197 research outputs found
Associations of herbal and specialty supplements with lung and colorectal cancer risk in the VITamins and Lifestyle study.
Millions of Americans use dietary supplements with little knowledge about their benefits or risks. We examined associations of various herbal/specialty supplements with lung and colorectal cancer risk. Men and women, 50 to 76 years, in the VITamins And Lifestyle cohort completed a 24-page baseline questionnaire that captured duration (years) and frequency (days per week) of use of commonly used herbal/specialty supplements. Dose was not assessed due to the lack of accurate potency information. Supplement exposure was categorized as "no use" or "any use" over the previous 10 years. Hazard ratios (HR) were estimated by multivariate Cox regression models. Incident lung (n = 665) and colorectal cancers (n = 428) were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry. Any use of glucosamine and chondroitin, which have anti-inflammatory properties, over the previous 10 years, was associated with significantly lower lung cancer risk: HR 0.74 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.58-0.94] and HR 0.72 (95% CI, 0.54-0.96) and colorectal cancer risk: HR 0.73 (95% CI, 0.54-0.98) and HR 0.65 (95% CI, 0.45-0.93), respectively. There were also statistically significantly inverse associations of fish oil: HR 0.65 (95% CI, 0.42-0.99), methylsulfonylmethane: HR 0.46 (95% CI, 0.23-0.93), and St. John's wort: HR 0.35 (95% CI, 0.14-0.85) with colorectal cancer risk. In contrast, garlic pills were associated with a statistically significant 35% elevated colorectal cancer risk. These results suggest that some herbal/specialty supplements may be associated with lung and colorectal cancer risk; however, these products should be used with caution. Additional studies examining the effects of herbal/specialty supplements on risk for cancer and other diseases are needed
Associations of psychosocial factors with fruit and vegetable intake among African-Americans
OBJECTIVE: To examine associations of various psychosocial factors with fruit and vegetable intake in African-American adults.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of a population-based sample of 658 African-Americans, aged 18-70 years, in North Carolina. Information was collected on diet-related psychosocial (predisposing, reinforcing and enabling) factors based on the PRECEDE (Predisposing, Reinforcing, and Enabling Constructs in Educational Diagnosis and Evaluation) planning framework; demographic, lifestyle and behavioural characteristics, and fruit and vegetable intake.
RESULTS: The mean participant age was 43.9 years (standard deviation 11.6), 57% were female and 76% were overweight/obese. Participants expressed healthy beliefs regarding many of, but not all, the psychosocial factors. For example, although half of the respondents believed it is important to eat a diet high in fruits/vegetables, only 26% knew that >or=5 daily servings are recommended. The strongest associations of the psychosocial factors with fruit/vegetable intake were for predisposing factors (e.g. belief in the importance of a high fruit/vegetable diet and knowledge of fruit/vegetable recommendations) and one reinforcing factor (social support), with differences between the healthiest and least healthy responses of 0.5-1.0 servings per day. There was evidence of effect modification by gender in associations between psychosocial factors and fruit/vegetable consumption (e.g. self-efficacy was only significant in women), with higher intakes and generally healthier responses to the psychosocial variables in women than men.
CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to increase fruit/vegetable intake in African-Americans may be more effective if they focus primarily on predisposing factors, such as knowledge, self-efficacy and attitudes, but not to the exclusion of reinforcing and enabling factors. The psychosocial factors that are targeted may also need to be somewhat different for African-American men and women
VALIDATION OF AN ANTIOXIDANT NUTRIENT QUESTIONIARE IN WHITES AND AFRICAN AMERICANS
High antioxidant intakes are inversely related to risk for many diseases. However, there is no comprehensive instrument that captures consumption of antioxidant nutrients from both foods and dietary supplements. This report examines the validity of a newly developed questionnaire assessing self-reported dietary and supplemental intakes of antioxidant nutrients (carotenoids, vitamin C, and vitamin E). Between March and December 2005, participants (n=164), 20–45 years, completed the new 92-item antioxidant nutrient questionnaire, a demographic/health questionnaire, four 24-hour dietary recalls, a dietary supplement inventory, and provided semi-fasting blood samples that were analyzed for plasma antioxidant levels. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and linear regression. The mean age of participants was 31.9 years, 51% were African American, and 52% were female. Median antioxidant intakes from the questionnaire and mean of the four recalls were generally comparable. Adjusted Pearson’s correlations of questionnaire- and recall-derived intakes ranged from r=0.06–0.56; correlations for the questionnaire and biomarkers ranged from r=0.10–0.33. Agreement rates for classification of intakes from the questionnaire and recalls into the same/adjacent quartiles were 65–89%; misclassification to the opposite quartile was rare (0–12%). For most nutrients, there were linear trends of increasing plasma concentrations with higher questionnaire-derived intakes (p<0.01). Correlations of supplement use between the questionnaire and a supplement inventory were r=0.33–0.84. The new antioxidant nutrient questionnaire demonstrated good validity for collecting self-reported antioxidant nutrient intakes from foods and supplements in both whites and African Americans. The study also underscores the importance of examining the performance characteristics of dietary assessment instruments separately in different population subgroups
Cholecystectomy and the Risk of Colorectal Adenomas
Cholecystectomy has been identified as a risk factor for colorectal cancer, yet little attention has been given to the association between cholecystectomy and colorectal adenomas
Polymorphisms in Methionine Synthase, Methionine Synthase Reductase and Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase, Folate and Alcohol Intake, and Colon Cancer Risk
Background/Aims - We examined associations among folate and alcohol intake, SNPs in genes involved in one-carbon metabolism and colon cancer risk.
