Subjectivity in personal storytelling with visualization

In this article we explore visualization for personal storytelling and investigate techniques for communicating subjective experiences in personal visual narratives. Personal stories are often subjective and storytellers omit, make up, or embellish details to craft engaging stories or to communicate a perspective. As growing personal data collections allow individuals to leverage visualizations, we explore how personal visual narratives can express subjectivity. From an analysis of personal visualizations created by data enthusiasts, designers and artists, we collect techniques for deliberately expressing subjectivity during data collection, processing, visual encoding, and presentation. Our results prompt a discussion about the role and potential of subjectivity in personal visual storytelling

Intake of meat mutagens and risk of prostate cancer in a cohort of U.S. health professionals

BACKGROUND: Evidence relating heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCA), associated with high-temperature cooking methods, to prostate cancer risk is inconsistent Methods: In a large US cohort study, intakes of 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) and 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (DiMeIQx) and a meat-derived mutagenicity index (MDM) were assessed using a cooking method questionnaire administered in 1996. Until 2010, 2,770 prostate cancer cases were observed among 26,030 participants. RESULTS: Intake of PhIP from red meat was statistically significantly associated with total prostate cancer risk (top vs. bottom quintile HR=1.18, 95% CI 1.03-1.35), but not other HCAs (MeIQx, 1.12, 0.98-1.27, PhIP from white meat, 1.07, 0.94-1.21, DiMeIQx, 1.09, 0.97-1.21) or MDM (1.13, 1.00-1.28). For high grade (Gleason sum 7 with pattern 4+3 and Gleason sum 8-10, n=483 cases) and advanced cancers (n=281), we only observed positive associations for PhIP from red meat (top vs. bottom quintile: high grade: HR=1.44, 95% CI 1.04-1.98, p-trend=0.03; advanced: HR=1.50, 95% 0.99-2.26; p-trend=0.12), but associations for advanced cancers did not reach statistical significance. Observed associations remained similar after adjustment for total, unprocessed or processed red meat intake. CONCLUSION: Observed positive associations between PhIP intake from red meat and prostate cancer, particularly high-grade and possibly also advanced prostate cancer need to be confirmed in other studies. IMPACT: Results do not provide strong evidence that HCAs increase risk of prostate cancers

Dietary patterns during high school and risk of colorectal adenoma in a cohort of middle-aged women

Adolescent diet may be etiologically relevant for later risk of colorectal adenoma, a precursor of colorectal cancer. We aimed to examine associations between adolescent dietary patterns (derived using factor analysis) and risk of colorectal adenoma in middle adulthood. We analyzed data from 17,221 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study II, who had completed a validated high school (HS) food frequency questionnaire in 1998 when they were 34-51 years old, and had subsequently undergone at least one lower bowel endoscopy. Between 1998 and 2007, 1,299 women were diagnosed with at least one colorectal adenoma. In multivariable models adjusted for adult dietary patterns, a higher "prudent" pattern during HS, characterized by high consumption of vegetables, fruit and fish was associated with a statistically significantly lower risk of rectal (odds ratio [OR] highest vs. lowest quintile, 0.45, 95% CI 0.27-0.75, p-trend=0.005), but not colon adenomas. A higher "Western" pattern during HS, characterized by high consumption of desserts and sweets, snack foods and red and processed meat, was significantly associated with rectal (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.12-2.85, p-trend=0.005) and advanced (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.07-2.33, p-trend=0.08), but not associated with colon or non-advanced adenomas. This study suggests that overall eating patterns during high school may influence later risk of rectal and advanced adenoma, independent of adult diet. Our results support the hypothesis that diet during early life may influence colorectal carcinogenesis

The public health and economic benefits of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages

Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has increased in recent decades; evidence suggests that consumption of these beverages contributes to obesity and adverse health outcomes. The authors discuss the potential public health and economic benefits of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages

Olive oil and prevention of chronic diseases: summary of an International conference

Olive oil is the foremost source of fat in the Mediterranean area and, among other features, sets the Mediterranean diet apart from other dietary regimens. In January 2018, the International Olive Council convened several worldwide experts at the Robert Mondavi Institute (Davis, CA), to discuss and summarize the available data on the effects of olive oil consumption on human health. In this paper, we critically provide a synthesis of the main reported findings, which underscore how and why consuming this oil as part of a balanced diet and healthful lifestyle improves prognosis and extends life- and health-spans

Glycemic index, glycemic load and glycemic response: An International Scientific Consensus Summit from the International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium (ICQC)

