Food items and food groups as risk factors in a case-control study of diet and colo-rectal cancer.

The contributions of food items and food groups as risk factors in a previously reported case-control study of diet and colo-rectal cancer have been analyzed. The study included 348 patients with colon cancer, 194 with rectal cancer, 542 neighbourhood controls individually matched to the cases on the basis of age and sex and a second control series of 535 surgical hospital controls frequency matched to the cases. For colon cancer, as in the previous analysis, the major risk factor was saturated fat, individual food items or groups failing to make a significant contribution to the risk.

The ecological approach to permanency planning: an interactionist perspective.

The most prominent concepts in the field today--the ecological approach and permanency planning--are discussed with a view toward constructing a general conceptual basis for practice and an analysis of the negative effects of professional bias on acceptance of the interactionist perspective.

Methodological issues in case-control studies: validity and power of various design/analysis strategies.

Computer stimulations have been used to estimate the efficiency, as measured by the statistical power, of various combinations of design and analysis strategies for case-control studies. Conditions under which the various forms of analysis yield consistent relative risk estimators are derived for the general model. The results indicate that the loss of efficiency resulting from the use of a less than optimum design or analysis strategy in many real life situations is small.

Confidence interval estimation for the ratio of simple and standardized rates in cohort studies.

Computer simulation has been used to compare four methods for calculating confidence intervals for simple rate ratios estimated from cohort studies. The method proposed by Cornfield (1956. In Proceedings of the Third Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability.

Cancer mortality (1965-77) in relation to diesel fume and coal exposure in a cohort of retired railway workers.

A cohort study of 43,826 male pensioners of the Canadian National Railway Company was conducted. The cause of death of 17,838 pensioners who died between 1965 and 1977 was ascertained by computerized record linkage to the Canadian national mortality data base. The main finding was an elevated risk of lung cancer for those employed in occupations involving exposure to diesel fumes and coal dust, with highly significant dose-response relationships observed.

Munchausen's syndrome or chronic factitious illness: a review and case presentation.

The psychosomatic disorder termed Munchausen's syndrome has gained official recognition in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, in which it is referred to as a "chronic factitious disorder with physical symptoms." Sporadic case reports have been published over the years. Few patients with this disorder allow themselves to be psychologically evaluated or seek treatment for the disorder itself.

Reliability of computerized versus manual death searches in a study of the health of Eldorado uranium workers.

An epidemiological follow-up study of 16,000 uranium mine and refinery employees has made use of computerized techniques for searching a national death file. The accuracy of this computerized matching has been compared with that of corresponding manual searches based on one-eighth of the worker file. The national death file--Canadian Mortality Data Base--at Statistics Canada includes coded causes of death for all deaths back to 1950.

A follow-up study of a ten-percent sample of the Canadian labor force. I. Cancer mortality in males, 1965-73.

A system is described for monitoring the mortality experience of an approximately 10% sample of the Canadian Labor Force with the use of computerized record linkage to the Canadian mortality data base. Results are presented for the 4,203 cancer deaths that occurred between 1965 and 1973 in 415,201 males with known occupational histories from 1965 to 1969. A number of previously suggested associations between certain occupations and cancers have been confirmed in these results, and a number of new associations also have been observed.

Evaluation of a self-administered dietary questionnaire for use in a cohort study.

A self-administered diet questionnaire designed for use in a cohort study has been assessed in comparison with a detailed quantitative diet history previously used in and validated for case-control studies. One hundred fifty-eight women aged 40 to 59 were asked to complete the self-administered questionnaire and 123 returned it by mail. Of these women, 50 were interviewed at home using the detailed diet history.

London and Glasgow: a spatial analysis of mortality experience in contrasting metropolitan centres.

"Mortality data for ischaemic heart disease and lung-bronchus cancer in the 29 metropolitan boroughs of London and the 37 electoral wards of Glasgow are standardised for age and sex relative to an all-U.K. norm.

Tourette's syndrome in a black woman with associated triple X and 9p mosaicism.

A review of the literature and a rare case of Tourette's syndrome in a black woman in association with triple X and 9p mosaicism are presented.

The relationship between plasma concentration of valproic acid and its anticonvulsant and behavioural effects in the rat.

