Scotopic sensitivity: relation to age, dietary patterns, and smoking status.

PURPOSE: Although previous data suggest that rod-mediated sensitivity decreases with age, this decrease may be insignificant when only healthy individuals younger than 65 years are considered. In this study, we assess the relationship between age and scotopic sensitivity loss in subjects younger than 65 years to determine whether scotopic sensitivity losses can be detected when confounding factors are considered (including iris color, smoking status, and dietary patterns) and a large sample size is used. METHODS: A total of 121 subjects (aged 20 to 63 years) were tested under dark-adapted (scotopic) conditions. Scotopic sensitivity was measured as absolute thresholds to a 2.8 degree, 550-nm test presented at 6 degrees in the temporal hemiretina. Stimuli were presented in Maxwellian view. RESULTS: When all the subjects were considered together, there was a slight nonsignificant trend for scotopic sensitivity to decline with age (p < 0.11). This tendency was largely driven by the older (45 to 63 years) past and never smokers and was statistically significant (p < 0.024 and p < 0.05, respectively) when those two groups were analyzed separately. Scotopic sensitivity for the younger (20 to 44 years) past, current, and never smokers did not decline with age. When all the variables were considered in a general model, dietary intake of vitamin E explained a significant amount of the variation in scotopic sensitivity (p < 0.03). No relationships were found between scotopic sensitivity and iris color. CONCLUSIONS: Age-related losses in scotopic sensitivity before age 65 are slow. Moreover, individual variations in scotopic sensitivity for younger subjects is minimal, even in the presence of dramatic stressors such as long-term, heavy exposure to cigarette smoke. These data suggest that measurements of scotopic sensitivity may not be good indicators of the retinal health of individuals younger than 65 years.

[Support groups in Puerto Rico]. / Grupos de apoyo en Puerto Rico.

AIDS: The author attended a support group sponsored by the AIDS Foundation for homosexual HIV-positive men and relates his experience. The men openly discussed their plans, fears, feelings, and situations relating to their condition. Each attending member had his own story to relate. Don Jesus, 70, is the group's oldest member. He has battled hepatitis, diabetes and cancer. He now works with support groups and runs a home for AIDS victims. He advises his younger group-mates to take care of themselves, take things gently, and have faith that they might yet see a cure for AIDS.^ieng

Occupational exposure to synthetic estrogens--the need to establish safety standards.

An environmental survey of a plant formulating oral contraceptives demonstrated considerable variation in possible synthetic estrogen exposure to the plant personnel. Clinical epidemiological studies showed evidence of increased absorption of estrogens in some employees at the plant. In view of the company's considerable efforts to suppress dust from work areas, new approaches to containment may be necessary with biologically active dusts--including the establishment of a dust standard.

The occupational hazards of formulating oral contraceptives--a survey of plant employees.

In May 1976 an investigation of a factory in Puerto Rico which formulates oral contraceptives revealed that during the previous 12 months five of the company's twenty-five employees (20%), and twelve of the company's thirty female employees (40%) had experienced symptoms associated with hyperestrogenism. The affected males had gynecomastia and three of them also reported a history of decreased libido or impotence. The affected females each had had at least one episode of intermenstrual bleeding during the preceding 12 months. There was an estimated relative risk of 4.3 for intermenstrual bleeding in nonclerical female employees compared with matched controls who did not work at the plant. Elevated levels of plasma ethinyl estradiol were twice as frequent in the two highest-risk job categories compared with the rest of the factory population, but the difference in prevalence of elevated levels was not statistically significant (P = 0.08). Wide variations in mestranol concentration were noted in the environmental dust samples. Prompt consideration should be given to establishing health standards for persons occupationally exposed to estrogens in view of the possible long-term sequelae of such exposure.