cancer in adulthood. We examined the association of having been breastfed with risk of breast cancer in a case-control study of women age 40-85 years in western New York. Cases (N = 528) had newly diagnosed primary, pathologically confirmed breast cancer; controls (N = 602) were randomly selected from the same community and were frequency matched on age. Having been breastfed was associated with decreased risk. The multivariate adjusted odds ratio was 0.74, and the 95% confidence interval was 0.56-0.99. We found little difference in the association for pre- and postmenopausal women despite a much higher frequency of breastfeeding among the older women. These findings indicate that early nutriture in general and bottle feeding in particular may relate to breast cancer development in adulthood.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Coffee, cigarette smoking, and bladder cancer in western New York.

The association between consumption of coffee and bladder cancer and the effect modification of cigarette smoking was investigated as part of a comprehensive case-control study. The study population consisted of 351 case patients with histologically confirmed transitional cell carcinomas of the bladder among white males and 855 white male control subjects selected from Erie, Niagara, and Monroe counties in New York from 1979 to 1985. Usual diet, coffee consumption, and cigarette use were estimated by comprehensive interviews using a detailed food frequency questionnaire. After adjustment for age, education, and dietary risk factors by multiple logistic regression, risk was found to increase with increasing pack-years of cigarette use with an odds ratio in the highest quartile of 2.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.8 to 4.0) when compared to the lowest quartile. Coffee consumption was associated with an increased risk for bladder cancer among the heaviest coffee drinkers after adjustment for cigarette smoking and other dietary risk factors (odds ratio, 2.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 3.2). The effect was more pronounced among nonsmokers, especially among those 65 years and older. These findings support the contention that coffee is a weak carcinogen.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Are we teaching leadership as a value?

Using the Survey of Interpersonal Values developed by Gordon, a longitudinal study was done to determine value changes of a cohort group of baccalaureate nursing students as sophomores and seniors. Four of six values showed statistically significant changes: leadership and recognition increased as values, while conformity and benevolence decreased. Support and independence showed no significant change.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1992

Alcohol consumption and lung cancer in white males.

Experimental and epidemiologic investigations in alcoholic and nonalcoholic populations have suggested a role of alcohol in lung carcinogenesis. The association between alcohol consumption and lung cancer was investigated among 280 White males with histologically confirmed, primary lung cancer and 564 White male controls, participants in the Western New York Diet Study (United States). Among heavy smokers (over 40 pack-years), total alcohol consumption was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer with adjustment for age, years of education, pack-years of cigarette smoking, and intake of carotenoids and fat. In this group, the odds ratio for drinkers of more than 24 drinks per month was 1.6 compared with those who drank less. Drinkers of more than 12 beers per month were 1.6 times more likely to develop lung cancer than nondrinkers of beer after controlling for age, years of education, and cigarette smoking (95 percent confidence interval = 1.0-2.4, P for trend = 0.003). Occupational and dietary factors did not seem to explain these findings. Although cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung cancer, the role of alcohol, independent or in interaction with cigarette smoking, deserves further investigation.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Diet in the epidemiology of bladder cancer in western New York.

We present the dietary epidemiology of bladder cancer while controlling for a number of lifestyle and environmental risk factors in a study of 351 white male cases with histologically confirmed transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder and 855 white male controls selected from Erie, Niagara, and Monroe counties of western New York from 1979 to 1985. Usual diet was estimated by comprehensive interviews with use of a detailed food frequency questionnaire. An increased risk of bladder cancer was associated with higher kilocalorie intake, but only among those under 65 years of age, with the strongest pattern associated with fat intake. Further analyses of fat, carbohydrates, and protein, with adjustment for total kilocalories, resulted in a positive association of risk with fat intake and a decreasing risk with higher protein intake. Of the vitamins, carotenoid consumption appeared to decrease risk with increased consumption for those under 65 years of age. No significant differences between cases and controls were seen for intake of calcium, retinol, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E. After adjustment for kilocalories and other confounders, higher intake of dietary sodium was associated with increased risk among both age groups, and the trends were statistically significant. The importance of diet in the etiology of bladder cancer is suggested by our findings.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Nutritional epidemiology of postmenopausal breast cancer in western New York.