The relationship between the plasma concentration of valproic acid (VPA) and anticonvulsant or neurotoxic effects was studied in the rat. Anticonvulsant activity was assessed against; (1) maximal seizures induced either by electroshock or by intravenous injection of pentylenetetrazol; and (2) kindled amygdaloid epilepsy. Drug-induced neurotoxicity was determined by the rotarod test and by observation of behaviour.

Dietary factors in relation to the etiology of colorectal cancer.

A case control study of 542 cases of colorectal cancer, 542 neighborhood controls, and 535 hospital controls has been conducted in two areas of Canada. The consumption of 13 nutrients has been estimated individually for all study members using an extensive diet history questionnaire. Highly significant dose-response relationships are observed between saturated fat intake and increased risk of both colon and rectal cancer for both sexes.

Breast cancer mortality following fluoroscopic irradiation in a cohort of tuberculosis patients.

A study has been conducted to determine the mortality experience from 1950-1977 of a cohort of women treated for tuberculosis in Canadian sanatoria between 1930 and 1952. Approximately 50 percent of these women received substantial breast tissue doses of fluoroscopic irradiation in conjunction with their treatment by artificial pneumothorax. A preliminary analysis of 23572 women known alive at the beginning of 1950 has shown a highly significant breast cancer mortality risk for those women exposed to such radiation.

Tobacco, alcohol, asbestos, and nickel in the etiology of cancer of the larynx: a case-control study.

A case-control study of laryngeal cancer was conducted in southern Ontario between 1977 and 1979 with 204 subjects with newly diagnosed cancer and 204 controls, individually matched by sex, age, and residence. Tobacco products and alcohol showed strong associations with cancer of the larynx for males, with relative risks (RR) for users of cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos, pipes, and alcohol of 6.1, 2.

Some methodological issues in epidemiological studies of fat and cancer.

Three types of approach to the study of the possible relationship between fat and cancer are discussed, namely, correlational, case-control, and cohort studies. The advantages and limitations of each method are analyzed, and it is emphasized that a necessary prerequisite to direct observational studies in humans is the development of a satisfactory and uniform method of a diet assessment. Despite the problems, epidemiological research in this area offers considerable potential for cancer prevention.

Polymorphonuclear cell function in rheumatoid arthritis and in Felty's syndrome.

Tests for polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) chemotaxis, adherence, and electrophoretic mobility (EPM) were carried out on blood PMN isolated from 27 normal subjects, 16 patients with uncomplicated rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 9 patients with Felty's syndrome. Chemotaxis was measured by a modification of the Boyden chamber technique, adherence by retention of cells on nylon fibre columns, and EPM in a cylindrical electrophoretic assembly. There was no significant difference between the chemotactic migration of normal and rheumatoid PMN as assessed by the leading front measurement.

Electrocardiographic training in primary care residency programs.

To evaluate ECT interpretation in physicians training for primary care, we tested residents in two residency programs (one internal medicine, one family medicine) for their ability to interpret ECGs produced in an ambulatory practice. An 18-item examination used abnormal tracings from a university hospital ambulatory unit, including six technical problems generated in the daily operation of the unit. Ability increased with advancing graduate level; however, performance for both internal medicine and family medicine residents fell short of the expected level.

The effect of hysterectomies and screening on mortality from cancer of the uterus in Canada.

The trends in mortality from cancer of the uterine cervix, cancer of the endometrium and all uterus in Canada and the ten Canadian Provinces from 1951-53 to 1974-76 at ages 30-64 have been re-evaluated in relation to screening for cancer of the cervix in 1966 and 1971 and hysterectomies for non-malignant conditions from 1969 to 1976. By means of series of mathematical models, the effect of different prior extrapolations of the numbers of hysterectomies performed by age and province has enabled the potential impact of hysterectomies on the trends of mortality from uterine cancer to be evaluated by relating deaths to "uteri at risk" rather than "women at risk" irrespective of the presence of an intact uterus. It has been found that the numbers of hysterectomies performed have little impact on the fall in mortality certified to cancer of the cervix or to all uterine cancer, but in the decade 1964-66 to 1974-66 they convert an apparent fall in mortality from cancer of the endometrium to stability.