Adolescent endogenous sex hormones and breast density in early adulthood.

Introduction: During adolescence the breasts undergo rapid growth and development under the influence of sex hormones. Although the hormonal etiology of breast cancer is hypothesized, it remains unknown whether adolescent sex hormones are associated with adult breast density, which is a strong risk factor for breast cancer.

Methods: Percentage of dense breast volume (%DBV) was measured in 2006 by magnetic resonance imaging in 177 women aged 25-29 years who had participated in the Dietary Intervention Study in Children from 1988 to 1997.

Menstrual and reproductive characteristics and breast density in young women.

Purpose: Breast density is strongly related to breast cancer risk, but determinants of breast density in young women remain largely unknown.

Methods: Associations of reproductive and menstrual characteristics with breast density measured by magnetic resonance imaging were evaluated in a cross-sectional study of 176 healthy women, 25-29 years old, using linear mixed effects models.

Results: Parity was significantly inversely associated with breast density.

Height, adiposity and body fat distribution and breast density in young women.

Introduction: Breast density is one of the strongest risk factors for breast cancer, but determinants of breast density in young women remain largely unknown.

Methods: Associations of height, adiposity and body fat distribution with percentage dense breast volume (%DBV) and absolute dense breast volume (ADBV) were evaluated in a cross-sectional study of 174 healthy women, 25 to 29 years old. Adiposity and body fat distribution were measured by anthropometry and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), while %DBV and ADBV were measured by magnetic resonance imaging.

Evaluation of risk equations for prediction of short-term coronary heart disease events in patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes: the Translating Research into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study.

Background: To evaluate the U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) and Framingham risk equations for predicting short-term risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events among adults with long-standing type 2 diabetes, including those with and without preexisting CHD.

Adolescent diet and metabolic syndrome in young women: results of the Dietary Intervention Study in Children (DISC) follow-up study.

Context: Childhood diet is hypothesized to influence development of chronic disease in adulthood.

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the long-term effects of a dietary intervention to reduce fat and increase fiber intake during childhood and adolescence on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in young adult women.

Design: A follow-up study was conducted in 2006-2008, 9 yr after termination of the Dietary Intervention Study in Children (DISC).

Workplace weight loss program; comparing live and internet methods.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of the 12-week workplace intervention (WIP) on energy intake, weight, physical activity (PA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and the effect of delivery method on outcomes.

Methods: A prospective clinical trial of a 12-week WIP comparing In-person and Internet-based delivery. All subjects received identical intervention with dietitian visits at baseline and weeks 6, 12 and 26.

Thiazolidinediones, cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular mortality: translating research into action for diabetes (TRIAD).

Background: Studies have associated thiazolidinedione (TZD) treatment with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and questioned whether the two available TZDs, rosiglitazone and pioglitazone, have different CVD risks. We compared CVD incidence, cardiovascular (CV), and all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetic patients treated with rosiglitazone or pioglitazone as their only TZD.

Methods: We analyzed survey, medical record, administrative, and National Death Index (NDI) data from 1999 through 2003 from Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD), a prospective observational study of diabetes care in managed care.

Adolescent diet and subsequent serum hormones, breast density, and bone mineral density in young women: results of the Dietary Intervention Study in Children follow-up study.

Background: Adolescent diet is hypothesized to influence breast cancer risk. We evaluated the long-term effects of an intervention to lower fat intake among adolescent girls on biomarkers that are related to breast cancer risk in adults.

Methods: A follow-up study was conducted on 230 girls who participated in the Dietary Intervention Study in Children (DISC), in which healthy, prepubertal, 8 to 10 year olds were randomly assigned to usual care or to a behavioral intervention that promoted a reduced fat diet.

Multimarker prediction of coronary heart disease risk: the Women's Health Initiative.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether multiple biomarkers contribute to improved coronary heart disease (CHD) risk prediction in post-menopausal women compared with assessment using traditional risk factors (TRFs) only.

Background: The utility of newer biomarkers remains uncertain when added to predictive models using only TRFs for CHD risk assessment.

Methods: The Women's Health Initiative Hormone Trials enrolled 27,347 post-menopausal women ages 50 to 79 years.

Physicians' perceptions of barriers to cardiovascular disease risk factor control among patients with diabetes: results from the translating research into action for diabetes (TRIAD) study.

Introduction: Many patients with diabetes have poorly controlled blood glucose, lipid, or blood pressure levels, increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other complications. Relatively little is known about what physicians perceive to be barriers to good CVD risk factor control or their own role in helping patients achieve good control.

Methods: We interviewed 34 primary care physicians in 4 states to assess their perceptions of patients' barriers to CVD risk factor control.

Estrogen plus progestin and risk of benign proliferative breast disease.

Women with benign proliferative breast disease are at increased risk of subsequent breast cancer. Estrogens and progesterone exert proliferative effects on mammary epithelium, and combined hormone replacement therapy has been associated with increased breast cancer risk. We tested the effect of conjugated equine estrogen plus progestin on the risk of benign proliferative breast disease in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized controlled trial.

Usefulness of baseline lipids and C-reactive protein in women receiving menopausal hormone therapy as predictors of treatment-related coronary events.

Blood lipids and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are altered by hormone therapy. The goal of the present study was to determine whether lipids and hs-CRP have predictive value for hormone therapy benefit or risk for coronary heart disease events in postmenopausal women without previous cardiovascular disease. A nested case-control study was performed in the Women's Health Initiative hormone trials.

Diet and sex hormones in boys: findings from the dietary intervention study in children.

