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Biomedical subjects

E Talbott

Publications and source records attributed to E Talbott.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Serum testosterone levels decrease in middle age in women with the polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether testosterone levels change as women with the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) grow older. DESIGN: A follow-up cross-sectional study of a cohort of women with PCOS identified up to 20-25 years ago. SETTING: Women with PCOS were recruited primarily from practice records between 1970 and 1990. Voter registration tapes and household directories were used to identify age-, race-, and neighborhood-matched controls. PARTICIPANT(S): Eighty-four women with PCOS, 20-57 years of age, and 37 age-matched controls participating in a study of the risk for cardiovascular disease in women with PCOS. INTERVENTION(S): Clinical data were collected by questionnaire and fasting blood samples were obtained randomly throughout the menstrual cycle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Total and non-SHBG-bound testosterone levels. RESULT(S): Total and non-SHBG-bound testosterone levels were similar in women with PCOS who were 20-42 years of age but were reduced by approximately 50% among women 42-47 years of age and remained stable in women older than 47 years of age. Testosterone levels were increased in younger and older women with PCOS compared with controls but were similar to controls in women 42-47 years of age. CONCLUSION(S): Hyperandrogenism partly resolves before menopause in women with PCOS. This change may explain the tendency of women with PCOS to cycle regularly as they grow older. Testosterone levels remain elevated in older women with PCOS, however, and may contribute to their increased risk for cardiovascular disease, endometrial cancer, and other diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Adverse lipid and coronary heart disease risk profiles in young women with polycystic ovary syndrome: results of a case-control study.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a disorder of hyperandrogenism and chronic anovulation affects 5%-10% of all women. Women with PCOS often have elevated cardiovascular risk factors. A total of 244 PCOS cases were identified through the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Magee-Womens Hospital and were age-matched to 244 neighborhood controls. The average age of cases and controls was 35.3 +/- 7.4 and 36.7 +/- 7.7. Women with PCOS compared to controls had substantially higher LDL-C and total cholesterol levels at each age group under 45 years after adjustment for body mass index, hormone use, and insulin levels. In the over 40-year age group, little difference was noted between cases and controls. Among cases and controls (<40), PCOS predicted LDL-C, total cholesterol and triglycerides, but did not have a significant effect on lipid levels in older cases and controls after controlling for the other variables. The primarily pre- to perimenopausal PCOS cases > or =40 years of age have similar LDL-C and total cholesterol levels as their age-matched controls, probably reflecting the LDL-C increase with age among controls.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Coronary heart disease risk factors in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

The goal of the study was to compare cardiovascular heart disease risk factors in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and matched control subjects. Women with PCOS have risk factors, including anovulation, hyperandrogenism, and insulin resistance, that suggest a male coronary heart disease risk-factor profile. A total of 206 women with PCOS were recruited by using records from a large reproductive endocrinology practice. A clinical diagnosis of PCOS was made if there was a history of chronic anovulation in association with either clinical evidence of androgen excess (hirsutism) or if total testosterone level was > 2 nm/L or the luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone ratio was greater than 2. The overall response rate for cases was 76%. A control population was obtained by using a combination of area voters' registration tapes and directories of households. A control subject was matched to each case subject by age +/- 5 years, race, and neighborhood. The response rate for recruitment of the first or second eligible control subject was 83.6%. The average age at initial interview was 35.9 +/- 7.4 years for case and 37.2 +/- 7.8 years for control subjects. Women with PCOS had significantly increased cardiovascular disease risk factors compared with control women. These included increases in body mass index, insulin, and triglyceride levels (P < .001), decreased total HDL and HDL2 levels (P < .01), and increased total cholesterol and fasting LDL levels, waist/hip ratio, and systolic blood pressure (P < .05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Drake Chemical Workers' Health Registry: coping with community tension over toxic exposures.

BACKGROUND: Programs to communicate health risk information and to protect the health of groups exposed to toxic substances need to tailor interventions to the political, economic, and cultural situation of the at-risk group. In particular, such programs must often cope with exceptional community tension and conflict over these exposures. METHODS: This article uses interviews and written materials to document and describe the state of affairs that led up to community tension over an occupational exposure to a bladder carcinogen. The article describes the planning and design of a program to provide medical surveillance to workers, which also alleviated community concern. RESULTS: The Drake Chemical Workers' Health Registry coped successfully with community conflict and obtained a high participation rate. CONCLUSIONS: General recommendations include the following: avoid identification with extraneous agendas; know the community and maintain communication; and match the intervention to the evolution of the community conflict.

2-Naphthylamine↗
PubMed1987

Stressful work conditions and diastolic blood pressure among blue collar factory workers.

The authors examined the relationships between stressful work conditions and diastolic blood pressure among blue collar men employed in similar occupational settings. The study population consisted of 288 male, hourly workers, aged 40-63 years, employed for a minimum of 10 years at one of two plants in the metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in January 1980. Blood pressure was assessed by the random zero muddler method by trained nurses at screenings between March 1981 and August 1982; 47 men who received pharmacologic treatment for previously diagnosed hypertension were excluded from the analyses. Multiple regression analyses showed that ratings of six (of 15) stressful work conditions as well as overall job dissatisfaction were significant predictors of diastolic blood pressure, controlling for age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking habits, family history of hypertension, and severe noise-induced hearing loss. Men with elevated diastolic blood pressure reported having little opportunity for promotion and for participating in decisions at work, an uncertain job future, unsupportive coworkers and foreman, difficulties communicating with others, and overall dissatisfaction with the job. Additional stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that overall job satisfaction was related to low diastolic pressure among men from the plant rated as having overall good work conditions. These results are noteworthy because they support the importance of stressful work conditions and psychological reactions to those conditions in understanding the epidemiology of hypertension.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Diabetes, noise exposure, and hearing loss.

