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Biomedical subjects

M W Higgins

Publications and source records attributed to M W Higgins.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Passive smoking in childhood. Respiratory conditions and pulmonary function in Tecumseh, Michigan.

The relationship of passive smoking to respiratory conditions and pulmonary function was assessed using a cross-sectional design in the defined population of Tecumseh, Michigan. The study population was made up of 3,482 children who were 0 to 19 yr of age at the 1962-1965 examination and for whom questionnaire information was available for both parents. Nearly 62% of children in this age group were exposed at the time of examination to at least 1 parent who smoked. Passive exposure to cigarette smoke was associated with an elevated prevalence of phlegm, wheeze, asthma, and chest colds among males and wheeze, bronchitis, and chest colds among females. Using logistic regression, offspring were shown to be 1.5 to 2.0 times more likely to have a respiratory condition if both their parents currently smoked than if both parents never smoked. FEV1, and FVC among males and Vmax50 among females were significantly lower by 5% in nonsmokers 10 to 19 yr of age whose parents were current smokers compared with similar offspring of never smoking parents. Respiratory conditions were generally more frequent and the level of lung function was generally lower for males from households where only mothers smoked compared with males from households where only fathers smoked, although sample size was limited. In females similar relationships were less consistent. Differences tended to be larger and more often significant for males than for females when respiratory symptoms and illnesses were examined.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Cardiovascular risk factors and obesity: are baseline levels of blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol and uric acid elevated prior to weight gain?

The increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality experienced by the obese may be partially mediated through alterations induced in other associated risk factors. The attribution of this cardiovascular risk to obesity presumes that levels of those risk factors are not elevated independently of, or prior to, weight gain. We therefore examined baseline levels of blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, and uric acid within age and sex specific strata of a population of 4015 individuals followed an average of 15 years to determine if an increasing level of fatness (weight/height 2) at follow-up was associated with elevation of other risk factors at baseline. After controlling for baseline fatness we were unable to demonstrate any consistent relationship between future fatness and baseline elevation of any of the factors. The magnitude of the partial correlation coefficients for those age 6-24 or 25-65 years at baseline were less than 0.11 for all of the risk factors. While a metabolic predisposition may link obesity to alterations of other risk factors it appears unlikely that their elevation commonly precedes weight gain. A pre-existing elevation of risk factors has not resulted in the misattribution of cardiovascular risk to obesity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Environmental and genetic sources of familial aggregation of blood pressure in Tecumseh, Michigan.

Environmental and genetic sources of variation in blood pressure have been assessed for an 82% sample of the Tecumseh, Michigan, population during the period 1962-1965. Correlations of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were calculated for sets of related and unrelated individuals living together and related individuals living apart. These correlations were analyzed using a biologic model which partitions the total phenotypic variance into components associated with shared genes and components associated with shared household environments both within and across generations. Heritabilities were estimated to be 0.42 and 0.30 for systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, respectively. The model confirms the hypothesis that the determinants of blood pressure consist of both significant genetic (p less than 0.005) and environmental (p less than 0.005) components. However, only the shared household environments within generations were found to be significant for systolic blood pressure (p less than 0.005) and diastolic blood pressure (p less than 0.05). Although not significant, the across generation shared environment between mothers and offspring tended to have some importance, while that between fathers and offspring was negligible. The implication that there may be some maternal influence in addition to the genetic influence on the determination of blood pressure in offspring warrants further investigation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Collaborative assessment of the validity of the Tecumseh index of risk.

Predictors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been identified in the prospective epidemiologic study of the population of Tecumseh, Michigan. Risk of developing COPD within 10 yr can be estimated from a profile that includes as risk factors age, sex, cigarette smoking habits, and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). The index of risk placed 63% of male incidence cases and 64% of female incidence cases in the top 10% of the risk distribution and 81% of male and 86% of female COPD cases in the top 20% of the risk distribution for Tecumseh. The validity of the Tecumseh index of risk for other populations was determined in a collaborative investigation of data collected in longitudinal epidemiologic studies in Baltimore, Boston, Framingham, Louisiana, Staveley, and Tucson. The extent to which the risk model fitted these data sets was assessed by comparing predicted (or expected) onsets of COPD in each population with observations made in each study. The predictors of COPD identified in Tecumseh were shown to be the most important risk factors in the other populations as well. The goodness-of-fit of the index was satisfactory overall. In all populations, a high risk score was associated with an increased incidence of COPD, thus confirming the predictive ability of the risk index. The Tecumseh index of risk provides a practical method for developing a risk profile from answers to standard questions and simple tests of lung function. Risks are greatest for heavy cigarette smokers with reduced lung function, lower in smokers who stop smoking or reduce their cigarette consumption, and lowest of all in nonsmokers with above average lung function.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1983

The accuracy of reports of weight: children's recall of their parents' weights 15 years earlier.

