Investigation of a cluster of anencephaly and spina bifida.

Environmental factors remain undefined as possible causes of spina bifida and anencephaly. The authors noted a fivefold increased incidence for 1979-1980 in the Antioch-Pittsburg , California area, prompting a case-control study. They studied nine case and 27 control mothers as well as eight case and 17 control fathers to evaluate factors including residence, occupation, drug use, illnesses, and pesticide or chemical exposure.

Screening for possible drug carcinogenicity: second report of findings.

Cancer development was followed up through 1978 in 143,574 outpatients who were identified on the basis of computer-stored drug-dispensing data as users of various medicinal drugs during the 4-year period starting in July 1969. Screening analyses were repeated for the 95 most commonly used drugs and drug groups, which were reported previously after a shorter follow-up, and it was found that several drug-cancer associations had either gained or lost statistical significance since the report. Screening of 120 additional less commonly used drugs revealed one negative and 43 positive drug-cancer associations.

Psychological questionnaire score, cigarette smoking, and myocardial infarction: a continuing enigma.

The ability of a group of 94 psychological questions to discriminate between men in whom cigarette smoking was associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction and men in whom smoking was not so associated remains puzzling. Further analyses, controlling for reported alcohol consumption and for a questionnaire item that might reflect physical activity, failed to alter this finding. This interaction of the questionnaire responses with smoking was not found with two other major coronary risk factors, serum cholesterol and systolic blood pressure.

Breast cancer and serum cholesterol.

Recent studies have suggested a role for dietary fat in the etiology of breast cancer. The relation of serum cholesterol and other serum lipid measures to breast cancer incidence was investigated in a cohort of 95, 179 women who had multiphasic health checkups from 1964 through 1972. Through 1977, 1,035 new breast cancer cases occurred in over 752,000 person-years of follow-up.