The effect of environment on breast cancer risk.

Environmental factors are believed to explain a large proportion of breast cancer incidence. Known risk factors for breast cancer, which are related to the reproductive life of women, and other factors, such as inheritance and socioeconomic status, explain only about half of the breast cancer cases in the US. Ionizing radiation is a well established environmental risk factor for breast cancer.

Effectiveness of Acute Asthma Care Among Inner-city Adults.

Background: Acute asthma often requires expensive emergency department visits and hospitalizations, especially among economically disadvantaged inner-city adults. However, few studies have examined approaches for improving acute asthma care in this population.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study involving patients who were discharged from a public hospital emergency department following acute asthma care between March 31, 1997, and August 5, 1999, to identify processes of care effective for improving peak expiratory flow rate at a 2- to 3-week follow-up.