To examine the relationship of diabetes, noise exposure, and hearing loss, the authors reanalyzed data from a cross-sectional investigation on noise exposure, hearing loss, and BP conducted in a high-noise and a low-noise plant. Twenty-eight of 348 participants met the following criteria for diabetes: (1) currently on insulin or oral hypoglycemics or (2) at least two elevated serum glucose levels despite adhering to a calorie-restricted diet. Diabetics were evenly distributed between high- and low-noise exposure. A two-way analysis of variance was conducted at each of seven hearing threshold frequencies using diabetes and high-noise exposure as main effects. Diabetics demonstrated no evidence of higher hearing threshold shifts than nondiabetics at the same noise levels. Noise and diabetes together do not appear to produce more neuropathic damage than does one insult alone.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Occupational noise exposure, noise-induced hearing loss, and the epidemiology of high blood pressure.

The role of noise exposure in the etiology of high blood pressure is unclear. A cross-sectional study of occupational noise exposure and high blood pressure was conducted in March 1981-August 1982 in a group of blue-collar workers from a noisy (greater than or equal to 89 dBA) and a less noisy plant (less than 81 dBA). There were 197 randomly sampled men from the noisier plant and 169 from the comparison factory. Clinical examinations, audiograms and a psychologic inventory were conducted. Body mass index, alcohol intake, and family history of hypertension were comparable for the two groups. There was no difference in mean systolic or diastolic blood pressure between workers in the two plants. There was, however, a strong relationship between severe noise-induced hearing loss (greater than or equal to 65 dBA loss at 3, 4, or 6 k Hz) and high blood pressure (greater than or equal to 90 mmHg diastolic or taking blood pressure medication) in the 56+ age group in both plants after adjusting for risk factors (p less than 0.02). Multiple regression analysis revealed that in the noisier plant, body mass index, severe noise-induced hearing loss, and noisy hobbies explained a significant amount of the variation in diastolic pressure (p less than 0.05) R2 = 0.19. This suggests that there may be a population at increased risk for hearing loss and high blood pressure.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Sudden unexpected death in women: biologic and psychosocial origins.

The relationship of the risk of sudden death from arteriosclerotic heart disease to biologic and psychosocial factors was studied retrospectively in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in 80 white women who died from arteriosclerotic heart disease during March, 1977-October, 1978, and in 80 age-matched neighborhood controls. All cases of sudden death in white women aged 25-64 years who died outside the hospital within 24 hours of onset of symptoms were ascertained. The overall autopsy rate was 63%. Detailed post-mortem examinations were conducted on 42 of 80 sudden cardiac cases. Cases were more often heavy smokers and had fewer children than the control population. Fifteen out of 80 women who died suddenly of heart disease and three controls had a definite history of psychiatric disease. Cases had more often experienced the death of a significant other within six months prior to their demise. Multiple regression analysis showed that cigarette smoking, psychiatric history and death of a significant other contributed significantly to differences between women who died suddenly and control women. Thirteen women died suddenly under the age of 45 years. Six of the 13 deaths were due to arteriosclerotic heart disease. These six women were all smokers, and four were currently taking oral contraceptives or estrogen replacements.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Environmental events preceding sudden death in women.

The present case-control study examined if sudden cardiac death in women is preceded by death of a significant other, change in residence, or change in work. The sample included 81 Caucasian women ages 25-64 years in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, who died suddenly from arteriosclerotic heart disease (ASHD) within a 11/2 year interval. Each case was matched to a neighborhood control on the basis of race, age, and sex. Results revealed that relative to matched controls, cases were six times as likely to have experienced the death of a significant other within the last months; they were no more likely to have experienced changes in living conditions or in work. These findings raise the issue of whether death of a significant other is an antecedent event of death due to ASHD only or death due to all causes. Possible explanations for the temporal association between sudden death and death of a significant other are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Biologic and psychosocial risk factors of sudden death from coronary disease in white women.

The relation of the risk of sudden death from arteriosclerotic heart disease to psychosocial and biologic factors was studied retrospectively in 64 white women who died suddenly of arteriosclerotic heart disease and in 64 age-related neighborhood control women. All sudden deaths occurred outside the hospital within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms in women who were not incapacitated before death. Women who died suddenly were less often married, exhibited more educational incongruity with their spouses and had fewer children than the control population. Twelve of the 64 women who died suddenly of heart disease and none of the control women had a definite history of psychiatric treatment. The women who died suddenly also smoked more cigarette and consumed greater quantities of alcoholic beverages than age-matched neighborhood control women. Multiple regression analysis revealed that history of psychiatric illness, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, educational incongruity and number of children contributed significantly to differences between women who died suddenly of heart disease and control subjects.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Occupational stress, suppressed anger, and hypertension.

The present study examined the modifying effect of suppressed anger on the relationship between job stress and hypertension. The study population consisted of a random sample of male hourly workers, aged 40-63 years, employed at one of two plants in the metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. Those men currently taking antihypertensive medication were excluded from the analyses. With both plants combined, stratified analyses indicated that, compared to men who do not habitually suppress their anger, hypertension was more strongly associated with self-reports of an uncertain job future and dissatisfaction with coworkers and promotions among men who suppress their anger. Using logistic regression procedures, these interactions between suppressed anger and job stress significantly predicted hypertension status, controlling for age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, and family history of hypertension. These findings suggest that a coping-related characteristic such as anger expression may be an important modifier of the relationship between job stress and hypertension.

Adaptation, Psychological↗