Abstract Background and aims The positive and negative health effects of dietary carbohydrates are of interest to both researchers and consumers. Methods International experts on carbohydrate research held a scientific summit in Stresa, Italy, in June 2013 to discuss controversies surrounding the utility of the glycemic index (GI), glycemic load (GL) and glycemic response (GR). Results The outcome was a scientific consensus statement which recognized the importance of postprandial glycemia in overall health, and the GI as a valid and reproducible method of classifying carbohydrate foods for this purpose. There was consensus that diets low in GI and GL were relevant to the prevention and management of diabetes and coronary heart disease, and probably obesity. Moderate to weak associations were observed for selected cancers. The group affirmed that diets low in GI and GL should always be considered in the context of diets otherwise understood as healthy, complementing additional ways of characterizing carbohydrate foods, such as fiber and whole grain content. Diets of low GI and GL were considered particularly important in individuals with insulin resistance. Conclusions Given the high prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes worldwide and the consistency of the scientific evidence reviewed, the expert panel confirmed an urgent need to communicate information on GI and GL to the general public and health professionals, through channels such as national dietary guidelines, food composition tables and food labels

Healthy lifestyle and life expectancy free of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE: To examine how a healthy lifestyle is related to life expectancy that is free from major chronic diseases. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The Nurses' Health Study (1980-2014; n=73 196) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2014; n=38 366). MAIN EXPOSURES: Five low risk lifestyle factors: never smoking, body mass index 18.5-24.9, moderate to vigorous physical activity (≥30 minutes/day), moderate alcohol intake (women: 5-15 g/day; men 5-30 g/day), and a higher diet quality score (upper 40%). MAIN OUTCOME: Life expectancy free of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. RESULTS: The life expectancy free of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer at age 50 was 23.7 years (95% confidence interval 22.6 to 24.7) for women who adopted no low risk lifestyle factors, in contrast to 34.4 years (33.1 to 35.5) for women who adopted four or five low risk factors. At age 50, the life expectancy free of any of these chronic diseases was 23.5 (22.3 to 24.7) years among men who adopted no low risk lifestyle factors and 31.1 (29.5 to 32.5) years in men who adopted four or five low risk lifestyle factors. For current male smokers who smoked heavily (≥15 cigarettes/day) or obese men and women (body mass index ≥30), their disease-free life expectancies accounted for the lowest proportion (≤75%) of total life expectancy at age 50. CONCLUSION: Adherence to a healthy lifestyle at mid-life is associated with a longer life expectancy free of major chronic diseases

Dairy intake during adolescence and risk of colorectal adenoma later in life

BACKGROUND: Higher dairy intake during adulthood has been associated with lower colorectal cancer risk. As colorectal carcinogenesis spans several decades, we hypothesised that higher dairy intake during adolescence is associated with lower risk of colorectal adenoma, a colorectal cancer precursor. METHODS: In 27,196 females from the Nurses’ Health Study 2, aged 25–42 years at recruitment (1989), who had completed a validated high school diet questionnaire in 1998 and undergone at least one lower bowel endoscopy between 1998 and 2011, logistic regression for clustered data was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Colorectal adenomas were diagnosed in 2239 women. Dairy consumption during adolescence was not associated with colorectal adenoma risk (OR highest vs. lowest [≥4 vs. ≤1.42 servings/day] quintile [95% CI] 0.94 [0.80, 1.11]). By anatomical site, higher adolescent dairy intake was associated with lower rectal (0.63 [0.42, 0.95]), but not proximal (1.01 [0.80, 1.28]) or distal (0.97 [0.76, 1.24]) colon adenoma risk. An inverse association was observed with histologically advanced (0.72 [0.51, 1.00]) but not non-advanced (1.07 [0.86, 1.33]) adenoma. CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of younger women, higher adolescent dairy intake was associated with lower rectal and advanced adenoma risk later in life

Pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies on height, weight, and breast cancer risk

The association between anthropometric indices and the risk of breast cancer was analyzed using pooled data from seven prospective cohort studies. Together, these cohorts comprise 337,819 women and 4,385 incident invasive breast cancer cases. In multivariate analyses controlling for reproductive, dietary, and other risk factors, the pooled relative risk (RR) of breast cancer per height increment of 5 cm was 1.02 (95% confidence interval (Cl): 0.96, 1.10) in premenopausal women and 1.07 (95% Cl: 1.03, 1.12) in postmenopausal women. Body mass index (BMI) showed significant inverse and positive associations with breast cancer among pre- and postmenopausal women, respectively; these associations were nonlinear. Compared with premenopausal women with a BMI of less than 21 kg/m2, women with a BMI exceeding 31 kg/m2 had an RR of 0.54 (95% Cl: 0.34, 0.85). In postmenopausal women, the RRs did not increase further when BMI exceeded 28 kg/m2; the RR for these women was 1.26 (95% Cl: 1.09, 1.46). The authors found little evidence for interaction with other breast cancer risk factors. Their data indicate that height is an independent risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer; in premenopausal women, this relation is less clear. The association between BMI and breast cancer varies by menopausal status. Weight control may reduce the risk among postmenopausal women