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Biomedical subjects

P Terry

Publications and source records attributed to P Terry.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Fruit and vegetable consumption in the prevention of oesophageal and cardia cancers.

The incidence of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus has increased rapidly in recent decades. In order to appreciate the potential for prevention by means of dietary modification, we estimated the aetiological fractions and the increments in absolute risk attributable to low intake of fruit and vegetables for adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus and for adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction. We conducted a nationwide population-based case-control study in Sweden, with participation of 608 cases and 815 controls. We used unconditional logistic regression to estimate relative risks, from which we calculated aetiological fractions. Individuals in the highest exposure quartile (median 4.8 servings/day) versus the lowest (median 1.5 servings/day) showed approximately 50% lower risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma and 40% lower risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, but no risk reduction for gastric cardia adenocarcinoma. Approximately 20% of oesophageal adenocarcinoma, and likewise squamous cell carcinoma, in Sweden was attributed to consuming less than three servings of fruit and vegetables per day. A very large number of individuals (over 25,000) would need to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption moderately in order to prevent one oesophageal cancer per year. Moderate relative risk reductions translate into weak absolute risk reductions for oesophageal cancers in Sweden.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2001

Coffee consumption and risk of colorectal cancer in a population based prospective cohort of Swedish women.

BACKGROUND: The presumed protective effect of coffee consumption on colorectal cancer, which is supported by case control studies, has not been confirmed in prospective cohort studies. Cohort studies are few in number however and often suffer from a small number of cases, limited attention to confounding variables, and a low percentage of heavy coffee drinkers. METHODS: We examined data from a large population based cohort of Swedish women who were free from cancer at the start of follow up, with a wide range of coffee consumption, information on many potentially confounding variables, and a larger number of cases than any previous cohort study of coffee consumption and colorectal cancer. RESULTS: During an average of 9.6 years of follow up of 61 463 women aged 40-74 years, we observed 460 incident cases of colorectal cancer (291 with colon cancer, 159 with rectal cancer, 10 with cancer at both sites). We found no association between coffee consumption and colorectal cancer risk. The risk ratio for drinking four or more cups per day compared with none was 1.04 (95% confidence interval 0.63-1.69; p for trend 0.84). The findings were similar for cancers of the distal and proximal colon and rectum. CONCLUSIONS: The recently published affirmative conclusions regarding the protective effect of coffee consumption may be premature. For patients seeking advice about coffee consumption, the evidence suggests that moderate or even high consumption will probably not influence the risk of colorectal cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Tea consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer in Sweden.

The association between tea drinking and colorectal cancer risk remains unclear. The evidence for black tea is sparse but may indicate an increased risk with regular use. Because black tea is a common beverage in many populations, the significant twofold increased risk of colon cancer recently reported from a large prospective cohort of male Finnish smokers is disconcerting. Using Cox proportional hazards models to estimate relative risks, we examined this association in a large, population-based prospective cohort study in Sweden. During an average 9.6 years of follow-up of our cohort of 61,463 women (588,270 person-yr), we observed 460 incident cases of colorectal cancer (291 colon, 159 rectal, and 10 with both colon and rectal cancer). We observed no association between tea consumption and combined colorectal cancers in age- or multivariate-adjusted models. With the use of collapsed exposure categories, the multivariate-adjusted relative risk for the highest exposure (> or = cups/day) compared with the lowest (never or seldom) was 0.97 (95% confidence interval = 0.63-1.48, p for trend = 0.34). Examining the association by cancer subsite, we observed no association between tea consumption and proximal, distal, or combined colon cancers. We did, however, observe a nonsignificant positive association with rectal cancers, which became stronger and statistically significant among women > or = 65 years of age at baseline. Our data do not support the strong, dose-dependent positive association with colon cancer found in the Finnish study.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2001

Housing conditions and respiratory health in a Boston public housing community.

