This is the second follow-up study of 2,215 persons who during childhood between 1940 and 1959 had been given x-ray therapy for tinea capitis and of 1,395 persons well matched for age, sex, and race who were treated for the same disease during the same period without the use of x-ray therapy. The major finding of the study was an excess incidence in the irradiated cases of tumors of the head and neck including the skin, brain, thyroid, and parotid. However, between the groups there was no difference in death due to malignant neoplasms or any other cause. Among white patients, a 40% excess of treated psychiatric disorders was observed in the irradiated group, but there was no difference among blacks.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of aircraft noise on hearing ability of school-age children.

Two hundred one cases with permanent bilateral high-frequency hearing loss and 208 controls with normal hearing were identified through the New York City hearing screening program. Aircraft noise exposure was estimated for the residences of cases and controls from Noise Exposure Forecast contour maps of the New York City airports. The noise exposure estimates had a correlation on 0.89 with noise level measurement made in the area. Birth certificates and questionnaires were used to provide additional information on other sources of noise exposure and potential confounders. The results showed a positive, but not statistically significant association between aircraft noise exposure and the risk of high-frequency hearing loss.

Aircraft↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The influence of diabetes and hypertension on the results of coronary revascularization.

The effects of diabetes and hypertension on the early postoperative course of patients undergoing coronary revascularization were studied by reviewing the records of 177 patients operated upon in 1972. There were 121 nondiabetic, nonhypertensive; 32 hypertensive; ten diabetic; and 14 diabetic-hypertensive patients. The incidence of postoperative low cardiac output, renal insufficiency and arrhythmia was significantly higher in the hypertensive patient. Operative mortality ranged from 0 in diabetic patients, to 0.8 per cent in nondiabetic, nonhypertensives, to 7.1 per cent in diabetic-hypertensives and 12.5 per cent in hypertensive patients, suggesting an increased risk for the hypertensive patient. The one- to two-year follow-up results documented symptomatic improvement in 90.7 per cent of patients with little adverse effect apparent from diabetes or hypertension. Pre- and postoperative coronary angiography was carried out in 103 patients between 1968 and 1973 with a mean elapsed time between operation and postoperative angiogram of 9.3 months. The progression of atherosclerosis was graded on a 0-4 basis in both grafted and ungrafted coronary arteries. While hypertension appeared to contribute to disease progression, the incidence of vein graft and internal mammary artery bypass occlusion was not significantly affected by either diabetes or hypertension. This study has shown that while hypertension contributes to increased morbidity and mortality in the early postoperative period and an increased rate of progression of atherosclerosis, neither diabetes nor hypertension appeared to influence the one- to two-year results of coronary revascularization.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Expression of the CYP1A1 gene in peripheral lymphocytes as a marker of exposure to creosote in railroad workers.

We have conducted a pilot study to assess levels of cytochrome CYP1A1 gene expression in human peripheral lymphocytes as a molecular biomarker assay for polycyclic hydrocarbon exposure. Basal and 3-methylcholanthrene-induced levels of gene expression were measured by standard slot-blot mRNA analyses in mitogen-stimulated cultures of peripheral blood lymphocytes from creosote-exposed railroad workers and unexposed control subjects. Dermal and inhalation exposure of workers to creosote may vary substantially as a function of working conditions related to temperature. Therefore, blood specimens were collected from separate groups during the winter, fall, and summer. Basal and induced CYP1A1 gene expression levels were not elevated in workers from any of the three seasonal studies. However, induced/basal (inducibility) CYP1A1 mRNA ratios from workers sampled in the summer (when actual exposures were greatest) were significantly higher when compared to those of controls (P < 0.01). These studies demonstrate the potential usefulness of specific gene expression assays in human peripheral lymphocytes for the assessment of carcinogen exposure in human populations.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of aircraft noise on reading ability of school-age children.

The percent of students reading below grade level from 1972 to 1976 was regressed on racial, socioeconomic, educational, and noise level variables for all elementary schools in Brooklyn and Queens, New York. Schools were assigned noise exposure scores based on Noise Exposure Forecast contours for New York City airports. The correlations between these noise scores and a variety of noise level metrics ranged from 0.74 to 0.97. The regression coefficients adjusted for confounding factors, indicated that an additional 3.6% of the students in the noisiest schools read at least 1 yr below grade level with 95% confidence limits from 1.5 to 5.8%. The dose-response relationship indicated that the percent reading below grade level increased as noise level increased.

Aircraft↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reliability of measurements of total, protein-bound, and unbound estradiol in serum.

Estradiol (E2) circulates in the blood in three states: unbound (U-E2), bound to sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG-E2), and bound to albumin. There is evidence to support the concept that only U-E2 and albumin-bound E2, are bioavailable (i.e., rapidly extracted by tissues). A case-control study nested within a large cohort of women, in which we are examining the effect of estrogens on breast cancer risk, offered the opportunity to assess the reliability of measurements of E2, the percentage of SHBG-E2, and the percentage of U-E2 based on multiple annual serum specimens. Long-term (1-2 year) reliability, as estimated by the intraclass correlation coefficient, was assessed in a subgroup of 71 premenopausal and 77 postmenopausal controls for whom two or three serum specimens were assayed. In postmenopausal women the intraclass correlation coefficient for a single measurement of total E2 was only 0.51. As for the percentage of SHBG-E2, intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.83 and 0.94, and for U-E2, 0.72 and 0.77 in the premenopausal and postmenopausal groups, respectively. These data suggest that, whereas single determinations of total E2 are insufficient to reliably estimate a woman's true mean level, a single measurement of the percentage of SHBG-E2 or U-E2 is adequate to assess bioavailability of E2 in an epidemiological study, irrespective of day of the menstrual cycle.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reliability of serum prolactin measurements in women.

Prolactin, a hormone indispensable for milk secretion, has been shown to enhance the development and growth of mammary tumors in rodents; however, its importance in human breast cancer is uncertain. Serum prolactin levels are known to fluctuate considerably under normal conditions, and lack of precision in the hormone measurements may have contributed to the largely negative findings in humans to date. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of prolactin measurements in women using stored serum from an ongoing prospective study of breast cancer. Separate groups of postmenopausal and premenopausal women who donated multiple blood samples at approximately 1-year intervals were studied. The reliability of a single log prolactin determination, as measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient, was 0.76 for the postmenopausal women (95% confidence interval, 0.66-0.85) and 0.48 for the premenopausal women (95% confidence interval, 0.31-0.62). These findings suggest that a single measurement is sufficient to characterize the serum prolactin level of postmenopausal women for epidemiological research. For premenopausal women, however, multiple samples are desirable. Controlling for phase of the menstrual cycle does not appear to substantially improve the reliability of premenopausal measurements.

Adult↗