Body-mass index, blood pressure, and cause-specific mortality in India: a prospective cohort study of 500 810 adults.

Background: The association between cause-specific mortality and body-mass index (BMI) has been studied mainly in high-income countries. We investigated the relations between BMI, systolic blood pressure, and mortality in India.

Methods: Men and women aged 35 years or older were recruited into a prospective study from the general population in Chennai, India between Jan 1, 1998, and Dec 31, 2001.

Tobacco chewing and adult mortality: a case-control analysis of 22,000 cases and 429,000 controls, never smoking tobacco and never drinking alcohol, in South India.

Background: Tobacco is consumed in both smoking and smokeless forms in India. About 35-40% of tobacco consumption in India is in the latter. The study objective was to describe the association between chewing tobacco and adult mortality.

Global school personnel survey among 5200 school personnel in India: comparison of the results for the years 2009 and 2006.

Background: The results of the Global School Personnel Survey (GSPS) conducted in India in 2009 are compared with 2006 GSPS to assess any change in 2009 on tobacco use and knowledge and attitudes to tobacco use, training and availability of tobacco control teaching material in schools and the existence of school tobacco control policies.

Methods: GSPS is a cross sectional survey conducted twice (2006 and 2009) in entire India. A total of 180 schools were surveyed each time.

Cancer mortality in India: a nationally representative survey.

Background: The age-specific mortality rates and total deaths from specific cancers have not been documented for the various regions and subpopulations of India. We therefore assessed the cause of death in 2001-03 in homes in small areas that were chosen to be representative of all the parts of India.

Methods: At least 130 trained physicians independently assigned causes to 122,429 deaths, which occurred in 1·1 million homes in 6671 small areas that were randomly selected to be representative of all of India, based on a structured non-medical surveyor's field report.

Social inequalities, tobacco chewing, and cancer mortality in south India: a case-control analysis of 2,580 cancer deaths among non-smoking non-drinkers.

Objective: The objective of this work was to describe the relationships between educational level, tobacco chewing, and cancer mortality in south India, among middle-aged adults who never smoked tobacco or drank alcohol, to eliminate confounding by those habits.

Methods: This case-control study was conducted in two areas of Tamil Nadu state. The cases studied were 2,580 lifelong non-smoking non-drinkers who died at age 35-69 years during 1995-1998, with interviews in 1998-2000 of a spouse, neighbour, or close associate, who retrospectively provided information on the education and chewing/other habits of the deceased.

Genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase genes and susceptibility to colorectal cancer: a case-control study in an Indian population.

Background: Susceptibility to sporadic colorectal cancer is multifactorial and arises from interactive combinations of allelic variants in low-penetrance genes and relevant environmental risk factors. Genetic polymorphisms in metabolic enzymes as gene susceptibility factors may modify colorectal cancer risk. We evaluated the risk of colorectal cancer associated with respective or combined glutathione S-transferase (GST) polymorphisms and assessed the interactions between genes and environmental factors in a case-control study in an Indian population.

Polymorphisms in DNA repair genes XRCC1, XRCC3 and XPD, and colorectal cancer risk: a case-control study in an Indian population.

Purpose: Genetic polymorphisms in DNA repair genes may influence variations in individual DNA repair capacity, which could be associated with the development of cancer. We detected the distributions of three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (XRCC1 Arg399Gln, XRCC3 Thr241Met and XPD Lys751Gln) in DNA repair genes, and assessed the associations of these genetic polymorphisms with colon and rectal cancer susceptibility as well as evaluated the interactions of gene-gene and gene-environment in a case-control study of an Indian population.

Methods: This case-control study was conducted with 302 cases (including 59 colon and 243 rectal cancer patients) and 291 cancer-free healthy controls.

HIV mortality and infection in India: estimates from nationally representative mortality survey of 1.1 million homes.

Objective: To determine the rates of death and infection from HIV in India.

Design: Nationally representative survey of deaths.

Setting: 1.

Physical activity levels among urban and rural women in south India and the risk of breast cancer: a case-control study.

Breast cancer (BC) incidence in India is approximately 100% higher among urban women than rural women. The role of household activities (HA) among urban and rural women in the development of BC was investigated. The study was conducted between 2002 and 2005, at the Regional Cancer Center, Trivandrum and three cancer hospitals in Chennai.

