Change in alcohol consumption and risk of death from all causes and from ischaemic heart disease.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between alcohol consumption and mortality from all causes and from ischaemic heart disease with a focus on differentiating between long term abstainers and more recent non-drinkers. DESIGN: Cohort study of changes in alcohol consumption from 1965 to 1974 and mortality from all causes and ischaemic heart disease during 1974-84. SETTING: Population based study of adult residents of Alameda County, California. SUBJECTS: 2225 women and 1845 men aged 35 and over in 1965. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Alcohol consumption in 1964 and 1974 and mortality from all causes and from ischaemic heart disease during 1974-84. RESULTS: There was a significantly higher risk of death from all causes and from ischaemic heart disease in women who gave up drinking between 1965 and 1974 than in women who continued to drink (relative risk 1.72, 95% confidence interval 1.11 to 2.66, and 2.75, 1.44 to 5.23, for all causes and ischaemic heart disease respectively). A significant increase in risk was not seen in men who gave up drinking (1.32, 0.87 to 2.01, and 0.95, 0.41 to 2.20, respectively). Among men, long term abstainers compared with drinkers were at increased risk of death from all causes and from ischaemic heart disease, though the associations were not significant (1.40, 0.98 to 2.00, and 1.40, 0.76 to 2.58, for all causes and ischaemic heart disease respectively). CONCLUSION: Some of the increased risk of death from all causes and from ischaemic heart disease associated with not drinking in women seems to be accounted for by higher risks among those who gave up drinking. Men who are long term abstainers may also be at an increased risk of death. The heterogeneity of the non-drinking group should be considered when comparisons are made with drinkers.

Psychosocial factors in the natural history of physical activity.

We studied the association between demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial factors and change in level of physical activity in 4,025 persons who were interviewed in 1965 and 1974 as part of the Alameda County study. Relative declines in physical activity were found to be associated with education level (less than a college education), race (being black or non-white [women]), low income, blue-collar occupation, unmarried status, group non-membership, social isolation, depression, personal uncertainty (women), low life satisfaction, and health perceived less than "excellent." These results demonstrate the multifactorial determination of level of physical activity.

[Refractures following metal removal. A follow up of surgically treated tibial shaft fractures]. / Refrakturen nach Metallentfernung. Eine Nachkontrolle von operierten Tibia-Schaftfrakturen.

This study presents the follow-up of 187 patients with 194 diaphyseal fractures of the tibia (20% open), which were operated upon between 1980 and 1984 at our institution. We were mainly interested in the question of refractures after implant removal. The majority of fractures (98.79%) had no complications after removal of the implants, but 2 patients (1.03%) sustained another fracture of the same leg between 4 and 19 months after plate removal. Both are considered to be "true" refractures, as the new fracture occurred at the original fracture site. In one case the plate was removed far too early (9 months after the initial ORIF) and no warning or additional cast was given. Two other patients sustained a new fracture at different sites 4 and 7 years after the original surgery, respectively. The possible reasons for refractures as well as the best way to prevent them are discussed.

Smoking and body mass in the natural history of physical activity: prospective evidence from the Alameda County Study, 1965-1974.

The prospective effects of smoking status and body mass on change in leisure-time physical activity from 1965 to 1974 were examined in a cohort of 4,622 persons 20-94 years of age from the Alameda County Study. With adjustment for age and baseline physical activity, current smokers showed a greater nine-year decline in leisure-time physical activity than those who had never smoked. The coefficient for current smokers from a multivariate linear regression model was of a similar magnitude among women and men (coefficient = -0.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.50 to -0.05 for women; coefficient = -0.26, 95% CI = -0.54 to 0.02 for men). Larger declines in physical activity were seen with increasing number of current pack-years exposure among both women and men. Compared with women of average body mass index, women of heaviest body mass index had larger declines (coefficient = -0.70, 95% CI = -1.04 to -0.36) while women of the lightest body mass index had larger increases (or smaller declines) in physical activity (coefficient = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.00 to 0.66). Although body mass index did not initially appear to be associated with a change in physical activity among men, age-specific analyses indicated that the effect of body mass index on physical activity varied with age such that younger (20-39 years of age), thinner men increased their activity, while older (60 years of age and over), thinner men decreased their physical activity more than men of the same age with average body mass index.

Elevated mononuclear leukocyte phosphodiesterase in allergic dogs with and without airway hyperresponsiveness.

To investigate if mononuclear leukocyte beta-adrenergic hyporesponsiveness of Basenji greyhound (BG) dogs is associated with atopy or nonspecific airway hyperresponsiveness, we examined the relationship between mononuclear leukocyte cAMP phosphodiesterase levels, airway responsiveness to methacholine, and intradermal allergen responses in 17 BG dogs, five unrelated purebred Basenjis, and five greyhounds. BG dogs were hyperresponsive to aerosols of methacholine compared to Basenjis and greyhounds. Both BG dogs and Basenjis were allergic and had increased leukocyte cAMP phosphodiesterase activity compared to greyhounds. We concluded that the leukocyte abnormality is not associated with airway hyperresponsiveness. The leukocyte abnormality is either associated with the allergic state, with some hereditary trait that BG dogs acquired from the Basenji ancestry, or the leukocyte abnormality is necessary but not sufficient for the development of airway hyperresponsiveness.

Distribution and elimination of coated polymethyl [2-14C]methacrylate nanoparticles after intravenous injection in rats.

Surfactant-coated polymethyl [2-14C]methacrylate nanoparticles had significantly different time-course distribution patterns in rats than noncoated and albumin-coated particles. Blood concentrations of poloxamer 188-coated particles were 70-fold higher after 30 min, and the particles persisted at higher levels in the circulation for up to 2 h. The initial and final liver levels were significantly lower (38% after 30 min, 51% after 7 d) and spleen levels were significantly higher (21% after 30 min, 23% after 7 d) than non-coated particles (74% in the liver and 5% in the spleen after 7 d) and the albumin-coated particles (84% in the liver and 5% in the spleen after 7 d). Specific activity was somewhat higher for the surfactant-coated particles in other organs such as the lungs, kidneys, testicles, ovaries, and lymph nodes. The bovine serum albumin sorption behavior of polymethyl methacrylate nanoparticles was followed under various conditions, and adsorption was found to increase with increasing protein concentration and increasing temperature, reaching a maximum at the isoelectric point of pH 4.9 after approximately 12 h of incubation. The zeta potential of the particles decreased with increasing pH, and the change was more pronounced with the albumin-coated particles.