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The present report analyzes the relation between different categories of consumption of varied calcium-rich foods and blood pressure in a population sample of 5,049 Italian men and women aged 20-59, examined between November 1978 and May 1979. The consumption pattern of the various foods was estimated with the use of a food frequency questionnaire. The findings are consistent with an inverse association between whole milk consumption and systolic, but not diastolic, blood pressure. Daily consumption of cheese, on the other hand, is not associated with reduced blood pressure levels. The possibility of an adverse effect of the high saturated fats and sodium content on blood pressure that could counteract the beneficial effect of calcium is discussed. Daily skim milk consumption is surprisingly associated with higher systolic, but not diastolic, pressure, compared with infrequent consumption. The possibility of these findings being the result of pre-existing health problems leading to the selection of skim milk over whole milk is discussed. Daily consumption of legumes is associated with lower systolic pressure than infrequent consumption, but the differences do not reach statistical significance, probably because of limited statistical power. These associations are similar in both males and females.

The purposes of this study were to determine the prevalence of perimenstrual symptoms among a randomly selected group of Italian women by using a standardized menstrual symptom instrument and to compare them with those from a census-based sample of free-living American women in the study by Woods et al. (Am J Public Health 1982;72:1257-64). Italian menstrual symptom prevalence rates were obtained as part of a 1984 national health screening project using the Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire translated into Italian. A total of 306 of the 426 randomly invited women between ages 20 and 49 years participated (71.8% participation rate). After determination of ineligible participants (those who were postmenopausal, posthysterectomy, and pregnant), a total of 239 subjects were interviewed. Italian women reported the highest prevalence of symptoms during the menstrual phase and the lowest prevalence during the remainder of the cycle. The cross-cultural comparison indicates that, overall, Italian women reported higher prevalence of symptoms across the three phases of the cycle than did the American women, even though this difference was the smallest during the premenstrual phase. Prevalence rates of a number of classic premenstrual symptoms (e.g., breast tenderness) and affective symptoms (e.g., tension and avoid social activities) were found to be similar for the Italian and American samples. This study, while it identifies a sociocultural component to symptom reporting, indicates the presence of premenstrual distress symptoms in diverse cultural settings, even in women who are generally unaware of premenstrual syndrome. These findings lend support to the validity of the premenstrual phase distress experience and suggest the existence of the premenstrual syndrome across diverse cultures.

The longitudinal association between a number of coronary heart disease risk factors and the experience of a natural disaster (earthquake) was analyzed in a group of workers participating in a longitudinal epidemiologic investigation. The 5-year follow-up examination was interrupted by a major earthquake, and examinations were resumed 2 weeks after the quake. Participants screened after the quake had, on average, higher heart rates, serum cholesterol, and triglycerides than participants examined before the quake; these differences were independent from the coronary heart disease risk factor values measured 5 years previously during the baseline examination. The data collected during the 12-year examination indicated that the observed short-term increase in serum lipids and heart rate was not present long-term (7 years after the quake). These longitudinal data indicate that exposure to a natural disaster can be associated with short-term increases in heart rate, serum cholesterol, and triglycerides but that there is no apparent long-term effect on these coronary heart disease risk factors.