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Biomedical subjects

R E Frisch

Publications and source records attributed to R E Frisch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Magnetic resonance imaging of body fat of athletes compared with controls, and the oxidative metabolism of estradiol.

The extent of 2-hydroxylation of estradiol (E2), which yields a non-estrogenic metabolite (2-OHE1), increased significantly with decreasing subcutaneous fat (ScF)/total volume percent (TV%) and total fat (TF)/TV% evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for five athletes during low- and high-intensity training, and four controls. The increase in 2-hydroxylation with decreasing adiposity was associated with anovulation and amenorrhea among the athletes.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1992

Dysplastic nevi, cutaneous melanoma, and gynecologic disorders.

We compared the frequency of reproductive system diseases and disorders among 206 female patients with dysplastic nevi (DN), and/or melanoma, in comparison with random samples of women of comparable age without melanoma. The highest odds ratio (OR) for these age-related diseases and reproductive disorders occurs among the youngest age group of the patients with DN alone (mean age 35.1 +/- 1.2 yr): 44.2% of the DN subjects had one or more reproductive disorders compared with 19.8% of the random sample (OR 3.2, 95% CL (1.6, 6.5), P less than 0.001). The patients with melanoma and DN (mean age 41.5 +/- 1.4 yr) also had a significantly greater percentage of subjects with one or more reproductive disorders, though less so than the DN subjects: 49.4% compared to 33.7% (OR 1.9, 95% CL (1.1, 3.3), P = 0.02).

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1991

Overall body fat and regional fat distribution in young women: quantification with MR imaging.

Overall body fat and its distribution in different regions are important predispositions to known aberrations in lipid and glucose metabolism. The accuracy of MR imaging in estimating overall body fatness and regional fat distribution at individual landmarks was determined by comparing it with well-accepted measures by deuterium-oxide (D2O) dilution and bioimpedance analysis. Fourteen normal young women (athletes and control subjects) were studied. A total of 308 axial, T1-weighted, spin-echo MR images over a specific region in the trunk (21-24 scans per subject) were obtained. Morphometric computer image analysis was performed to determine the subcutaneous, internal, and total fat volumes in each image. The data were analyzed in two ways: data from all slices were summed to assess overall body fatness, and six anatomic landmarks were chosen for regional comparisons. MR-determined estimates of overall body fatness strongly correlated with total body fat measures by D2O dilution in both total fat (r = .91) and subcutaneous fat (r = .92) determinations. Athletes in both the low- and high-intensity training phases had significantly lower values of MR-determined total body fatness than did control subjects. Parallel to total body fatness, athletes had significantly lower MR-determined ratios of total fat/total volume in four of six individual landmarks compared with control subjects. Our experience suggests that MR is an accurate method to quantify overall body fatness, when compared with D2O dilution and bioimpedance analysis. MR could also discriminate regional components of subcutaneous and internal body fat at individual landmarks.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1990

The right weight: body fat, menarche and ovulation.

Women with moderate weight loss (10-15% of ideal weight), as well as women with the severe weight loss of anorexia nervosa (30% of ideal weight), have secondary or primary amenorrhoea. A high proportion of well-trained dancers and athletes also have amenorrhoea, though weight may be in the normal range, since muscles are heavy (80% water, compared to 5-10% water in adipose tissue). The amenorrhoea is usually reversible with weight gain, decreased exercise or both. The amenorrhoea is due to hypothalamic dysfunction; the pituitary-ovary axis is intact, suggesting that this type of amenorrhoea is adaptive, preventing an unsuccessful pregnancy outcome. Evidence is presented that the high percentage of body fat (26-28%) in mature women is necessary for regular ovulatory cycles. Target weights for height are given for the evaluation and treatment of primary and secondary amenorrhoea due to weight loss. The high percentage of body fat in women may influence reproductive ability directly: (1) as an extragonadal source of oestrogen by aromatization of androgen to oestrogen; (2) by influencing the direction of oestrogen metabolism to more potent or less potent forms; or (3) by changes in the binding properties of sex-hormone-binding globulin. Indirect signals may be of abnormal control of temperature and changes in energy metabolism, which accompany excessive leanness.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1989

Nonalcoholic carbonated beverage consumption and bone fractures among women former college athletes.

