Effect of maternal diabetes on the pattern of selected insulin resistance syndrome parameters in normal glucose tolerant subjects of two Algonquin Indian communities in Quebec.

Objective: To determine whether a maternal antecedent with diabetes has an effect on insulin resistance syndrome parameters.

Research Design And Methods: We studied 352 Algonquin Indians from Quebec aged at least 15 years who had no personal antecedents with diabetes. Data concerned clinical and biological parameters and the parental antecedents with diabetes.

Development of food frequency questionnaires in three population samples of African origin from Cameroon, Jamaica and Caribbean migrants to the UK.

Objectives: To develop the methods for assessment of food and nutrient intake using standardized food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) in three African origin populations from Cameroon, Jamaica and Caribbean migrants to the United Kingdom.

Design: Cross-sectional assessment of diet from a representative sample in each site, using either a 2-day food diary or a 24-h recall method to determine foods for inclusion on the food frequency questionnaire.

Setting: A rural and urban site in Cameroon, Evodoula and Cite Verte in Yaounde, respectively; a district in Kingston Jamaica; African-Caribbeans living in central Manchester, UK.

Case counting in epidemiology: limitations of methods based on multiple data sources.

Background: The application of capture-recapture methods in epidemiology has been proposed as an alternative to field surveys. This methodology is important for the future of epidemiology and deserves a critical analysis.

Methods: This paper reviews conditions for applying the capture-recapture models to epidemiological data, taking into account practical considerations, in particular the problem of case definition.

Risk factors and their identification. Third Part: Examples.

This is the final of a series of three articles in Diabete & Metabolisme which reviews the identification of risk factors of a disease, here: diabetes or complications of diabetes. In the first of the series [1], we gave the definition of a risk factor, along with measures of its force-relative risk and odds ratio, followed by the epidemiological definitions of the diseases: diabetes, coronary heart disease and hypertension. Risk factors were further discussed and we completed the discussion by some observations on the bias which can arise from a study or from its analysis, which can lead the researcher to the wrong conclusion.

Risk factors and their identification second part: study designs for identification of risk factors.

This is the second a series of three articles which reviews the identification of risk factors of a disease, here: diabetes or complications of diabetes. In the first of the series [1], we gave the definition of a risk factor, along with measures of its force-relative risk and odds ratio, followed by the epidemiological definitions of the diseases: diabetes, coronary heart disease and hypertension. Risk factors were further discussed and we completed the discussion by some observations on the bias which can arise from a study or from its analysis, which can lead the researcher to the wrong conclusion.

Risk factors and their identification. First Part: What is a risk factor?

This series of three articles reviews the designs of studies which can be used to identify risk factors of a disease, here: diabetes or complications of diabetes. In the present issue of Diabete & Metabolisme, the first article of the series, we give the definition of a risk factor, along with measures of its force--relative risk and odds ratio, followed by the epidemiological definitions of the diseases: diabetes, coronary heart disease and hypertension. Risk factors are further discussed and we complete the discussion by some observations on the bias which can arise from a study or from its analysis, which can lead the researcher to the wrong conclusion.

Prevalence of non-insulin dependent diabetes as perceived by general practitioners in France.

A representative, random sample of French general practitioners, reported the number of diabetic patients they treated in their practices. The resulting NIDDM prevalence rate for France was 1.71% (SE +/- 0.

Limitations of the correlation coefficient in the validation of diet assessment methods. CODIAB-INSERM-ZENECA Pharma Study Group.

Dietary assessment methods usually are validated one against the other, using the correlation coefficient between the methods to assess agreement. The correlation coefficient, however, is only an indicator of relative agreement and depends on the range of intakes. As this dependence can lead to misinterpretation, we propose that the standard deviation of the difference between methods should be used as an indicator of absolute agreement and the standard deviation of their average as an indicator of the range of intakes.

Serum bile acids and cholestasis in alcoholic hepatitis. Relationship with usual liver tests and histological features.

Cholestasis is a biochemical and/or histological feature observed in some patients with alcoholic liver disease and is mainly related to alcoholic hepatitis. Accumulation of bile acids in the liver could be pathogenic in alcoholic hepatitis. The aim of this study was to assay serum bile acids in patients with alcoholic hepatitis and to assess the relationship between these parameters, the usual liver tests and the histological features of alcoholic hepatitis.

Ursodiol for the long-term treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis. The UDCA-PBC Study Group.

Background: Ursodiol (ursodeoxycholic acid) therapy leads to major improvements in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. The benefit of long-term treatment is uncertain.

Methods: We randomly assigned 145 patients with biopsy-proved primary biliary cirrhosis to receive ursodiol (13 to 15 mg per kilogram of body weight per day) (72 patients) or placebo (73 patients).

Blood glucose distribution and prevalence of diabetes in Hanoi (Vietnam).

Few epidemiologic surveys have been performed to assess the prevalence of diabetes in representative samples, and few data are available on the epidemiologic features of diabetes in Southeast Asia. We report the results of a 1990 study performed in the Hanoi area (Vietnam) on 4,912 subjects (95.0% of the eligible population), aged 15 years or over, selected by a stratified random cluster procedure using the 1989 census list.

