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Biomedical subjects

G Rhoads

Publications and source records attributed to G Rhoads.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

AIDS risk among students attending Seventh-day Adventist school, in North America.

In 1995, a survey was conducted among students attending 69 Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) high schools within the United States and Canada. The survey assessed the extent that these students practiced sexual and drug-use behaviors which place them at risk for contracting or transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A total of 1,748 respondents enrolled in grades 9 through 12 completed questionnaires similar to the instrument used in the 1993 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Data were collected and compared to results from the 1993 YRBS. Students who attended SDA parochial schools reported lower rates of sexual intercourse compared to YRBS school counterparts (16.3% vs. 53.1%) and lower rates of all substances measured. Furthermore, respondents were more likely to engage in substance use and sexual intercourse if they had at least one parent who used tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana, as reported by the students.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1996

Evaluation of the effectiveness of a community-based enriched model prenatal intervention project in the District of Columbia.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an enriched prenatal intervention program designed to reduce the risk of low birth weight. STUDY SETTING: Freestanding community-based prenatal intervention project located in a poor inner-city community, serving mostly African American women. STUDY DESIGN: All women less than 29 weeks pregnant were eligible to participate. They were compared to women who lived in neighborhoods with similar rates of poverty. DATA COLLECTION: The birth certificate was the source of data on maternal age, education, marital status, timing and frequency of prenatal care attendance, parity, gravidity, prior pregnancy terminations, fetal and child deaths, and birth weight. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Thirty-eight percent of the women who delivered live-born infants in the study area participated in the program. There were no differences in low- and very low birthweight rates in the study and comparison groups. In a secondary analysis comparing participants and nonparticipants in the study census tracts, participants were at higher risk for low and very low birth weight, and they adhered more closely to the schedule of prenatal visits than nonparticipants. Low- and very low birthweight rates were lower among participants than among nonparticipants and comparison women. CONCLUSION: The Better Babies Project did not have an effect on the overall low- and very low birthweight rates in the study census tracts. This was probably due to the low participation rates and the high population mobility.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Exposure to a chloride-deficient formula during infancy: outcome at ages 9 and 10 years.

A school-based survey of the 1978 to 1979 birth cohort of two metropolitan Washington, DC, counties was conducted to find children who had been exposed to the chloride-deficient formulas Neo-Mull-Soy and Cho-Free during infancy. Children who had ingested other soy formulas that had an adequate chloride content were also found and matched to the exposed children by sex, race, birth weight, the age of the child, the mixed feeding status of the child, and maternal education. One hundred seventy-one of the exposed children and 261 soy control children were given a battery of psychologic tests in their homes to determine whether there had been any effect on intellectual development as a result of exposure to the chloride-deficient formulas. There were no differences in scores between the groups on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, the Boston Naming Test, the Rey-Osterrieth Test, or the FAS Verbal Fluency Test. There was no correlation between duration of exclusive exposure to the chloride-deficient formulas and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised Full-Scale IQ Score (Pearson product-moment r = -.0825, P = .28). These results cannot be extrapolated to exposed children with documented hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis. It is concluded that in children without documented evidence of hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis, exposure to the chloride-deficient formulas Neo-Mull-Soy or Cho-Free during infancy has not resulted in any long-term adverse effects on cognitive development.

Child↗
PubMed1989

The measuring of blood pressure during pregnancy.

This is an evaluation of the methodology of blood pressure measurement in a high-risk obstetric clinic. Blood pressure values were obtained from 149 patients by the clinic staff and the research project coordinator. The project coordinator using the random-zero sphygmomanometer measured lower systolic and higher diastolic values. The diastolic and systolic values increased after 30 weeks of pregnancy up to term. Agreement among observers is low for diastolic blood pressure. The clinic staff measured about 50% of the values with a zero terminal digit as compared with only 14% by the project coordinator. The fourth Korotkoff sound can be recorded in 83% of the patients. The mean diastolic blood pressures obtained with the fourth sound are significantly higher than when the fifth sound is used. Recommendations are offered for blood pressure measuring during pregnancy, and it is strongly suggested that the same methodologic rigor be used as in any other medical procedure.

Blood Pressure Determination↗
PubMed1985

The relationship of dietary fat and cholesterol to mortality in 10 years: the Honolulu Heart Program.