We report on data relating to nonalcoholic carbonated beverage consumption and bone fractures in 5,398 college alumnae, 2,622 former college athletes and 2,776 nonathletes, who responded to a detailed mailed questionnaire. A statistically significant association between nonalcoholic carbonated beverage consumption and bone fractures was found only in the former athletes, not the nonathletes. Among the athletes, the age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for the association of drinkers (yes/no) with any fracture (yes/no) was 1.35, 95% confidence limits (CL) (1.14, 1.59). The dose-response relationship between the amount of carbonated beverages consumed daily and the number of bone fractures of the athletes was also statistically significant. Results of multiple logistic regression analysis, which included only alumnae greater than or equal to 50 years of age and which controlled for current exercise and other potential confounding factors, were as follows: (a) for athletes, the OR for the association of drinking nonalcoholic carbonated beverages and a first bone fracture at or after age 40 was 2.28, 95% CL (1.36, 3.84); (b) for all alumnae, a low milk diet was a risk factor for first bone fractures at or after age 40, OR = 1.92, 95% CL (1.15, 3.16); (c) former college athletes had a significantly lower risk of first fractures at or after age 40 than did nonathletes; OR = 0.63, 95% CL (0.40, 0.99). The deleterious effect of nonalcoholic carbonated beverage consumption on the risk of bone fractures has not been reported, as far as we know.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Reproductive factors and melanoma of the skin among women.

A higher risk of reproductive system disorders, (which include benign tumors, endometriosis, dilation and curettage, hysterectomy, and other disorders requiring gynecologic biopsies) exist among women with cutaneous melanoma as compared to women with skin cancers: The odds ratio (OR) is 3.2, 95% confidence limits (1.0, 10.1), p = 0.049; as compared to a random sample of women with no melanoma or skin cancers, the OR is 3.9, 95% confidence limits (1.2, 12.4), p = 0.021. Confirming the observations of others, the authors found that melanoma was associated with red hair. The data also confirmed the finding that melanoma is associated with significantly fewer pregnancies. The mean numbers of pregnancies in the melanoma group is 1.83 +/- 1.6 (mean and standard deviation) compared to 2.99 +/- 1.9 in the skin cancer group and 2.93 +/- 1.9 in the random sample (p less than or equal to 0.05).

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1989

Estrogen 2-hydroxylase oxidation and menstrual function among elite oarswomen.

We monitored the estrogen metabolism and menstrual function of two groups of elite oarswomen as they progressed from a phase of low intensity training (phase I), to high intensity training (phase II), and back to low intensity training (phase III). Each phase lasted 3 months. The two groups of oarswomen included five oarswomen (group A) who experienced no menstrual dysfunction during the training year, even during the phase of high intensity training, and five oarswomen (group B) who experienced normal menses during phases of low intensity training but disrupted menses during the phase of high intensity training. Four nonathletic controls were also studied. Menstrual function was monitored throughout the training year by assay for pregnanediol glucuronide in overnight 12-h urine samples collected twice weekly. Repeated measures of the extent of estradiol metabolized by 2-hydroxylase oxidation, total body water, and nutrient intake of group A and B oarswomen were made at the three phases of the training year; the extent of estradiol metabolized by 2-hydroxylase oxidation was evaluated by radiometric analysis; total body water was measured by deuterium oxide dilution and bioimpedance analysis; and nutrient intake was evaluated by food frequency questionnaire. The group B oarswomen were found to metabolize a significantly greater fraction of administered [2-3H]estradiol by 2-hydroxylase oxidation than group A oarswomen (chi 2(1) = 6.57; P = 0.01). The extent of estradiol metabolized by 2-hydroxylase oxidation among group A oarswomen did not differ from that among nonathletic controls. The extent of 2-hydroxylase activity did not change significantly with the intensity of training among either group A or group B oarswomen. Oarswomen in groups A and B lost body weight and became leaner during the phase of high intensity training (phase II). Group A and B oarswomen did not differ in the degree of weight loss or in relative fatness during phase II. Over all subjects, the extent of estradiol metabolized by 2-hydroxylase oxidation was positively correlated with the extent of leanness. These data suggest that elevated estradiol 2-hydroxylase oxidation among elite oarswomen is associated with the occurrence of menstrual disturbances during phases of high intensity training and increased relative leanness.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Lower prevalence of non-reproductive system cancers among female former college athletes.

Lower prevalence of non-reproductive system cancers among former college athletes. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 250-253, 1989. The prevalence (lifetime occurrence) rates of cancers of nonreproductive organs and tissues were determined for 5,398 living alumnae, 2,622 of whom were former college athletes and 2,776 who had been nonathletes, from data on medical history, reproductive history, athletic training, and diet. The non-reproductive system cancers were divided into two classes: class I, which included cancers of the digestive system, thyroid, bladder, lung, and other sites and hematopoietic cancers (lymphoma, leukemia, myeloma, and Hodgkin's disease), and class II, which included skin cancers and cutaneous melanoma. The former college athletes had a significantly lower prevalence of class I cancers compared to the nonathletes; the age-adjusted relative risk (RR) equals 3.34, 95% confidence limits (1.35, 8.33), P = 0.009. In contrast, the prevalence rates of malignant melanomas and skin cancers did not differ significantly between the former athletes and nonathletes. The age-adjusted RR did not differ from 1.0. The lower prevalence rate of class I cancers among the former athletes is in accord with previous findings of a significantly lower prevalence rate of breast cancer and cancers of the reproductive system among former college athletes compared to nonathletes.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Body fat, menarche, fitness and fertility.