This report describes the accuracy with which adults can recall the weights of their parents as they were 15 yr before. In 1962-65, measurements of height, weight and skinfold thickness were made in the Tecumseh Community Health Study. In 1979, 134 children of 96 mothers and 117 children of 79 fathers were asked to recall their parents' heights and weights at the earlier time and to select one of nine outline drawings, ranging from very thin to very fat, which best represented the parents at the time they were measured. The correlation between body mass index [weight in (kg)/height2 in (m)] as reported and as measured was 0.82 for mothers and 0.56 for fathers. Similar correlations were found between the selected figure and the measured body mass index: 0.74 for mothers and 0.63 for fathers. Measured values in the high range were underestimated, those in the low range were overestimated. Adding the figure selection to the report of height and weight increased the accuracy of estimation, particularly for fathers. Reports of height and weight and of figure selection were more highly correlated with measured body mass index than with skinfold thickness. None of several characteristics of the offspring had any major influence on the accuracy of their reports: age, sex, height, body mass index, skinfold thickness or the confidence of the subject in his ability to remember. Accuracy of the reports was similarly not related to age or height of the parent or to the report of the other parent's weight. We conclude that offspring reports of their parents' past weight may be a useful epidemiological tool.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

An index of risk for obstructive airways disease.

Predictors of obstructive airways disease (OAD) have been identified, and models for estimating risk of developing OAD have been derived for the adult population of Tecumseh. Men and women 16 to 64 yr of age when first studied were reexamined after an average interval of 15 yr. Incidence rates of OAD increased with age and were higher in men than in women more than 45 yr of age. Incidence rates were significantly higher in men and women with low degrees of lung function initially, and in cigarette smokers, especially those who continued to smoke. Other risk factors included a physician's diagnosis of chronic bronchitis, or asthma, a history of cough, wheeze, shortness of breath, frequent upper or lower respiratory tract infections, bronchitis or pneumonia, leanness, and familial chronic bronchitis. Multiple logistic regression analyses identified combinations of risk factors that placed 70% of the male and 73% of the female incidence cases in the top 10% of the risk distribution. The excess risk of obstructive airways disease associated with cigarette smoking and reduced lung function and the benefits of stopping smoking are clearly apparent. For example, the risk of developing obstructive airways disease in the next 15 years is about 1 in 200 for a 45-yr-old male nonsmoker whose Vmax50 equals to 100% of predicted, if he doesn't take up smoking. The risk for a man of the same age who smokes 40 cigarettes a day and whose Vmax50 equals 80% of predicted is 1 in 5 or 6 if he doesn't cut down on his smoking and about 1 in 15 if he stops smoking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Smoking, socioeconomic status, and chronic respiratory disease.

Prevalence rates of chronic bronchitis and asthma and mean levels of ventilatory lung function were related to age, smoking habits, occupation, education, and income in 4,699 men and women living in Tecumseh, Michigan. The prevalence of chronic bronchitis was higher and mean levels of 1-sec forced expiratory volume were lower in cigarette smokers than in other men and women, and heavy smokers were affected more than light smokers. The prevalence of chronic bronchitis was higher and mean 1-sec forced expiratory volume was lower in blue collar workers than in white collar workers. Men and women with some college education had higher mean values for 1-sec forced expiratory volume than did those with less formal education, and the prevalence of chronic bronchitis was least among men with most education. Mean levels of 1-sec forced expiratory volume were slightly lower in those with the smallest incomes. There were no significant associations between the prevalence of asthma and smoking habits, occupation, education, or income. Most of the differences in the prevalence of chronic bronchitis and mean 1-sec forced expiratory volume in men and women of different occupational, educational, or income classes were due to differences in smoking habits. In comparison with smoking, poor occupational, educational, or economic circumstances had only a weak deleterious effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Median age at onset of asthma and allergic rhinitis in Tecumseh, Michigan.

The ages at which allergies are likely to first become manifest is a subject of epidemiologic interest. The distribution of the onset ages reported in a population survey provides a distorted picture because it is a function of the age distribution of the population at the time of survey, and hence does not represent generational experience. A lifetable method is presented which transforms the raw cross-sectional data to a longitudinal basis. The information on onset age of asthma and allergic rhinitis collected in the 1962-1965 cycle of the Tecumseh Community Health Study is used to illustrate the method. The resultant distributions have median onset ages for the respective allergies which are considerably higher than those based on the onset frequency distributions of enumerated data.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

The Tecumseh study of respiratory illness. VIII. Acute infection in chronic respiratory disease and comparison groups.

Individuals with chronic lung disease and their families were selected from the Tecumsch community along with similarly selected families as comparison groups and studied for 1-year periods. Occurence of acute respiratory illness was ascertained weekly by telephone and calculated as an annual rate. Persons with chronic bronchitis not only experienced more acute lower respiratory illness than healthy comparison subjects, but total illness rates were somewhat higher as well. Infection rates were determined from blood samples taken 3 times from each participant during the surveillance year. Antibody tests were performed for respiratory syncytial virus, para-influenza virus types 1, 2, and 3, influenza types A and B, coronavirus OC43, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae. Differences in serologic infection rates among the subgroups of the population were similar to those seen in the clinical data, with more frequent infection among those with bronchitis than among the comparison subjects. This finding indicates that some degree of increased susceptibility to actual infection existed among those individuals with bronchitis. Influence of smoking on illness and infection rates was also examined. Infections were, in general, more frequent in smokers than in nonsmokers, but illness rates were reversed, suggesting that perception of disease differed in the 2 groups. Rates of illness and infection of other adults in the families of the index individuals with bronchitis were not influenced by the higher rates seen in the index individuals; however, it was of interest that children of persons with bronchitis did have somewhat higher rates of infection than children of comparison subjects.

Acute Disease↗