OBJECTIVES: To determine frequency of and possible associations between environmental housing factors and self-reported respiratory symptoms in public housing. METHODS: We used a community-participatory method in which trained residents conducted in-person interviews with a random sample of 53 households in one housing development in Boston, Massachusetts. RESULTS: Environmental factors suspected of affecting respiratory health that were reported by more than 30 percent of respondents included: Moisture (43 percent), mold (43 percent), cracks in walls, floors and ceilings (49 percent), sewage leaks (33 percent), unexplained odor (35 percent), use of air fresheners (91 percent), use of gas ovens for heating (38 percent), no vent for the oven (74 percent), stuffy air (66 percent), overheating at least part of the winter (73 percent), cockroaches (70 percent), rodents (40 percent), pets (39 percent), frequent renovations (40 percent), repeated requests for repairs (52 percent), dust from construction (45 percent), use of more than three hazardous household products (32 percent), vehicle traffic nearby (81 percent), and smoking in the household (57 percent). Forty percent of respondents reported having asthma. Respondents also reported that 56 percent of their children had asthma. Forty percent of respondents reported wheeze and 48 percent reported coughing or sneezing episodes in the preceding month. We found the following positive statistically significant associations, adjusted for age, sex, Black or Hispanic origin, and years lived in public housing: wheeze with moisture problems (OR = 4.8; CI = 1.2, 19.3), sewage leaks (OR = 6.3; CI = 1.3, 30.3), odor (OR = 7.5; CI = 1 .4, 39.0), cracks in walls,floors and ceilings (OR = 8.6; CI 1.9, 38.0), and frequency of renovations (OR = 9.8; CI = 1.8, 54.4); cough with moisture problems (OR = 5.3; CI = 1.3, 20.8), stuffy air (OR = 4.4; CI = 1.2, 16.7), cockroaches (OR = 5.4; CI = 1.2, 24.2), smoking (OR = 5.0; CI = 1.2, 20.5), odor (OR = 10.9; CI = 2.3, 53.0), cracks in walls, floors and ceilings (OR = 6.2; CI = 1.8, 22.3) and frequency of renovations (OR = 4.4; CI = 1.1, 17.5); and sneeze with cockroaches (OR = 5.2; CI = 1.1, 24.2), stuffy air (OR = 6.3; CI = 1.5, 26.5), cracks in walls, floors and ceilings (OR = 6.3; CI = 1.7, 23.1), repeated requests for repairs (OR = 5.6; CI = 1.4, 21.5), and construction dust (OR = 15.6; CI = 2.2, 112.3). CONCLUSIONS: Housing conditions that affect respiratory health were common in this public housing development. Self-reported rates of respiratory symptoms and asthma were extremely high. Statistical associations between housing conditions and respiratory symptoms in the preceding month were frequently positive and sometimes statistically significant. Engaging community residents strengthened the research process.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

A prospective study of major dietary patterns and the risk of breast cancer.

Our aim was to study the broader eating patterns that potentially reflect many dietary exposures working together in their association with breast cancer risk. Using data from a prospective study of 61,463 women with an average follow-up of 9.6 years and 1,328 incident cases of breast cancer, we conducted a factor analysis to identify major dietary patterns. Proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios. We found no association between the "Western" dietary pattern (characterized by such foods as red and processed meats, refined grains, fat, and sweets) or the "healthy" dietary pattern (fruit and vegetables, fish and poultry, low-fat dairy, and whole grains) and breast cancer risk. However, women who were in the highest category of the "drinker" dietary pattern (wine, beer, and spirits) had a moderately increased risk (rate ratio = 1.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.52; P for trend, 0.002). The positive association was somewhat weaker among women below 50 years of age, a finding not inconsistent with chance. Our results are in agreement with the majority of previous studies that show alcohol consumption moderately increases the risk of breast cancer, but our results do not support any association between breast cancer risk and the "Western" or "healthy" dietary patterns.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Antioxidants and cancers of the esophagus and gastric cardia.

