ABSTRACT
This paper reexamines the effect of the business cycle on alcohol consumption using U.S. state-level analysis introduced by Rhum [Ruhm, C.J., 1995. Economic conditions and alcohol problems. Journal of Health Economics 14, 583-603]. Using an extended panel, this analysis finds that Ruhm's estimates are biased and inconsistent due to the problem of non-stationarity in alcohol consumption and state economic condition time series. Corrected estimation using logarithmic first differences confirms Ruhm's original finding of pro-cyclical alcohol consumption, but these results, unlike Ruhm's, are robust to sample period.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/economics , Health Behavior , Socioeconomic Factors , Unemployment/statistics & numerical data , Data Collection , Humans , United StatesABSTRACT
Three patients with a seronegative spondylarthropathy were found to have IgA nephropathy. Two patients had ankylosing spondylitis (one with psoriasis), and one had incomplete Reiter's syndrome. All three had a focal proliferative glomerulonephritis with IgA-dominant mesangial immune deposits. One patient had a leukocytoclastic vasculitis. This association of IgA nephropathy with seronegative spondylarthropathies raises the possibility of a common or related pathogenesis. There is evidence to suggest that both diseases are mediated by genetically controlled immune responses to mucosal contact with etiologic antigens.
