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P Lagiou

Publications and source records attributed to P Lagiou.

69 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Predictors of sex hormone levels among the elderly: a study in Greece.

This study examines the relationship between a series of epidemiologic parameters (age, height, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, and coffee drinking) and serum concentrations of testosterone, estradiol, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS). Among 52 healthy, elderly Greek men, we observed that serum levels of DHEAS decreased with increasing age [19% decline per 5-year increase in age, 95% CI, -2.1-(-33.5)], obesity [48% decline for BMI >30 kg/m2 compared to <27 kg/m2, CI, -15.7-(-68.7)], and current smoking [37% decline compared to nonsmokers, CI, -9.5-(-57.2)]. Estradiol concentrations increased with increasing BMI [77.1% increase for BMI >30 kg/m2 compared to <27 kg/m2, CI, -12.0-256.3], alcohol drinking [66% increase for > or = 7 glasses/week compared to <7 glasses/week, CI, 4.4-164.4], and coffee drinking [59% increase for > or = 14 cups/week compared to > or = 14 cups/ week, CI, -0.5-155.9], and decreased among current smokers [40% decline compared to nonsmokers, CI, -64.9-0.8]. SHBG was marginally positively associated with increasing age [13% increase per 5 years, CI, -0.5-29.6]. Testosterone was significantly related only to current smoking [27% decline compared to nonsmokers, CI, -45.4-(-3.1)]. These findings suggest that several variables appear to be associated with sex steroid levels and the influence of these findings on the occurrence of hormone-related conditions warrants further exploration.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

The DAFNE food data bank as a tool for monitoring food availability in Europe. DAta Food NEtworking.

DAFNE, the acronym for DAta Food NEtworking, aims at the creation of a pan-European food data bank based on household budget surveys. It relies on household budget surveys that provide a unique source of dietary information that can be used to form a system that meets several requirements, including large sample size, representativeness, timeliness, and economic efficiency. In this brief overview of the project, the methodology is summarised, validation procedures are indicated, and examples of the information that can be harvested is provided. The DAFNE data could provide the background for the development of recommended dietary objectives customised to particular populations and form the basis for evidence-based nutritional policies serving guidelines of global applicability.

Budgets↗
PubMed1997

Changing seasonality of mortality from coronary heart disease.

CONTEXT: Coronary heart disease is the major cause of mortality in the United States. Factors associated with coronary risk are important to identify. Coronary mortality is greater during the winter months. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether declining coronary mortality has been accompanied by a change in the seasonal pattern and to investigate the hypothesis that diminishing exposures to environmental cold and heat have affected the seasonal pattern. DESIGN: We used published data on coronary mortality by year to evaluate the time trend in the seasonal pattern. We fit a sine curve to the monthly frequency of deaths in each year and examined the trend over time in the ratio of the peak to the trough of the curve. SETTING: We used monthly coronary deaths in the United States from 1937 through 1991. Deaths by cause and month were not available by geographic area within the United States, but we were able to examine total monthly deaths in 2 regions with contrasting climates, New England and the South. OUTCOME MEASURES: We used the yearly peak-to-trough ratio as our primary outcome and assessed its trend over time by linear regression. We also depicted the time trends using polynomial smoothing. RESULTS: The peak-to-trough ratio diminished by about 2% per year until around 1970, when the trend reversed. In New England, the decline was steeper than in the South, as measured from all deaths. CONCLUSION: Seasonal patterns in coronary mortality in the United States have changed with time. These changes are compatible with the gradual expansion of adequate heating and the subsequent increased use of air-conditioning. Microclimatic influences on coronary mortality could explain in part the socioeconomic gradient of cardiovascular mortality.

Cold Temperature↗
PubMed1997

Serum steroids in relation to prostate cancer risk in a case-control study (Greece).

Blood samples were collected from 52 incident cases of histologically confirmed prostate cancer and 52 age- and town of residence-matched healthy controls in Athens, Greece. Samples were analyzed blindly in Boston, Massachusetts (USA) for testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The data were modeled using multiple logistic regression with adjustment for age, height, body mass index (wt/ht2), years of schooling, and mutually among hormones. DHT was associated inversely, significantly, and strongly with the risk of prostate cancer, whereas T was associated marginally positively, and E2 was associated nonsignificantly inversely with the disease. No association was observed in this study with respect to SHBG.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Worldwide patterns of dietary lipids intake and health implications.

