PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S M Garn

Publications and source records attributed to S M Garn.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Carpo-metacarpal growth disturbance and the assessment of carpal narrowing in children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Second metacarpal length (M2), radio-metacarpal length (RM), and intermetacarpal width (W) were measured on 96 radiographs in 52 children with polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), and compared with body height and skeletal maturation in order to: (1) differentiate between processes resulting in retardation of bone growth and those producing delay in skeletal maturation; (2) assess the severity and progression over time of such retardation; and (3) assess the impact of retardation of the second metacarpal on the assessment of carpal narrowing in children with JRA. All measurements were converted into z scores (the units of standard deviation above or below the normal mean for each measurement) based on published norms. Retardation of M2 (mean z scores -0.91) began earlier and was more severe compared with retardation of height (mean z score -0.25). This disproportion widened with increasing duration of disease. That this primarily represents a disturbance in M2 growth rather than a secondary effect due to altered maturation is suggested by the bone ages being normal (mean z score 0.14) and the absence of premature closure of the metacarpal physes. Z scores for RM/W (mean -3.53) were at least 1 Z more negative than for corresponding measurements of RM/M2 (mean -2.41) in 47 (90.4%) children and the mean difference between the z scores for RM/W was -1.12. This discrepancy between RM/W and RM/M2 was eliminated by correcting for the reduction in M2.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The juvenile-onset, adolescent-onset and adult-onset obese.

As shown in more than 8000 proband-parent pairs derived from a total-community sample and followed in longitudinal fashion, the 5-year incidence of obesity (new cases per 5-year period) approximates 8 percent for the juvenile-onset, adolescent-onset and adult-onset obese alike. Parents of juvenile-onset (ages 5-9), adolescent-onset (10-19) and adult-onset obese (20-39) tend to be of above-average fatness level, +0.25Z scores, overall, regardless of the age at onset of obesity in their progeny. Except for the parents of the juvenile-onset obese, educational level of the parents tends to be below average for the sample as a whole. These new data acquired in longitudinal context and explored in retrospective-prospective fashion do not substantiate the notion that different onset ages of obesity indicate separate etiologies and different family constellations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Educational level, fatness, and fatness differences between husbands and wives.

In 1017 husband-wife pairs aged 20-49 y, both fatness and weight of the wives is inversely and linearly related to educational level whereas the husbands' summed skinfold measurements bear a curvilinear, parabolic relationship to years of schooling. Overall, fatness differences between husbands and wives diminish with increased education, and beyond 13 y of education husbands often exceed the subcutaneous fat thickness of their wives. When the education of one spouse is held constant at 9-12 y, women who marry up to men of greater education are systematically leaner and women who mary down are both fatter and heavier. These findings in spouse pairs sharing a common family income suggest that assortative mating with respect to educational level accounts for much of the socioeconomic effect in fatness including the fatness differences between women who marry down and those who marry up. These data also demonstrate that women are not fatter than men at all socioeconomic levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Fatness and obesity of the parents of obese individuals.

As shown in 1419 pairings of obese probands with their parents drawn from a larger series of greater than 9000 proband-parent pairings, the fathers and mothers of obese probands are of increased fatness level (+0.27 Z scores) and more often obese than expected (odds ratio 1.50 overall). However, the tendency towards increased fatness and a greater prevalence of obesity among the parents of obese probands bears a curvilinear relationship to the age of the proband, being least when the probands are young, peaking when the sons and daughters are teen-agers, and declining thereafter. Parents of lean probands in turn tend to be lean themselves (averaging -0.25 Z scores) and least often obese when their progeny are teen-aged. As shown in a two-generational context, familial obesity is best demonstrated in adolescents and their parents, either reflecting years spent in common or a specific etiology for adolescent-onset obesity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

What did our ancestors eat?

Over the millennia various hominoids and hominids have subsisted on very different dietaries, depending on climate, hunting proficiency, food-processing technology, and available foods. The Australopithecines were not browsers and fruit-eaters with very high intakes of vitamin C; rather they were scavengers of kills made by other animals. The hominids who followed did include some cold-climate hunters of large game, but the amount of animal protein decreased with the advent of grain-gathering and decreased further with the introduction of cereal agriculture, with a concomitant decrease in body size. From what we know about food adequacy, preparation, and storage, the notion that the postulated "primitive" diet was generally adequate, safe, and prudent can be rejected. Over evolutionary time, many of our ancestors ate poorly, especially during climate extremes, and they were often at risk for vitamin deficiencies, food-borne diseases, and neurotoxins. Until the advent of modern processing technologies, dirt, grit, and fiber constituted a large part of most early diets.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Evidence against functional differences between "central" and "peripheral" fat.

As shown in 1639 men and 1851 women in the 20-49 y age range, four commonly used skinfold measurements (triceps, subscapular, iliac, and abdominal) are all highly covariant and do not show clear evidence of upper-body and lower-body or central and peripheral groupings. Moreover, the four skinfold measurements are similarly related to systolic and diastolic blood pressures and to total serum cholesterol at each decile of skinfold thickness and to a degree that strikingly parallels summed skinfold thickness (sigma sf). The changing relative contributions of the different skinfold measurements to the summed skinfold thicknesses with increasing levels of fatness also reveal no evidence of consistent anatomical or topographical groupings by body segment or distance from the body core.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1988

Effect of skinfold levels on lipids and blood pressure in younger and older adults.

As shown in 5507 white participants in a total population sample, the level of fatness is systematically related to lipid levels and to blood pressure levels in older adolescents, younger adults, and older adults of both sexes. At all three age levels, the fatter subjects were highest in serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure and more often hypertensive. The effect of fatness level on the four risk factors was similar for all four skinfolds regardless of location. Fatness level is thus related to lipid levels and blood pressure levels in both younger and older subjects, and there is no evidence that "central" or "peripheral" or upper body and truncal skinfolds are more directly related to these risk factors even after the sixth decade.

Adult↗