Antioxidant vitamins have attracted considerable attention in previous studies of esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma, but dietary studies of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia remain sparse. Treating these tumors as distinct diseases, we studied intakes of vitamin C, beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol in a nationwide population-based case-control study in Sweden, with 185, 165, and 258 cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma, esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma, and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma, respectively, and 815 controls. Subjects with a high parallel intake of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and alpha-tocopherol showed a 40-50% decreased risk of both histological types of esophageal cancer compared with subjects with a low parallel intake. Antioxidant intake was not associated with the risk of gastric cardia adenocarcinoma. Separately, vitamin C and beta-carotene reduced the risk of esophageal cancers more than alpha-tocopherol. We found that antioxidant intake is associated with similar risk reductions for both main histological types of esophageal cancer. Our findings indicate that antioxidants do not explain the diverging incidence rates of the 2 histological types of esophageal cancer. Moreover, our data suggest that inverse associations with esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma may be stronger among subjects under presumed higher oxidative stress due to smoking or gastroesophageal reflux, respectively. Our results may be relevant for the implementation of focused, cost-effective preventive measures.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2000

Relationships among dopamine transporter affinities and cocaine-like discriminative-stimulus effects.

RATIONALE: The discriminative-stimulus effects of cocaine have been reported to be mediated by indirect agonist actions initiated by the blockade of dopamine uptake, and the potencies of drugs that have discriminative-stimulus effects like cocaine are directly related to their dopamine transporter binding affinities. The binding to the dopamine transporter by cocaine and many of its analogs has been reported to fit better using a two-site model than a one-site model. OBJECTIVES: The present study examined the relationship among binding affinities of dopamine uptake inhibitors at these two sites and their potencies to produce discriminative-stimulus effects. METHODS: The inhibition constants (K(i) values) were derived for unlabeled dopamine uptake inhibitors for displacement of [(3)H]WIN 35,428 from rat caudate putamen membranes. These K(i) values were related to the ED(50) values obtained in rats trained to discriminate 10 mg/kg cocaine from saline injections under a fixed-ratio 20 schedule of food reinforcement. RESULTS: Among the dopamine uptake inhibitors studied, the binding data for eight compounds (WIN 35,428, nomifensine, WIN 35,981, WIN 35,065-2, methylphenidate, cocaine, cocaethylene, and bupropion) were better fit by a two-site model than a one-site model. The data for the remaining eleven compounds (RTI-31, RTI-55, RTI-121, RTI-32, LU19-005, BTCP, GBR12909, GBR12935, mazindol, LU17-133, and EXP561) were better fit by a one-site model. Of the drugs that were fit best by a two-site model, there was a higher correlation among the K(i) values for the high-affinity site and the ED(50) values (R(2)=0.655; P=0.015) than there was for the low-affinity site (R(2)=0.543; P=0. 037). Of the remaining drugs, there was a high correlation among the K(i) values and the ED(50) values for the discriminative-stimulus effects (R(2)=0.523; P=0.012). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the discriminative-stimulus effects of cocaine are more closely related to actions mediated by high-affinity binding to the dopamine transporter than they are to actions mediated by the low-affinity site. The further assessment of the respective contributions of high- and low-affinity binding to the behavioral effects of cocaine will be greatly enhanced with the development of pharmacological tools that have a high degree of selectivity for one of these components.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Reflux-inducing dietary factors and risk of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia.

Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is the strongest known risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma. For long-term sufferers with severe symptoms, the excess risk may exceed 40-fold. GER has also been shown to increase the risk of cancers of the gastric cardia more than fourfold. Several foods, including dietary fat, chocolate, mints, coffee, onions, citrus fruit, and tomatoes, have been associated with temporary symptoms of reflux, most likely through a relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Our aim was to determine whether these foods are associated with risk of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or gastric cardia. We studied intakes of LES-relaxing foods and other dietary habits potentially associated with reflux in a nationwide population-based case-control study in Sweden, with 185 and 258 cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma, respectively, and 815 controls. We found no association between LES-relaxing foods and symptoms of chronic reflux, although this might be due to avoidance of these foods among sufferers. In addition, we found no association between dietary factors known to cause LES relaxation and the risk of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or gastric cardia. Our findings indicate that dietary factors associated with LES relaxation and transient GER (but perhaps not severe chronic reflux) are not associated with any important risk of esophageal malignancy.

Adenocarcinoma↗