This report examines the relationship of dietary fat and dietary cholesterol to mortality during a 10-year surveillance of a cohort of men of Japanese descent residing in Hawaii. The consumption of dietary fat (measured in grams) is related inversely and significantly to total mortality. No significant relationships exist between grams of dietary fat and any of the specific causes of death examined. No significant relationships are found between dietary saturated fatty acids (SFA, measured in grams) or dietary cholesterol (measured in milligrams) and any of the specific causes of death examined. In contrast, percentage of calories as fat is related inversely not only to total mortality, but to cancer mortality and to stroke mortality; and it is related directly to coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality. Percentage of calories as SFA is related inversely to cancer mortality and to stroke mortality, and it is related directly to CHD mortality. Only the relationship to stroke mortality remains significant in multivariate analysis if calories from alcohol are excluded from the computation. Dietary cholesterol per 1000 calories is related directly to CHD mortality. While these data provide support for the diet-heart hypothesis, they also suggest that men with low fat intakes have a higher total mortality rate than men with higher fat intakes. This increased risk, due to an excess risk of death from stroke and cancer, indicates that there is no overall beneficial effect from a low fat diet in this cohort.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Within-person variability of nutrient intake in a group of Hawaiian men of Japanese ancestry.

Within-person variability of nutrient intake is examined using data on 7 consecutive days for 329 men. The variability of nutrient intake within persons differs for the nutrients examined. Some nutrients, such as starch, have small within-person components of variance and are therefore highly reliable even using a single 24-h recall. Others, such a polyunsaturated fatty acids, have large within-person components of variance and are thus less reliable. Within-person variability affects the power of a study to detect differences in nutrient intake between groups and also affects the magnitude of calculated correlation coefficients. For the least reliable nutrient it is estimated that the correlation would be attenuated to two-thirds its true size. Eating patterns in the cohort appear to be nonrandom. Using this nonrandomness of nutrient intake it may be possible to reduce the within-person component of variance using less recalls than is suggested if random eating patterns are assumed.

Cholesterol↗
PubMed1978

Dermatoglyphic studies of myocardial infarction patients.

Dermatoglyphic traits were studied in a sample of 834 subjects selected from a cohort of some 8,000 living Japanese men, under a long-term study of heart disease in Hawaii. All of them were born between 1900 and 1919. Among them, 100 subjects had had positive diagnosis of myocardial infarction (MI). The present study included comparisons between the MI patients and the remaining group of all digital dermal pattern types and ridge counts by digit, by hand, and by individual. The MI patients had significantly higher frequency of true whorls, double loops and less ulnar loops and tented arches. Total and absolute ridge counts were significantly higher (less than 0.05) in all digits in favor of the MI patients. Similar trends were observed in analyses by digit and by hand. These observations suggest an antenatal origin of certain types of coronary disease.

Dermatoglyphics↗
PubMed1975

Epidemiologic studies of coronary heart disease and stroke in Japanese men living in Japan, Hawaii and California: introduction.

It has been observed that among men of Japanese ancestry, there is a gradient in CHD mortality increasing from Japan to Hawaii to California. A study of 11,900 Japanese men in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, Honolulu, Hawaii, and the San Francisco Bay Area of California has been conducted to investigate this disease difference. This paper describes the selection of the study populations and their age distributions, and outlines the study methods. This paper also introduces and briefly summarizes four papers that give the results for mortality comparisons, biochemical and blood pressure distributions and results for heart disease prevalence among the three cohorts.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hygiene- and food-related behaviors associated with blood lead levels of young children from lead-contaminated homes.

Exposures associated with blood lead levels greater than 40 micrograms/dL in young children who live in lead-contaminated homes have been well documented. As the action level for lead is reduced, activities that contribute to lower levels of lead exposure must be identified. A child's eating habits and related hygiene behaviors are major hand-to-mouth activities that have been largely overlooked in the study of activities contributing to lead ingestion. To examine this subject, a survey questionnaire for caretakers of young children was developed. The objective of the questionnaire was to characterize food-related activities of young children and to identify behavioral indicators of lead exposure. The association between food- and hygiene-related behaviors and blood lead levels among 60 children between 13 and 36 months old with low-to-moderate blood lead levels was examined in homes that had been identified as containing lead in paint and house dust. The participants were enrolled in the Children's Lead Exposure and Reduction Study in Jersey City, New Jersey. Blood lead levels of children 13-24 months old did not differ significantly from those of children 25-36 months of age (10.1 and 11.3 micrograms/dL, respectively). Differences in eating habits and hygiene behaviors were found for the two age groups. Bivariate analyses found that the primary behavioral indicators of blood lead levels were determined by whether the child prepared his/her own food and whether the child ate food that had been on the floor. This factor was dependent on age. Children 13-24 months old had significantly elevated blood lead levels if these behaviors exhibited. No significant differences were found, however, for children 25-36 months old. Several food-related habits were also associated with blood lead levels. Eating hamburgers, doughnuts, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and cold cuts were associated with elevated blood lead levels in 13-24-month-old children, while eating vitamins, raw vegetables, and yogurt were associated with lower blood lead levels in this age group. For children 25-36 months old, eating hamburgers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was associated with elevated blood lead levels, while yogurt consumption was associated with lower blood lead levels.

Age Factors↗