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Biomedical subjects

M Baras

Publications and source records attributed to M Baras.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Overripe ova and twinning.

Multiple births were studied in a sample of orthodox Jewesses for whom an estimate could be made of the day of ovulation and the earliest possible day of conception. The overall rate of twinning was 14.5/1,000 deliveries, and of triplets, 0.40/1,000. Twinning rates varied significantly from 11.4 in the 5,976 "early" conceptions (day -1 or earlier relative to the estimated day of ovulation) to 26.9 in the 1,498 "late" conceptions (day 0 or later). Triplets varied significantly from 0 to 2.01 in early and late conceptions, respectively, and unlike-sexed multiple sets, 2.8 and 12.8, respectively. The excess of multiple births in late conceptions was seen within different ages and origin groups, in women with different menstrual characteristics, and in those with and without treatment for anovulation. While the excess of unlike-sexed sets seems to lead to the conclusion that late conceptions are associated with dizygosity, polar body twinning and uniovular dispermatic twinning should also be considered.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Long-term follow-up of children whose mothers used oral contraceptives prior to conception.

Anthropometric, psychometric and hematologic measurements were made at intervals in the first 3 years of life in a cohort of 732 infants, including 177 (24.2%) whose mothers used oral contraceptives (OC) prior to conception. Analysis of the data focused on weight and height measurements at 3, 9, 12, 24 and 36 months of age; hemoglobin and hematocrit at 9 months; development quotient (DQ) at 2 years and its components, posture, coordination, language and social; and intelligence quotient (IQ) at 3 years and its verbal and nonverbal components. Analyses were made for both sexes combined and males and females separately, by examining crude means, and means adjusted through linear multiple regression for birthweight, age of child at the time of examination, height of mother, mother's weight-for-height centile, birth-order, maternal and paternal education, and maternal smoking. No significant differences were found between the children whose mothers did or did not use oral contraceptives.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Conception-waits in fertile women after stopping oral contraceptives.

Conception-waits were studied retrospectively in 1,403 fertile oral contraceptive users who had stopped medication in order to conceive, and in 4,477 controls who stopped using other contraceptives. The proportion of pill users who conceived in the first month was 30% less than the others, but by the third month this difference had disappeared. There was no excess of long conception-waits in the oral contraceptive group nor any evidence for a cyclic return of fertility in them. There was a highly significant interaction between pill use and age, older women having a greater degree of temporary reduction in conceptions shortly after stopping the pill. There was also an interaction involving age and duration of use. In women who had used the pill for a short time, there was little age-effect, and in younger women there was little effect of the duration of use. Older women who had used the pill for several years, however, had a marked temporary reduction in fertility on stopping it.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Monitoring the therapy of lung cancer with alpha-1-acid glycoprotein.

Alpha-1-Acid glycoprotein is an acute-phase serum protein which is found in increased amounts in patients with a variety of cancers. This paper describes the application of discriminant analysis to the comparison of plasma levels of alpha-1-acid glycoprotein in 95 patients with lung cancer and 84 patients without known cancer. Using this technique, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein measurement yielded a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 84% in the detection of active lung cancer. In addition, a new method for analysis of serial tumor marker data is presented which demonstrates that normalization of alpha-1-acid glycoprotein levels during antineoplastic therapy correlates with a significantly prolonged relapse-free survival in lung cancer patients.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1983

Early gestational bleeding and pregnancy outcome: a multivariable analysis.

The effect of early vaginal bleeding on pregnancy outcome was assessed for 16 305 singleton stillborn and liveborn deliveries at three obstetric units in Jerusalem, Israel during 1975-1976. A total of 2385 women (14.6%) reported gestational bleeding before the seventh month of pregnancy. Of these, 2166 reported light bleeding (spotting), 191 heavy bleeding, and 28 both light and heavy bleeding. Logistic regression models revealed an unexpected interaction among light bleeding, hormone usage, and pregnancy outcome in that the risks of a low birth weight, pre-term and small-for-dates term delivery were significantly increased only for those women who had light bleeding and who had not used therapeutic hormones. Heavy vaginal bleeding, in contrast, was associated with an excess risk of these perinatal complications regardless of hormone usage. There was also a suggestion that certain subgroups of women with vaginal bleeding might be at an increased risk of delivering an offspring with congenital malformations.

