Vegetable consumption and blood lead concentrations.

Women resident in an area heavily contaminated by spoil from old lead mining have blood lead concentrations that are about 50% higher (p less than 0.001) than those of women living in a "control" area some distance away. Blood lead concentrations were related to the consumption of home grown produce.

Chest pain in women: a study of prevalence and mortality follow up in south Wales.

The London School of Hygiene cardiovascular questionnaire was administered by interviewers in a community survey of 1428 women aged 45-74 living in the Rhondda Fach in south Wales. The results were analysed after a 12 year follow up for mortality. The prevalence of angina was similar to that of a Swiss population, where the method of administration of the questionnaire was similar.

Relation between pica and blood lead in areas of differing lead exposure.

Surveys were conducted in four areas in Wales with differing degrees of environmental lead. In two areas the source of the lead was traffic and in one it was spoil from lead mining in the past. The fourth area, which served as a control, was a village remote from heavy traffic, industry, and lead mining.

A photographic method of diet evaluation.

A photographic method of diet assessment is described. The subject is issued with a camera and a food record book and asked to photograph all meals and record the number of the photograph and details which will not show in photographs such as the method of cooking, the use of sugar in drinks, etc. The photographs are viewed alongside previously prepared 'standard' slides which show the weights of a variety of portions of each foodstuff.

The dietary intakes of subjects estimated from photographs compared with a weighed record.

A photographic method of diet evaluation was compared with a weighed record recording method in seventeen subjects. All subjects found the method easy and acceptable though one subject failed to use the method correctly. For the others the two methods gave very similar results, the difference for no nutrient was statistically significant.

Migraine, headache, and survival in women.

A population study of 1310 women aged 45-64 years determined the prevalence of headache and migraine in the preceding year. To investigate the hypothesis that women with migraine had a higher mortality rate, these women were followed up nearly 12 years later. Unexpectedly, the mortality was found to be higher in women without headaches.

Hardness of domestic water and blood lead levels.

The effect on the blood lead levels of residents in an area in which a soft plumbo-solvent water was hardened is examined. Water lead levels fell after hardening was introduced whereas there was a small rise in water lead levels in a control area monitored over the same time. The blood lead levels of residents fell after hardening and the fall was slightly greater than would have been predicted on the basis of the change in water lead levels.

Epidemiology for nutritionists: 2. Sampling.

There are two major objectives in sampling for a research study. The first is the avoidance of bias due to selection: to achieve this a random sample must be drawn and a high response rate achieved. The second objective is to achieve an efficient use of resources by selecting a sample of a size sufficient to detect an effect of clinical importance yet not so large that effects too small to be of interest are detected.

British studies of aspirin and myocardial infarction.

The MRC Epidemiology Unit in Cardiff, Wales conducted three randomized, controlled trials of aspirin use in patients who had had myocardial infarction. Follow-up study for one to two years was conducted in 1,239 men after they experienced myocardial infarction and another was based on 1,682 patients followed for one year after infarction. Although the results are not statistically significant in either trial, they are consistent with a reduction of about 26 and 17 percent in the mortality rate of patients during the year after infarction.

Changes in blood lead concentrations in women in Wales 1972-82.

Blood lead concentrations, estimated in epidemiological surveys of adult women in Wales, have shown a fall of over 30% since 1972. During the same period the amount of lead in petrol has changed little but general traffic flow has steadily increased; there has been no change in the amount of lead in water.

Further follow-up study of workers from an asbestos cement factory.

A further follow-up traced 1970 workers employed at an asbestos cement factory for at least six months between 1936 and 1977. At the beginning of this period some crocidolite was used in the factory but by the end of 1936 chrysotile had become the only type of asbestos in use. Only 378 women were employed during the period concerned, and of the 30 who had died, none had a cause of death that is generally associated with exposure to asbestos.

The flax industry in Northern Ireland twenty years on.

In 1961-62 a survey of respiratory symptoms in 2528 workers in flax mills in Northern Ireland and of dust levels in the mills was conducted. The workers were followed up in 1978, because recent developments suggested that an upturn in the industry was likely. Flax dust has an acute, reversible effect on the respiratory system, and byssinosis is a prescribed disease under the Industrial Injuries Act (1965).

Haemostatic factors associated with ischaemic heart disease in men aged 45 to 64 years. The Speedwell study.

In the Speedwell study set up to examine primarily the relation of plasma lipids and ischaemic heart disease in men aged 45 to 64 years drawn randomly from the practices of 16 general practitioners, various haemostatic factors which may contribute both to thrombogenesis and atherogenesis were measured. Fibrinogen measured nephelometrically and plasma viscosity were positively associated with the prevalence of ischaemic heart disease. Antithrombin III was negatively associated with the prevalence of ischaemic heart disease.

Prevalence of ischaemic heart disease and associations with serum lipoproteins in subjects aged 45 to 64 years. The Speedwell study.

A longitudinal study has been set up to examine the incidence of ischaemic heart disease and its associations with serum lipoproteins including high density lipoprotein cholesterol and its subfractions, certain haemostatic factors, and other "risk' factors. We report here on our pilot study findings. Cross-sectional data were available on 283 men and 68 women aged 45 to 64 representing 85% of the available population randomly selected from the lists of 16 general practitioners.

Mortality of flax workers.

A total of 2528 workers in flax mills in Northern Ireland were followed up for 16 years. Follow-up was 97% complete. Deaths were identified and date and cause ascertained.