Predictive factors in ursodeoxycholic acid-treated patients with primary biliary cirrhosis: role of serum markers of connective tissue.

The aim of this study was to define factors predictive of the onset of the terminal phase, defined by hyperbilirubinemia or the occurrence of a severe clinical complication, in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis treated with ursodeoxycholic acid. The 97 primary biliary cirrhosis patients in this study participated in a 2-yr clinical trial. Four of the 49 patients treated with ursodeoxycholic acid (13 to 15 mg/kg/day) entered the terminal phase of the disease, compared with 9 of the 48 patients assigned to placebo.

Relationship between procollagen III aminoterminal propeptide and hyaluronan serum levels and histological fibrosis in primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic viral hepatitis C.

The diagnostic values of aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen and hyaluronan serum levels were compared as markers of liver fibrosis in two chronic liver diseases of different etiologies and pathophysiologies, namely primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic viral hepatitis C. The results were analysed in terms of the histological extent of fibrosis. Both serum procollagen-III peptide and hyaluronan were elevated in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic viral hepatitis C (p < 0.

Maternal effect and familial aggregation in NIDDM. The CODIAB Study. CODIAB-INSERM-ZENECA Study Group.

Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is known to have a strong genetic basis, but the mode of inheritance is still unknown. Recent studies have suggested that maternal inheritance is important; this complicates the transmission pattern of NIDDM. In our study, the familial aggregation of diabetes and the maternal effect were investigated through three generations.

The epidemiology of coronary heart disease in glucose-intolerant and diabetic subjects.

Diabetes mellitus is usually recognized as a major risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) morbidity and mortality. As chronic hyperglycaemia defines diabetes mellitus, it is logical to think that hyperglycaemia itself is related to these complications. But, in diabetic patients, there appears to be no relation between CHD and the specific characteristics of diabetes, namely the duration of the disease and the level of blood glucose.

Epidemiology of peripheral arterial disease.

With the aging of the population of most developing nations, arteriosclerosis is becoming a major health problem. Although much research has concentrated on the coronary and cerebral forms of the disease, peripheral arterial disease has received little attention from epidemiologists. The "Rose questionnaire" has been used extensively to diagnose intermittent claudication; however, the current method of choice for the diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease in epidemiologic studies is the ankle brachial pressure index.

The relationship between behavioural pattern, overall and central adiposity in a population of healthy French men.

The relationship between obesity, both general obesity (BMI) and central obesity (measured by the ratio of iliac and thigh circumferences), and a behavioural pattern, which includes alcohol consumption, smoking, stress and lack of sporting activity, was investigated in 467 middle-aged French working men. BMI and central obesity were closely correlated (r = 0.34).

Diabetes and pancreatic carcinoma.

Objective: To analyse the association between pancreatic cancer and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Design: Cohort study of fatal pancreatic cancer with 17 years of follow-up.

Setting: Working men in Paris.

Risk factors for early death in non-insulin dependent diabetes and men with known glucose tolerance status.

Objective: To identify risk factors for all cause mortality according to glucose tolerance status.

Design: Cohort study with an average 15.6 years' follow up.

Android fat distribution by age and sex. The waist hip ratio.

The waist hip ratio, an indicator of upper body fat distribution, is an early sign of atherogenic disease and diabetes risk. The distribution of the waist hip ratio in 18,393 members of the French population aged 17 to 60 years is described according to sex and five year age groups. Men had a higher mean waist hip ratio (0.

European study of the certification and coding of causes of death of six clinical case histories of diabetic patients. EURODIAB Subarea C Study Group.

This study was designed to investigate the large differences in diabetes mortality rates in Europe. In each of the participating countries (France, Germany, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland-UK, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Scotland-UK, Switzerland) a random sample of certifying physicians was asked to certify the causes of death of six case histories which described the deaths of diabetic patients; the responses from an average of 220 physicians per country were analysed. These registered causes were then coded nationally and the underlying cause was compared with that following a central recoding.

Death certificate coding practices related to diabetes in European countries--the 'EURODIAB Subarea C' Study.

The objective of this study was to compare and analyse coding practices for diabetes mortality data in nine European countries (Belgium, Republic of Ireland, France, Germany, Malta, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Switzerland). In each country, a sample of 200 coded death certificates, which mentioned diabetes, was randomly sampled. All death certificates were recoded at the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Classification of Diseases in the French language.

Certification of cause of death in French diabetic patients.

Study Objective: The aim was to assess the level of mortality related to diabetes in France. In other countries, an underrecording of diabetes on the death certificates of diabetic patients has been reported.

Design And Setting: Estimated death rate of diabetic patients was calculated using (a) the actual number of death certificates where diabetes was registered either as an underlying or as a contributory cause of death, and (b) estimates of the prevalence of diabetes in the population, by sex and age group, from which expected numbers of diabetic deaths were determined.

Treatment of severe alcoholic hepatitis by infusion of insulin and glucagon: a multicenter sequential trial.

Severe alcoholic hepatitis is still a therapeutic challenge. It has been recently advocated that a 3-wk infusion with insulin and glucagon reduces its short-term mortality rate. A multicenter, randomized, single-blind, sequential trial was designed to compare this treatment with placebo.