Context: Diet reportedly alters serum sex hormone concentrations in adults, but little is known about the influence of diet during puberty on these hormones.

Objective: We aimed to determine whether an intervention to lower fat intake during adolescence alters serum sex hormone concentrations and progression through puberty.

Design: In 1990-1997, we conducted an ancillary study to the Dietary Intervention Study in Children, a multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of a cholesterol-lowering dietary intervention in children.

Application of national screening criteria for blood pressure and cholesterol to perimenopausal women: prevalence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

National screening guidelines for hypertension and cholesterol were applied to the multiethnic sample of perimenopausal women (N = 1349) in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). To reduce low-density lipoprotein, lifestyle modification was indicated in 9.5% of patients and drug therapy in 5%.

Prior hormone therapy and breast cancer risk in the Women's Health Initiative randomized trial of estrogen plus progestin.

Objectives: To assess the extent to which prior hormone therapy modifies the breast cancer risk found with estrogen plus progestin (E+P) in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized trial.

Methods: Subgroup analyses of prior hormone use on invasive breast cancer incidence in 16,608 postmenopausal women in the WHI randomized trial of E+P over an average 5.6 years of follow-up.

Calcium plus vitamin D supplementation and the risk of colorectal cancer.

Background: Higher intake of calcium and vitamin D has been associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer in epidemiologic studies and polyp recurrence in polyp-prevention trials. However, randomized-trial evidence that calcium with vitamin D supplementation is beneficial in the primary prevention of colorectal cancer is lacking.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 36,282 postmenopausal women from 40 Women's Health Initiative centers: 18,176 women received 500 mg of elemental calcium as calcium carbonate with 200 IU of vitamin D3 [corrected] twice daily (1000 mg of elemental calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D3) and 18,106 received a matching placebo for an average of 7.

Calcium plus vitamin D supplementation and the risk of fractures.

Background: The efficacy of calcium with vitamin D supplementation for preventing hip and other fractures in healthy postmenopausal women remains equivocal.

Methods: We recruited 36,282 postmenopausal women, 50 to 79 years of age, who were already enrolled in a Women's Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial. We randomly assigned participants to receive 1000 mg of elemental [corrected] calcium as calcium carbonate with 400 IU of vitamin D3 daily or placebo.

Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of cardiovascular disease: the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial.

Context: Multiple epidemiologic studies and some trials have linked diet with cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, but long-term intervention data are needed.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that a dietary intervention, intended to be low in fat and high in vegetables, fruits, and grains to reduce cancer, would reduce CVD risk.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Randomized controlled trial of 48,835 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years, of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial.

Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of colorectal cancer: the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial.

Context: Observational studies and polyp recurrence trials are not conclusive regarding the effects of a low-fat dietary pattern on risk of colorectal cancer, necessitating a primary prevention trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a low-fat eating pattern on risk of colorectal cancer in postmenopausal women.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial, a randomized controlled trial conducted in 48,835 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years recruited between 1993 and 1998 from 40 clinical centers throughout the United States.

Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of invasive breast cancer: the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial.

Context: The hypothesis that a low-fat dietary pattern can reduce breast cancer risk has existed for decades but has never been tested in a controlled intervention trial.

Objective: To assess the effects of undertaking a low-fat dietary pattern on breast cancer incidence.

Design And Setting: A randomized, controlled, primary prevention trial conducted at 40 US clinical centers from 1993 to 2005.

Prevalence and determinants of electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy among a multiethnic population of postmenopausal women (The Women's Health Initiative).

Our objectives were to determine the prevalence and factors related to left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) among older women for commonly used electrocardiographic criteria. LVH is a potent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, especially among women. However, its value has been limited, in part, by the use of different electrocardiographic criteria and the lack of a clearly defined standard for the general population.

Obesity, hormone therapy, estrogen metabolism and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.

Hormone therapy (HT) and body mass index (BMI) have been associated with postmenopausal breast cancer. Because estrogen metabolism may affect breast cancer risk and can be altered by weight and HT, it might play a role in the HT-BMI-breast cancer associations. We undertook a nested case-control study within the Observational Study of the Women's Health Initiative.

Risk of cardiovascular disease by hysterectomy status, with and without oophorectomy: the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women and may vary by hysterectomy (or oophorectomy) status. This study compared CVD risk factors and rates between postmenopausal women who had and had not undergone hysterectomy, with or without oophorectomy.

Methods And Results: This analysis was conducted on 89 914 women in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study.

Effects of conjugated equine estrogen in postmenopausal women with hysterectomy: the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial.

Context: Despite decades of use and considerable research, the role of estrogen alone in preventing chronic diseases in postmenopausal women remains uncertain.

Objective: To assess the effects on major disease incidence rates of the most commonly used postmenopausal hormone therapy in the United States.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled disease prevention trial (the estrogen-alone component of the Women's Health Initiative [WHI]) conducted in 40 US clinical centers beginning in 1993.

Ethnic differences in insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function in premenopausal or early perimenopausal women without diabetes: the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN).

Objective: To assess differences in insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function between nondiabetic premenopausal or early perimenopausal non-Hispanic white women and African American, Chinese American, Japanese American, and non-Mexican-American Latino women.

Research Design And Methods: Homeostasis model assessments (HOMAs) of insulin sensitivity (HOMA%S) and beta-cell function (HOMA%beta) were used. Stepwise multivariable ethnic-specific ANCOVA models were used to compare HOMA%S and HOMA%beta between non-Hispanic whites and each of the four ethnic groups.