The authors studied 439 postmenopausal breast cancer cases, identified in hospitals throughout western New York, with an interview schedule that considered frequency and amount ingested of 172 foods and provided data for an estimate of total calories ingested. These were compared with age-matched controls comprising a random sample of the same communities as the cases. The extensive interviews, requiring 2.0 hours on average to administer, also covered alcohol ingestion, Quetelet index, and a wide variety of reproductive factors. The authors found, as have most investigators over the past 25 years, that risk increased with increases in age at first pregnancy, decreased with increases in numbers of children and pregnancies, and increased in those with history of benign breast disease and in those with female relatives previously affected with breast cancer. Risk adjusted for potential confounders was highest among women with the lowest ingestion of carotene or a substance correlated with its ingestion. Risk was not associated with retinol ingestion. It increased with increases in Quetelet index. Fat intake, whether studied in terms of quantity or the proportion of total calories derived from fat, was not associated with risk of breast cancer. Our analyses of these factors were adjusted for age, education, and the reproductive history traits described above.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Use of electric blankets and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.

Chronic exposure to 60-Hz electromagnetic fields has been hypothesized to increase breast cancer risk by suppressing the normal nocturnal rise in pineal melatonin. From 1987 to 1989 in western New York the authors investigated the use of electric blankets as a risk factor for breast cancer in a case-control study of postmenopausal women aged 41-85 years. A study population of 382 cases and 439 randomly selected community controls was queried regarding use in the previous 10 years, the frequency of use by season, and the mode of use. After adjusting for age and education, the odds ratio (OR) for use of an electric blanket in the past 10 years (33% of cases, 35% of controls) was 0.89 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.66-1.19), and the risk did not differ in a dose-response fashion by the number of years used. The risk associated with daily use relative to nonuse was 0.97 (95% CI 0.70-1.35). Use sometimes to warm the bed and sometimes throughout the night was not associated with risk (OR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.40-1.05). The risk of breast cancer among those who used the blanket continuously throughout the night was 1.31 (95% CI 0.88-1.95). Those who reported daily use in season, continuously throughout the night for the past 10 years did not have significantly elevated risk (OR = 1.25, 95% CI 0.73-2.16). Adjustment for the Quetelet index and reproductive risk factors did not alter the results. These findings do not support the hypothesis that electric blanket use is associated with an increased risk for breast cancer. The slightly elevated estimate of risk for the most frequent electric blanket users and the potential public health significance of electromagnetic field exposure suggest that further inquiries be undertaken.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Improved xenograft survival with continuous infusion deoxyspergualin and RATG.

The critical shortage of available donor organs is the major limit to current allogeneic transplantation. Xenografting has the potential to overcome this difficult problem. Suppressing the vigorous rejection response remains a major obstacle to the clinical application of xenografting, 15-Deoxyspergualin (DOSP), a potent new immunosuppressive agent has been shown to be effective in allogeneic and xenogeneic experimental models. This study tests DOSP in combination with rabbit antithymocyte globulin (RATG) in the hamster-to-rat cardiac xenograft. Results show that combination therapy with DOSP/RATG was superior to treatment with either agent alone (p less than .05). Optimal graft prolongation (20.9 days versus control of 3.1 days, p less than .05) was achieved with combination therapy of RATG and DOSP 2.5 mg/kg day-1 by continuous infusion.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Identification and partial characterization of the soybean-dust allergens involved in the Barcelona asthma epidemic.

Asthma epidemics in Barcelona, Spain, have been attributed to dust generated by the unloading of soybeans in the harbor. Sera of four different groups of 10 subjects in each group were studied: (1) patients attending an emergency room in Barcelona for an asthma attack on epidemic days, group A, (2) patients attending an emergency room for an attack on nonepidemic days, group B, (3) patients with asthma from other cities, group C, and (4) patients without asthma from Barcelona matched by age and sex with group A, group D. All subjects in group A had IgE to allergens in extracts of various soybean samples. In contrast, only one of the 10 subjects in each of groups B and C and none of those subjects in group D had IgE to uncleaned bean and hull extracts. Radioimmunoassay demonstrated that in sera from patients with asthma during an asthma outbreak reacted primarily to soybean hull and dust extracts. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide and gel electrophoresis thin-layer isoelectrofocusing demonstrated protein bands of 97.4 to less than 14.4 kd and isoelectric point between 6 and 3.5. By Western blot and thin layer isoelectrofocusing/blotted radioimmunoisoelectrofocusing, IgE of patients with asthma during an asthma outbreak reacted weakly to two protein bands of molecular weight ranging from 42 to 21 kd, strongly to glycoprotein bands with molecular weight less than 14.4 kd, and isoelectric point less than 6, which appeared to be the major allergens.

Adolescent↗