Most cancer can be prevented: we can do more

Conference Theme: Future in Oncology: What’s in it for us?This journal suppl. entitled: Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference of the OOTRSession - Challenges in Cancer Prevention and Treatmentpostprin

The public health harm of tobacco and its prevention in Hong Kong

This paper briefly reviews the health hazards associated with smoking, including passive smoking, with specific reference to local (Hong Kong) evidence. A Medline search of Hong Kong papers from January 1966 to January 1998 was made, and these and other relevant papers were reviewed. In Hong Kong, at least 10 people die daily from smoking-related diseases. Local studies show that smoking is associated with lung cancer, oesophageal cancer, liver cancer, ischaemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, ischaemic stroke, peptic ulcer, osteoporosis, impaired lung function, respiratory symptoms, and other adverse health effects. Smoking in pregnant women can result in smaller babies being born. Pooled results from four case-control studies show a 60% excess risk of lung cancer due to exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Several studies confirm the link between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and respiratory illness, hospitalisation, and asthma in children. The risks of smoking (one of every two smokers will be killed by tobacco) are not well known and are underestimated by both doctors and the public. Stronger health messages and more local evidence are needed to support tobacco control in Hong Kong.published_or_final_versio

Relative risks are inflated in published literature [2]

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A randomised controlled trial of a health education intervention provided by nurses to mothers of sick children

Health Services Research Fund & Health Care and Promotion Fund: Research Dissemination Reports (Series 7)published_or_final_versio

The role of the GP in helping patients stop smoking

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The impact of a false-positive result from breast cancer mammography: a qualitative pilot study

Population mammographic screening to detect asymptomatic breast cancer for women over 40 years of age is common in developed countries, but remains controversial. Risks include anxiety and unnecessary investigations. Up to 1 000 000 false positives occur annually among 40- to 50-year-old American women. False positive test results increase anxiety, refusal to take future screening, and difficulty with accepting that the ‘all clear’ result really is correct. Most studies assessing the impact of false positive results in screening have been on Caucasian, African-American, Latina, and, rarely, Chinese women. We found no reports in the literature on the effects of false positive mammography results among Hong Kong Chinese women. Using qualitative methods, we studied the impact of false positive test results on these women.published_or_final_versio

The alcohol industry lobby and Hong Kong's zero wine and beer tax policy

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Impaired glucose tolerance as a risk factor for diabetes mellitus and hypertension in the Hong Kong Chinese population: a 5-year prospective study

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Knowledge of risk and self-protection practices and the degree of influenza hazard from live poultry sales.

1. Perceptions of risk from buying live chickens were moderate, but sickness anxieties did not predict buying or touching habits. 2. Buying was strongly predicted by the erroneous belief that cooking is the best means of protection from avian influenza. Health education groups seeking to increase preventive practices to control possible avian influenza outbreaks need to learn from this.published_or_final_versio

Increasing prevalence of hypertension in Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study: role of general and central obesity

Introduction: General obesity and central obesity are well-known risk factors of hypertension. We investigated the change in the prevalence of hypertension in the population-based prospective Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study (CRISPS) and the relationship of change in blood pressure with change in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference over a follow-up period of 11.9 years. Methods: A total of 2888, 1942 and 1798 subjects in CRISPS-1 (1995-1996), CRISPS-2 (2000-2004) and CRISPS-3 (2005-2008) were included in this analysis respectively. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg or taking anti-hypertensive medication. General obesity was defined as BMI ≥27.5 kg/m2 and central obesity was defined as waist circumference ≥90 cm in men or ≥80 cm in women. Results: The prevalence of hypertension increased from 18.1% to 39.4% (P<0.001 after adjusting for age and sex). The prevalence of central obesity increased from 25.4% to 41.4%, but that of general obesity decreased from 16.8% to 14.8% (both P<0.001 after adjusting for age and sex). Among 1347 subjects who did not take any anti-hypertensive medication at both CRISPS-1 and CRISPS-3, the change in waist circumference, but not that in BMI, was associated with the changes in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures (beta=0.087, P=0.015 and beta=0.122, P<0.001 respectively). Conclusions: The increase in prevalence of hypertension might be explained by the increase in central obesity. Our findings further confirm the importance of waist circumference in this population; calculating the BMI alone may give a false sense of security. Acknowledgement: This study was funded by Hong Kong Research Grant Council grants (HKU7229/01M and HKU7626/07M) and the Sun Chieh Yeh Heart Foundation.published_or_final_versio