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Biomedical subjects

J Weisburger

Publications and source records attributed to J Weisburger.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Antioxidant vitamins in prevention.

The authors are aware that there is still a need for much research to elucidate the possible preventive effects of antioxidant vitamins with regard to degenerative and neoplastic diseases. There must also be vigorous examination of the evidence that antioxidant vitamins can play a crucial part in a large number of other disorders (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, chronic and acute inflammations, airway disorders, reperfusion syndrome). The aim of prevention-oriented medical research must be to develop suitable measures able to make a considerable contribution to the overall prevention policy. Although there is still uncertainty about the mode of action and the optimal dosage of antioxidant nutrients and dietary constituents, particularly because of the safety when the dosage is correct, more information must be provided about early prevention of an inappropriate, low antioxidant intake; intake in the diet should definitely be preferred to supplementation because of the other beneficial effects of the recommended foodstuffs.

Journal Article↗

Dietary control of cancer.

Many laboratory studies and human epidemiological data suggest that most cancer deaths are attributable to lifestyle, including nutritional factors and tobacco and alcohol consumption. Tobacco consumption is causally related to cancer of the lung, mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas. Nutrients and non-nutrient dietary components probably account for cancer of the colon, breast, prostate, and stomach. This report is based on literature and our own data pertaining to the role of dietary fat, calories, and fiber in the development of colon and breast cancer. We also discuss the evidence from epidemiological, mechanistic, and preclinical efficacy studies indicating a protective effect of micronutrients, non-nutrients, and certain antioxidants in food against oral and lung cancers. Given the continuing cancer burden and the relatively slow impact of proven cancer treatment strategies in reducing cancer mortality, it is essential to evaluate promising nutrients and non-nutrients in foods as chemopreventive agents in persons at increased risk for cancer. Development of reliable intermediate biomarkers is valuable for clinical chemoprevention intervention trials. The purpose of this report is to provide the reader with plausible approaches to cancer control.

Animals↗

Nondegradation of fecal cholesterol in subjects at high risk for cancer of the large intestine.

In previous studies subjects with familial polyposis, the autosomal dominant disease leading to colon cancer, excreted higher levels of fecal cholesterol than normal subjects, with decreased conversion to degradation products. Findings suggested fecal cholesterol degradation as a marker of hereditary predisposition to colon cancer. Current measurements now have shown that affected individuals and asymptomatic progeny in a second population group with inherited predisposition to colon cancer are low converters of fecal cholesterol. The latter group consisted of highly colon cancer prone families without polyposis, in which patterns of inheritance similar to the autosomal dominant pattern of familial polyposis were observed. 24-h stool collections were obtained from 72 subjects who consumed mixed western diets. Mean percent degradation of fecal cholesterol to coprostanol, coprostanone, cholestanol, and cholestanone revealed significant decreases in fecal cholesterol conversion in affected and asymptomatic subjects in colon cancer prone families without polyposis (P < 0.001) compared to controls. This is in addition to those with familial polyposis (P < 0.001), and extends this marker of colon cancer susceptibility to a second population group with hereditary predisposition to colonic neoplasia.

Cholesterol↗