The purpose of this paper was to identify broad patterns of dietary lipids intake in the world and to assess their health implications. Household budget surveys are a valuable source of information that have been long overlooked, even though they allow assessment of within-region variability according to sociodemographic variables. With respect to per capita dietary lipids intake at a national level, four different patterns can be identified: high total dietary lipids, high intake of mostly saturated animal lipids; high total dietary lipids, low animal lipids; moderate total dietary lipids, low to moderate animals lipids; and low total dietary lipids, low animal lipids. Over time, animal lipids intake tends to decrease in countries with the first intake pattern and consumption of saturated animal lipids and polyunsaturated plant lipids-the latter frequently partly hydrogenated-tends to increase in most of the other populations. Of the visible dietary lipids, vegetable oils have been gradually assuming greater importance, with North America showing the largest absolute increase in availability per capita over the past 30 y. Studies have shown that olive oil, which is essentially a monounsaturated oil, increases high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and reduces low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, promoting in a balanced way a desirable blood lipid profile. Although concerns have been raised about the long-term safety of some trans fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids, epidemiologic studies suggest that olive oil may have beneficial effects not only on cardiovascular health but also on the development of several malignancies including breast cancer.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Evidence that adult life risk factors influence the expression of familial propensity to breast cancer.

In the context of a study in Athens comprising 692 cases and 1,261 controls, we have evaluated the effect on breast cancer risk of the joint action of first-degree relative family history and established adult life risk factors. We created a risk score by assigning the value of 1 to women at high risk with respect to any of these risk factors and 0 otherwise, and summing these values, using weights equal to the excess odds ratio. The odds ratio for a tertile increment in the risk score was 1.5 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.3-1.8] among women without family history, and 2.3 (95% CI = 1.1-5.1) for women with family history. Our findings imply that women with a family history of breast cancer may benefit disproportionately by reduced exposure to adult life risk factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Healthy traditional Mediterranean diet: an expression of culture, history, and lifestyle.

The term Mediterranean diet refers to dietary patterns found in olive-growing areas of the Mediterranean region and described in the 1960s and beyond. There are several variants of the Mediterranean diet, but some common components can be identified: high monounsaturated/saturated fat ratio; ethanol consumption at moderate levels and mainly in the form of wine; high consumption of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and grains; moderate consumption of milk and dairy products, mostly in the form of cheese; and low consumption of meat and meat products. Growing evidence demonstrates that the Mediterranean diet is beneficial to health; the evidence is stronger for coronary heart disease, but it also applies to some forms of cancer. Results from recent investigations provide a strong biomedical foundation for the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet.

Coronary Disease↗
PubMed1996

Diet and risk of esophageal cancer by histologic type in a low-risk population.

In a hospital-based case-control study of esophageal cancer undertaken in Athens (1989-1991), 43 patients with incident esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma and 56 patients with incident esophageal adenocarcinoma were compared to 200 injury patients. Personal interviews were conducted in the hospital setting, and dietary intake was assessed using a validated semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Nutrient intakes for individuals were calculated by multiplying the nutrient content of a typical portion size for each specified food item by the frequency with which the food was consumed per month and summing these estimates for all food items. Data were modeled through logistic regression, controlling for socio-demographic factors, tobacco smoking, consumption of alcoholic beverages and total energy intake. Consumption of vegetables and fruits as well as intake of vitamin A, vitamin C and crude fiber were inversely associated with esophageal cancer in general, but the respective associations were stronger for adenocarcinoma. There was evidence that added oils and fats and intake of polyunsaturated fat were positively associated with adenocarcinoma but inversely associated with squamous-cell carcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1995

Diet and overall survival in elderly people.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of a specific dietary pattern on overall survival. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: Three rural Greek villages, the data from which were collected as part of an international cross cultural study of food habits in later life. SUBJECTS: 182 elderly residents of the three villages. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Overall mortality. RESULTS: Diet was assessed with a validated extensive semiquantitative questionnaire on food intake. A one unit increase in diet score, devised a priori on the basis of eight component characteristics of the traditional common diet in the Mediterranean region, was associated with a significant 17% reduction in overall mortality (95% confidence interval 1% to 31%). CONCLUSION: A diet meeting currently understood health criteria does predict survival among people.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Diet and survival of elderly Greeks: a link to the past.