Methods - Colon cancer cases (294 African Americans and 349 whites) were frequency matched to population controls (437 African Americans and 611 whites) by age, race and sex from 33 North Carolina counties from 1996 to 2000. Folate and alcohol intakes were collected by dietary interview. Five SNPs were genotyped using DNA from whole blood: SHMT C1420T; MTRR A66G; MTR A2756G, and the previously-reported MTHFR C677T and MTHFR A1298C. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using logistic regression.
Results - An inverse association was observed for SHMT TT genotype as compared to CC genotype in whites (OR=0.6, 95%CI=0.4, 1.0), but not in African Americans. Inverse associations were observed for high folate intake in individuals carrying 0 or 1 variant allele [OR 0.2 (95%CI 0.06-0.8) for African Americans; OR 0.2 (95%CI 0.1-0.6) for whites] compared to low folate intake. Modest interactions between these SNPs and alcohol or folate intakes were observed.
Conclusions - Our results are consistent with other findings and provide needed data on these associations among African Americans
Distribution and Characteristics of Colonic Diverticula in a United States Screening Population
Colonic diverticula are the most common finding from colonoscopy examinations. Little is known about the distribution of colonic diverticula, which are responsible for symptomatic and costly diverticular disease. We aimed to assess the number, location, and characteristics of colonic diverticula in a large US screening population
High Case Volumes and Surgical Fellowships Are Associated with Improved Outcomes for Bariatric Surgery Patients: A Justification of Current Credentialing Initiatives for Practice and Training
Recent years have seen the establishment of bariatric surgery credentialing processes, centers-of-excellence programs and fellowship training positions. The effects of center-of-excellence status and of the presence of training programs have not previously been examined. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of case volume, center-of-excellence status and training programs on early outcomes of bariatric surgery
Low-Glycemic Load Decreases Postprandial Insulin and Glucose and Increases Postprandial Ghrelin in White but Not Black Women
Alterations in appetite hormones favoring increased postprandial satiety have been implicated in both the glycemic control and potential weight-loss benefits of a low-glycemic diet. Racial differences exist in dietary glycemic load and appetite hormone concentrations. This study examined the impact of glycemic load on appetite hormones in 20 black women [10 normal weight, BMI = 22.8 ± 1.42 (mean ± SD); 10 obese, BMI = 35.1 ± 2.77] and 20 white women (10 normal weight, BMI = 22.9 ± 1.45; 10 obese, BMI = 34.3 ± 2.77). Each woman completed two 4.5-d weight-maintenance, mixed-macronutrient, high-glycemic vs. low-glycemic load diets that concluded with a test meal of identical composition. Blood samples collected before and serially for 3 h after each test meal were assayed for plasma ghrelin and serum insulin and glucose concentrations. Compared with the high-glycemic load meal, the low-glycemic load meal was associated with lower insulinAUC (P = 0.02), glucoseAUC (P = 0.01), and urge to eat ratings (P = 0.05) but with higher ghrelinAUC (P = 0.008). These results suggest the satiating effect of a low-glycemic load meal is not directly linked to enhanced postprandial suppression of ghrelin. Notably, these effects were significant among white but not black women, suggesting that black women may be less sensitive than white women to the glucoregulatory effects of a low-glycemic load. These findings add to a growing literature demonstrating racial differences in postprandial appetite hormone responses. If reproducible, these findings have implications for individualized diet prescription for the purposes of glucose or weight control in women
Risk of diagnosed fractures in children with inflammatory bowel diseases:
Decreased bone mass is common in children with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD); however, fracture risk is unknown. We sought to evaluate fracture risk in children with IBD as compared to unaffected controls and determine whether this risk is affected by geographical region (a proxy for sun/vitamin D exposure) and oral steroid use
PG-mediated closure of paracellular pathway and not restitution is the primary determinant of barrier recovery in acutely injured porcine ileum
Small bowel epithelium is at the frontline of intestinal barrier function. Restitution is considered to be the major determinant of epithelial repair as function recovers in parallel with restitution after acute injury. As such, studies of intact mucosa have largely been replaced by migration assays of cultured epithelia. These latter studies fail to account for the simultaneous roles played by villous contraction and paracellular permeability in recovery of barrier function. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) result in increased intestinal permeability and disease exacerbation in patients with IBD. Thus, we examined the reparative attributes of endogenous prostaglandins (PG) after injury of ileal mucosa by deoxycholate (6 mM) in Ussing chambers. Recovery of transepithelial resistance (TER) from 20–40 Ω.cm2 was abolished by indomethacin (INDO), whereas restitution of 40–100% of the villous surface was unaffected despite concurrent arrest of villous contraction. In the presence of PG, resident crypt and migrating epithelial cells were tightly apposed. In tissues treated with INDO, crypt epithelial cells had dilated intercellular spaces that were accentuated in the migrating epithelium. TER was fully rescued from the effects of INDO by osmotic-driven collapse of the paracellular space and PG-mediated recovery was significantly impaired by blockade of Cl− secretion. These studies are the first to clearly distinguish the relative contribution of paracellular resistance versus restitution to acute recovery of epithelial barrier function. Restitution was ineffective in the absence of PG-mediated paracellular space closure. Failure of PG-mediated repair mechanisms may underlie barrier failure resulting from NSAID use in patients with underlying enteropathy
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