Smoking, drinking and incident tuberculosis in rural India: population-based case-control study.

Background: To investigate the extent to which smoking and/or drinking can increase the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), a population-based case-control study was conducted in rural south India.

Methods: A total of 1839 males and 870 females treated in 2000-03 by state TB clinics were interviewed at home in 2004-05 about their education, smoking and drinking habits before disease onset. As controls, 2134 men and 2119 women without TB were randomly chosen from case villages and interviewed.

Breastfeeding and breast cancer risk in India: a multicenter case-control study.

Breast cancer incidence is low in India compared with high-income countries, but it has increased in recent decades, particularly among urban women. The reasons for this pattern are not known although they are likely related to reproductive and lifestyle factors. Here, we report the results of a large case-control study on the association between breastfeeding and breast cancer risk.

Anthropometric factors and breast cancer risk among urban and rural women in South India: a multicentric case-control study.

Breast cancer (BC) incidence in India is approximately twice as high in urban women than in rural women, among whom we investigated the role of anthropometric factors and body size. The study was conducted at the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, and in three cancer hospitals in Chennai during 2002-2005. Histologically confirmed cases (n=1866) and age-matched controls (n=1873) were selected.

A nationally representative case-control study of smoking and death in India.

Background: The nationwide effects of smoking on mortality in India have not been assessed reliably.

Methods: In a nationally representative sample of 1.1 million homes, we compared the prevalence of smoking among 33,000 deceased women and 41,000 deceased men (case subjects) with the prevalence of smoking among 35,000 living women and 43,000 living men (unmatched control subjects).

Indoor air pollution from solid fuels and risk of hypopharyngeal/laryngeal and lung cancers: a multicentric case-control study from India.

Background: A recent monograph by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has identified indoor air pollution from coal usage as a known human carcinogen, while that from biomass as a probable human carcinogen. Although as much as 74% of the Indian population relies on solid fuels for cooking, very little information is available on cancer risk associated with these fuels in India.

Methods: Using data from a multicentric case-control study of 799 lung and 1062 hypopharyngeal/laryngeal cancer cases, and 718 controls, we investigated indoor air pollution from various solid fuels as risk factors for these cancers in India.

Smokeless tobacco and increased risk of hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancers: a multicentric case-control study from India.

Hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancers are among the most common cancers in India. In addition to smoking, tobacco chewing may be a major risk factor for some of these cancers in India. Using data from a multicentric case-control study conducted in India that included 513 hypopharyngeal cancer cases, 511 laryngeal cancer cases and 718 controls, we investigated smoking and chewing tobacco products as risk factors for these cancers.

Prospective study of one million deaths in India: rationale, design, and validation results.

Background: Over 75% of the annual estimated 9.5 million deaths in India occur in the home, and the large majority of these do not have a certified cause. India and other developing countries urgently need reliable quantification of the causes of death.

Elevated risk of colorectal cancer associated with the AA genotype of the cyclin D1 A870G polymorphism in an Indian population.

Purpose: To investigate whether the common cyclin D1 (CCND1) A870G polymorphism is a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC) in an Indian population.

Methods: In this study, 301 newly diagnosed CRC patients and 291 healthy control subjects were genotyped by the PCR-RFLP method. Genotype frequencies were compared between cases and controls, and the association of genotypes with CRC was studied.

Associations between 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase codon 677 and 1298 genetic polymorphisms and environmental factors with reference to susceptibility to colorectal cancer: a case-control study in an Indian population.

Although the incidence rate of colorectal cancer is very low, and rectal cancer remains more common in India, a significant increase in its incidence has been reported for both men and women over the last 2 decades. We evaluated MTHFR genetic susceptibility and common environmental risk factors in the development of colon and rectal cancer, and assessed the interactions between gene and environmental factors with colorectal cancer in a case-control study in the Indian population. The study included 59 colon cancer cases, 243 rectal cancer cases and 291 controls.

Influence of the C161T but not Pro12Ala polymorphism in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma on colorectal cancer in an Indian population.

The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between Pro12Ala and C161T polymorphisms in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) gene and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. We recruited 301 newly diagnosed CRC patients and 291 healthy control subjects at the Madras Cancer Institute in Chennai, India, from 1999 to 2001. Genotypes of the Pro12Ala and C161T polymorphisms were determined using the PCR-RFLP method.