Female↗
PubMed1983

High birthweight in an ethnic group of low socioeconomic status.

Analysis of 14 219 births in West Jerusalem showed that infants of North African origin had a higher birthweight than infants of other ethnic groups. The group of mothers of North African origin included a relatively high proportion from the lowest social classes. The observed excess birthweight was apparent after allowing for the effects of gestation, maternal body size, baby's sex, parity and smoking. Maternal age and season of birth also had a significant effect on birthweight. Birthweight was higher if the mother had immigrated to Israel after the age of 10 years than if she had immigrated at a younger age, or had been born in Israel.

Africa, Northern↗
PubMed1982

Seasonal changes in plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels in Jerusalem.

Seasonal variations were observed for fasting total plasma cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), estimated low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), and the ratio of HDL-C to total cholesterol (TC), measured in 5,244 middle-aged men and women in Jerusalem. HDL-C was highest in winter and lowest in summer, and triglycerides showed a mirror image of this pattern. TC and LDL-C followed a more complex wave form, levels of these being high in the winter, decreasing to a trough in the summer and increasing rapidly to a peak in the autumn. The ratio of HDL-C to TC was lowest in early autumn and highest in winter and early spring. There were two- to fivefold changes in the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and high LDL-C according to the season of examination. These findings imply that clinicians should take season into account when diagnosing hyperlipidemia and when evaluating apparent success or failure in its treatment. Studies of lipid distributions and of interventions aimed at lipid modification need to consider the potentially confounding effects of season.

Cholesterol↗
PubMed1982

The Jerusalem Lipid Research Clinic: sampling, response and selected methodological issues.

The Jerusalem Lipid Research Clinic examined 8,646 17-yr-old youngsters and 6,952 of their parents in order to obtain information on the distribution of plasma lipids and lipoproteins in the free-living multiethnic population of Jerusalem. Sampling procedures and recruitment methods are described, and the degree to which the study population was representative of the target population is addressed in detail. Sources of response bias, although not likely to have influenced the results of analyses to date, are identified, and biased portions of the sample will be excluded from further analyses. Selected methodological problems unique to the Jerusalem Lipid Research Clinic are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Plasma lipids and lipoproteins in adult Jews of different origins: the Jerusalem Lipid Research Clinic prevalence study.

Plasma cholesterol, triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured in a cross-sectional sample of 6,952 middle-aged Jerusalem residents in 1976-79, using the protocols and methods of the North American Lipid Research Clinics (LRC) prevalence studies. There were highly significant variations between groups of Jews of different origin. Age-adjusted levels of total cholesterol were about 10 mg/dl higher in European- and Israeli-born men and women than in immigrants from North Africa or Asia. TG levels showed a similar pattern in men, but the reverse in women. HDL-C levels were 2 to 4 mg/dl higher in European- and Israeli-born women than in female immigrants from Asia or North Africa. In men there was little variation of HDL-C by origin, but males showed significant ethnic differences in the proportion of HDL-C in total cholesterol, while females did not.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Plasma cholesterol, triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels in 17-year-old Jerusalem offspring of Jews from 19 countries of birth.

