Search

The self-report of medical history and medication use is a common feature of epidemiological research.

To date, no study has attempted to correlate hormone levels between successive pregnancies in the same woman. Serum levels of total estradiol and total free estradiol have been measured between the eighth and the 17th weeks in the first and second full-term pregnancies of 34 white women participating in the Collaborative Perinatal Study, 1959-1965. Intraindividual interpregnancy Pearson's product moment correlations were calculated. Partial correlation coefficients (adjusted for gestational age) for log pregnancy total estradiol and total free estradiol were 0.78 and 0.73, respectively (p < 0.001). These findings provide evidence that levels of pregnancy estradiol are significantly and strongly correlated in successive pregnancies of the same woman. This phenomenon can provide an explanation for the higher concordance of breast cancer incidence between two sisters than between a mother and daughter in the familial pattern of breast cancer.

In a hospital-based case-control study of endometrial cancer undertaken in Athens (1992-94), 145 women residents of Greater Athens with confirmed cancer of the endometrium were compared with 298 control patients with orthopaedic diseases. Personal interviews were conducted in the hospital setting, and diet was assessed using a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Nutrient intakes for individuals were calculated by multiplying the nutrient intake of a typical portion size for each specified food item by the frequency at which the food was consumed per month and summing these estimates for all food items. Data were modelled through logistic regression, controlling for demographic, reproductive and somatometric risk factors for endometrial cancer as well as for total energy intake. No macronutrient was significantly associated with endometrial cancer risk, but increasing intake of monounsaturated fat, mostly olive oil, by about one standard deviation was associated with a 26% risk reduction (odds ratio = 0.74; 95% confidence interval 0.54-1.3). Among micronutrients, only calcium intake was significantly inversely associated with endometrial cancer risk, whereas there was evidence against retinol and zinc imparting protection against the disease. With respect to food groups, there was weak and non-significant evidence that vegetables are protective, whereas consumption of pulses was positively associated with disease possibly because they contribute substantially in Greece to energy intake in excess of physical activity-dependent requirements.

Pharyngeal swabs were obtained from 832 children less than 14 years of age attending day-care centers and family day-care homes in central Massachusetts during a seven-week period beginning March 1, 1982. Colonization rates for Haemophilus influenzae and for H. influenzae type b were 60.7% and 15.1%, respectively. Nonwhite children were more likely to be carriers of non-b H. influenzae than white children (62.9% vs. 47.8%, p less than 0.025). Children in day care for more than six months were more likely to be carriers of non-b H. influenzae than children in day care for six months or less (52.9% vs. 45.5%, p less than 0.05). There was no association between colonization rates and age, sex, type of day-care setting, number of siblings, number sharing a bedroom, history of otitis media, or history of antibiotic use. The prevalence of ampicillin-resistant H. influenzae was 6.3% among all children and 10.3% among carriers of H. influenzae. The prevalence of ampicillin resistance was significantly higher among type b carriers than among carriers of other types (15.1% vs. 8.3%, p less than 0.05). Children who had taken ampicillin or amoxicillin within the past three months were much more likely to be colonized with ampicillin-resistant H. influenzae than were children who had not taken these antibiotics (13.5% vs. 4.8%, p less than 0.0005). These observations have important clinical implications for the management of children with H. influenzae disease.

We have examined the relation of lactation, by total duration, with breast cancer risk among pre- and post-menopausal women. In a hospital-based case-control study conducted in Athens (1989-91), involving 820 patients with confirmed breast cancer and 795 orthopaedic patient controls and 753 hospital visitor controls, logistic regression was used to analyse the data controlling for demographic, nutritional and reproductive factors, including parity and age at any birth. Among post-menopausal women, there was no association between breastfeeding and breast cancer risk, but among premenopausal women those who has breastfed for > or = 24 months had an odds ratio of 0.50 (95% confidence interval 0.23-1.41). A reduction of the odds ration was also evident among premenopausal women who had breastfed between 12 and 23 months (odds ratio 0.70; 95% confidence interval 0.34-1.60). In conjunction with several other recent reports these results support the hypothesis that breastfeeding of prolonged duration may reduce the risk of breast cancer among premenopausal women but not among post-menopausal women. The biology underlying this different effect remains unknown, and the practical implication of the finding is a marginal importance.

To date, no study has attempted to correlate hormone levels between successive pregnancies in the same woman. Serum levels of total estradiol and total free estradiol have been measured between the eighth and the 17th weeks in the first and second full-term pregnancies of 34 white women participating in the Collaborative Perinatal Study, 1959–1965. Intraindividual interpregnancy Pearsons product moment correlations were calculated. Partial correlation coefficients (adjusted for gestational age) for log pregnancy total estradiol and total free estradiol were 0.78 and 0.73, respectively (p < 0.001). These findings provide evidence that levels of pregnancy estradiol are significantly and strongly correlated in successive pregnancies of the same woman. This phenomenon can provide an explanation for the higher concordance of breast cancer incidence between two sisters than between a mother and daughter in the familial pattern of breast cancer. Am J Epidemiol 1995;142:625–8.