Many well-trained athletes, ballet dancers and women who diet excessively have secondary or primary amenorrhoea. Less extensive training or weight loss may result in anovulatory menstrual cycles, or a shortened luteal phase. These disruptions of reproductive ability are due to hypothalamic dysfunction, which is correlated with weight loss or excessive leanness. It is proposed that these associations are causal and that the high percentage of body fat (26-28%) in the mature human female may influence reproduction directly. Four mechanisms are known: (i) adipose tissue converts androgens to oestrogen by aromatization. Body fat is thus a significant extragonadal source of oestrogen; (ii) body weight, hence fatness, influences the direction of oestrogen metabolism to more potent or less potent forms; leaner women make more catechol oestrogens, the less potent form; (iii) obese women and young, fat girls have a diminished capacity for oestrogen to bind sex-hormone-binding-globulin; (iv) adipose tissue can store steroid hormones. An indirect mechanism may be signals of abnormal control of temperature and changes in energy metabolism, which accompany excessive leanness. The hypothalamic reproductive dysfunction results in abnormal gonadotrophin secretion: there is an age inappropriate secretory pattern of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), resembling that of prepubertal children. The secretion of LH and the responses to LHRH are reduced in direct correlation with the amount of weight loss. Other evidence from non-athletic and athletic women and mammals is presented in support of the hypothesis that a particular, minimum ratio of fat to lean mass is normally necessary for menarche (approximately 17% fat/body wt) and the maintenance of female reproductive ability (approximately 22% fat/body wt). Nomograms are given for the prediction of these critical weights for height from a fatness index; these weights are useful clinically in the evaluation of nutritional amenorrhoea and the restoration of fertility in underweight women. Evidence is presented that undernutrition and hard physical work can affect the natural fertility of populations, by the delay of menarche, a longer period of adolescent subfecundity, a longer birth interval and an earlier age of menopause. Data from a study of the long-term reproductive health of 2622 former college athletes compared with 2766 non-athletes show that the former college athletes had a significantly lower lifetime occurrence of breast cancer and cancers of the reproductive system, and a lower lifetime occurrence of benign tumours of these tissues, compared with the non-athletes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1987

Bone fractures among former college athletes compared with nonathletes in the menopausal and postmenopausal years.

Data are presented on the prevalence (lifetime occurrence) of bone fractures among 5398 college alumnae, 2622 former college athletes, and 2776 nonathletes, ranging in age from 21 to 80 years. As expected from increased physical activity, the former college athletes in each age decade from 20 to 70 years and over reported a higher lifetime occurrence (i.e., at any age up to the time of reporting) of bone fractures of all types, than that of nonathletes (40.5 versus 31.9%, P less than .001). However, when athletic activity was accounted for, the former college athletes were at no greater risk of fractures in the menopausal years than were nonathletes. Among women 60 years and over who were fracture-free up to age 40, the rate for any fracture at age 40 or over was 29% for former college athletes compared with 32% for nonathletes, a nonsignificant difference.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Lower prevalence of diabetes in female former college athletes compared with nonathletes.

The prevalence rate of diabetes was determined for 5398 living college alumnae (2622 former college athletes and 2776 nonathletes) from data on medical history, athletic training, and diet. For all ages, the prevalence rate among the former athletes was 0.57% (15/2622) and among the nonathletes was 1.3% (37/2776). The former college athletes and the nonathletes had similar percentages in family history of diabetes, i.e., 12.0 and 13.5%, respectively. For cases occurring at age greater than or equal to 20 yr (thus assessing the effects of college athletic training), 0.5% (13/2622) of the former college athletes had diabetes compared to 1.2% (32/2776) of the nonathletes; the relative risk is 2.24 [95% confidence limits (CL), 1.19 and 4.74, respectively]. Omitting cases of gestational diabetes, the relative risk of diabetes in nonathletes versus athletes is 3.41 (95% CL, 1.33 and 8.70). The percentages of former athletes and nonathletes that are insulin-using, non-insulin-using, and gestational diabetics did not differ significantly. The athletes were leaner than the nonathletes at all ages up to 70 yr. Of the former college athletes, 82% had been on precollege teams, compared to 25% of the college nonathletes; 74% of the former athletes were exercising regularly, compared to 57% of the nonathletes. We conclude that long-term athletic training is associated with a lower risk of the development of diabetes.

Adult↗