The distribution of plasma cholesterol, triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) was examined in 6,654 17-yr-old young men and women who attended an army medical examination. There were highly significant differences among the four main groups, classified according to their father's place of birth: Israel, the Asian Near East, North Africa and Europe (including the Americas, Oceania and Southern Africa). Mean levels of plasma cholesterol in each group varied in males from 126.9 to 137.4 mg/dl, TG from 72.1 to 77.8 mg/dl and HDL-C from 41.3 to 44.4 mg/dl. In females, the cholesterol levels ranged from 144.6 to 154.8 mg/dl, TG from 72.7 to 76.3 and HDL-C from 47.3 to 50.5 mg/dl. In the various groups, subjects of North African origin consistently had the lowest lipid values, and subjects whose fathers were born in Europe or Israel, the highest. When the subjects were classified according to their fathers' specific country of origin, mean cholesterol values ranged from a low of 126.2 mg/dl in Moroccan males to a high of 143.0 in Austrian and Swiss males, and from 137.6 mg/dl in Tunisian females to 161.6 in those whose fathers had emigrated from North American countries. HDL-C ranged in males from 40.0 mg/dl in the Egyptian group to 47.0 in the Austrian-Swiss-Lichtenstein group; in females, the values ranged from 46.0 mg/dl in the Algerian group to 53.4 in the Austrian-Swiss-Lichtenstein group. These findings are discussed in light of published reports of lipid and lipoprotein levels in individuals living in different countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Contributions of different lipoprotein fractions to variations in total cholesterol between Israeli origin groups and social classes.

Total cholesterol, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol were measured in 2,306 boys, 1,716 girls, 2,479 fathers and 2,822 mothers examined on Visit 1 of the Jerusalem Lipid Research Clinics Prevalence Study in 1976-79. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels were estimated from the other three measurements. Using multiple regression analysis to control for body mass index, social class, season of the year and (in parents) age, we compared the three origin groups (Asian, North African and European, depending on the birthplace of the parents) with the Israeli-born group. In both fathers and mothers, the lower total cholesterol levels in the North African group, and to a lesser extent in the Asian, were explained mainly by lower LDL-cholesterol in these groups. In youngsters, the origin groups were characterized by differences not only in LDL-cholesterol, but also in other lipoprotein fractions. Social class in youngsters and mothers was associated mainly with the HDL-cholesterol fraction; in fathers it was associated only with triglycerides. Possible relationships of these findings to smoking, alcohol, exercise and female sex hormones are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Association of blood pressure with ethnic origin in 17-year-olds: the Jerusalem Lipid Research Clinic Prevalence Study.

Blood pressure and pulse rate were measured in a random sample of 1,200 17-yr-old Jewish boys and girls examined in 1976-79 during Visit 2 of the Lipid Research Clinic Prevalence Study. Mean systolic pressures were 110.1 and 106.1 mm Hg in boys and girls, respectively, diastolic pressures 69.9 and 70.4, pulse pressure 40.2 and 35.7, pulse rates 73.3 and 77.3 beats/min, and double products 8,082 and 8,228 mm Hg x beat x min-1. Multiple regression analysis showed that there were significant differences in systolic pressures between boys and girls whose fathers had immigrated from different countries, pressures being highest in those of European origin and lowest in those of North African origin. These differences were of the order of 3 to 4 mm Hg and were not explained by the distribution of height, Quetelet index, skinfold thickness, smoking, drinking, social class or education of subject. Pulse pressures followed a similar pattern, but the differences between origin groups were significant only for boys. Diastolic pressures and pulse rates did not vary with origin.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Complications of pregnancy and labor in former oral contraceptive users.

Complications of pregnancy and delivery, and obstetric interventions, were studied in a sample of Israeli women questioned post-partum about contraceptive use. The 2,953 women who had used the pill were compared with 13,630 controls. There were no significant differences between users and controls in the frequencies of bleeding in pregnancy, premature rupture of membranes, placenta previa, placental abruption, fetal distress or asphyxia, ABO incompatibility, hydramnios, transverse lie, cephalopelvic disproportion, and persistent occipitoposterior or post-partum hemorrhage. New cases of hypertension, varicose veins, thrombophlebitis, urinary tract infection, and cervicitis were reported in primigravidae and multigravidae without past histories of these conditions; there were no differences between oral contraceptive users and controls other than an excess of cervicitis in primigravidae among former users. There was a slight decrease in normal deliveries in former oral contraceptive users due to an increase in inductions of labor. On the other hand, rates of forceps and vacuum deliveries, caesarian sections, and interventions in the third stage did not differ between former oral contraceptive users and controls. These results indicate that former oral contraceptive users can anticipate the same frequency of complications of pregnancy and labor as women who have used other, or no, methods of contraception.

Age Factors↗