Mortality and hormone-related exposures in women with diabetes.

Objective: Hormone-related events and exposures are related to mortality and especially to cardiovascular disease in women. We evaluated whether such exposures influenced risk in a well-defined group of women with diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Women with younger- and older-onset diabetes who were identified during a population-based study were queried about number of pregnancies, age at menarche, use of oral contraceptives, use of estrogen replacement therapy, and menopausal status at examinations in 1984-1986.

Relation of smoking to the incidence of age-related maculopathy. The Beaver Dam Eye Study.

To date, a number of reports have been published on the relation of cigarette smoking to age-related maculopathy, an important cause of blindness in the United States. However, few studies have examined the relation between smoking and the incidence of age-related maculopathy. In this report, the authors examine this association in persons aged 43-86 years (n = 3,583) at baseline who were participants in the baseline examination and 5-year follow-up of the Beaver Dam Eye Study, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin (1988-1990 and 1993-1995).

Cardiovascular disease, selected cardiovascular disease risk factors, and age-related cataracts: the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Purpose: To examine the associations of cardiovascular disease and selected cardiovascular disease risk factors with the prevalence of age-related cataract.

Methods: We conducted a population-based prevalence study of adults aged 43 to 86 years (n = 4,926) in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. An ocular examination including lens photographs, medical history, height and weight measurement, blood testing, and photograph grading was performed according to standard protocols.

Influence of using different sources of carotenoid data in epidemiologic studies.

Objective: This study compared distributions of carotenoid intake and diet-serum correlations using two sources of carotenoid data: the US Department of Agriculture-National Cancer Institute (USDA-NCI) carotenoid food composition database and values accompanying the Block-NCI Health Habits and History Questionnaire (HHHQ).

Design And Subjects: A 100-item food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary data from 2,152 adults, aged 43 to 85 years, who were participating in the Nutritional Factors in Eye Disease Study, a population-based study designed to evaluate nutritional factors associated with age-related eye disease. Blood samples were collected from a random sample of 400 nonfasting participants in the study.

Prevalence of self-reported erectile dysfunction in people with long-term IDDM.

Objective: The purpose of this report is to examine the prevalence of erectile dysfunction and relationships to other characteristics in men with younger-onset diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: In a population-based cohort study in southern Wisconsin, prevalence of erectile dysfunction was measured based on self reports in men who were 21 years of age or older, were < 30 years of age at diagnosis of diabetes, had 10 or more years of diabetes, and were taking insulin (n = 365).

Results: Of the study group, 20% reported a history of erectile dysfunction.

Ten-year incidence of gross proteinuria in people with diabetes.

There are few population-based epidemiological data describing the long-term incidence of gross proteinuria in people with diabetes. We performed a population-based study in southern Wisconsin of individuals with diabetes diagnosed at either < 30 years of age and taking insulin (younger-onset, n = 666) or > or = 30 years of age either taking (older-onset taking insulin, n = 376) or not taking insulin (older-onset not taking insulin, n = 418). The presence of gross proteinuria (> or = 0.

Relation between lens opacities and vitamin and mineral supplement use.

Purpose: The authors evaluated the cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between lens opacities and intake of vitamins and minerals in supplements.

Methods: Type and quantity of vitamins and minerals taken currently and 10 years before interview were obtained in a population-based sample of persons in the Nutritional Factors in Eye Disease Study (n = 2152).

Results: In persons without diabetes, regular use of multivitamin preparations 10 years in the past was associated with decreased risk for nuclear sclerosis (odds ratio [OR], 0.