In 1988 and 1989, we investigated in three Greek villages the dietary patterns of 182 men and women aged > 70 y by using a validated semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire and compared these dietary patterns with the traditional Greek diet as ascertained in the late 1950s by Keys and his colleagues. As in the traditional diet, olive oil dominated fat intake, total fat exceeded 35% of total energy intake, average daily consumption of fruits and vegetables exceeded 500 g, and average ethanol intake for men corresponded to two to three glasses of wine per day. In contrast, consumption of meat and meat products has substantially increased and intake of bread and other cereals has apparently declined. We observed no differences between the two periods with respect to consumption of legumes, eggs and egg products, and sugar confectionery. We have also attempted to assess whether a gradient of adherence to the traditional Greek diet can be identified in the diets of the study subjects, and whether it can subsequently predict total mortality. During a follow-up period of approximately 5 y, 53 deaths were observed. The risk of death was apparently higher among the minority of study subjects whose diet deviated substantially from the traditional Greek pattern, compared with the majority whose diet adhered closely to the traditional pattern.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Traditional Greek diet and coronary heart disease.

The traditional Greek diet is strongly inversely related to the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Consequently, Greek men have a longer life expectancy than men from other European countries or from North America. Several aspects of the traditional Greek diet may contribute to its beneficial role in countering the development of coronary heart disease. They include the high intake of olive oil that tends to increase the ratio of high- to low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, the regular consumption of fibre-rich legumes and vegetables in meals cooked using olive oil, the high intake of vegetables and fruits and the associated anti-oxidant compounds, and the moderate consumption of wine with meals that tends to increase high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol without posing major risks of intoxication.

Coronary Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Energy intake and monounsaturated fat in relation to bone mineral density among women and men in Greece.

BACKGROUND: Several variables have been established as risk factors for osteoporosis: it is more common among women and the gender difference increases with age and with years since menopause. Estrogens, androgens, physical activity, and body mass index have been previously shown to be positively associated with bone mineral density and inversely with risk for fractures. METHODS: To assess the effect on bone mineral content of energy-generating nutrients, healthy men (n = 36) and women (n = 118) ages 25-69 years were interviewed among visitors and staff of the University of Athens Department of Medical Physics. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by single photon absorptiometry. RESULTS: Demographic and lifestyle variables were not significantly related to BMD in this study, although the patterns were consistent with those previously reported by other investigators. Total energy intake, which also reflects energy expenditure through physical activity, was positively associated with BMD among both men (P = 0.003) and women (P = 0.04). After adjustment for nonnutritional variables and energy intake, monounsaturated fat, which in the Greek population is mostly derived from olive oil, was associated with BMD. The association was positive among both men (P = 0.01) and women (P = 0.03). There was evidence for an inverse association between carbohydrate intake and BMD, but the association was significant only with respect to mono- and disaccharides. CONCLUSIONS: In this population, consumption of monounsaturated fat and physical activity were predictive of bone mineral density, but larger studies are needed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Serum steroids in relation to benign prostatic hyperplasia.

In order to investigate the endocrine etiology of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), we conducted a case-control study in Athens, Greece using 52 patients with histologically confirmed BPH and 52 healthy controls matched according to age and town of residence. Blood samples were collected from all participants and analyzed blindly in Boston, Mass. regarding testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone, estradiol (E2), sex hormone-binding globulin, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS). Results from logistic regression models, adjusting for age, height, body mass index, years of schooling, and mutually among the measured hormones, indicate that DHEAS is significantly positively associated with the risk of BPH [odds ratio = 3.10 per standard deviation (60 micrograms/dl), 95% confidence interval (1.28,7.50)]. T and E2 were not significantly related to the risk of BPH.

Aged↗