Showing papers by "Frank E. Speizer published in 2007"

The Association Between Tooth Loss and Coronary Heart Disease in Men and Women

Abstract: Ob]ectives: This paper evaluates the relation of tooth loss to incidence of coronary heart disease in two large cohort studies. Methods: Participants included 41,407 men and 58,974 women free of any cardiovascular diseases at baseline. We recorded 1,654 incident coronary heart disease events (562 fatal events) among men during 12years of follow-up and544 events (158 fatal events) among women during 6 years of follow-up. Results: After controlling for important cardiovascular risk factors, compared to men with 25-32 teeth at baseline, men with 0-10 teeth had a significantly higher risk of coronary heart disease (relative risk [RR]=1.36; 95 percent confidence interval [Cl 95% CI=1.31, 2.05). The association was similar for fatal events (RR=1.65; 95% CI=l. 1 1, 2.46). The association between number of teeth and incidence of coronary heart disease was similar between men with and without a history of periodontal disease, and there was no significant association between tooth loss during follow-up and coronary heart disease. Conclusions: This study showed a significant association between number of teeth at baseline and risk of coronary heart disease and the mechanisms to explain this association should be further clarified. [J Public Health Dent 2004;64(4):209- 151

Operating room nursing and lung cancer risk in a cohort of female registered nurses.

Abstract: Objectives Smoke generated during laser surgery and electrocautery contains respiratory irritants and human carcinogens. Although laboratory and animal studies have demonstrated that this smoke has inflammatory and mutagenic potential, no population-based studies of the health effects of exposure to surgical smoke have been published. We examined the association between duration of employment as an operating room nurse, a proxy measure for surgical smoke exposure, and subsequent lung cancer risk. Methods This study was conducted among 86 747 women in the Nurses’ Health Study. Information on the duration of prior operating room employment was collected in 1984, and the women were followed for incident, confirmed lung cancer. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to model the incidence rate ratio of lung cancer for each exposure category using women with no prior operating room employment for comparison. All of the models were adjusted for age, smoking history, passive smoke exposure, fruit and vegetable consumption, and alpha carotene and lycopene intake. Results A history of operating room employment was not associated with an increased rate of lung cancer in multivariable analyses [rate ratio (RR) 0.99, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.86–1.15]. In fact, nurses in the highest exposure category, ≥15 years of operating room employment, had a significantly lower rate of lung cancer than nurses with no prior operating room employment (RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.37–0.91), possibly due to confounding by overall health status or residual confounding by smoking history. Conclusions Long-term exposure to surgical smoke, as measured by the duration of operating room employment, does not appear to increase the risk of lung cancer.

Aspirin and lung cancer risk in a cohort study of women: dosage, duration and latency

Abstract: Aspirin may reduce the risk of cancer at some sites but its effect at the lung is unclear. We prospectively examined associations between aspirin use and risk of lung cancer in 109 348 women in the Nurses' Health study from 1980 to 2004. During this time, 1360 lung cancers were documented in participants 36–82 years of age. Aspirin use and smoking were assessed every 2 years. Risk of lung cancer was a non-significant 16% lower for regular aspirin users of one or two tablets per week and a significant 55% higher for users of 15 or more tablets per week compared with women who never regularly used aspirin. Results were similar when limited to never smokers. For both the low and high quantity aspirin users, risk of lung cancer did not decline or increase with longer durations of use, and associations attenuated as the latency period between aspirin assessment and lung cancer diagnosis was lengthened. Our findings, together with those from previous clinical trials and prospective studies, do not provide consistent evidence that aspirin influences the development of lung cancer and further investigation is required with adjustment for smoking.

Prospective study of short stature and newly diagnosed asthma in women.

Abstract: The authors tested the hypothesis that short stature predicts adult-onset asthma independent of obesity among women in the Nurses' Health Study. Height, weight, and physician-diagnosed asthma were assessed with validated questionnaire items. Proportional hazard models adjusted separately for weight and body mass index. The rate of newly diagnosed asthma was 1.55 times greater in the shortest versus the tallest quintile after adjustment for weight (95% CI, 1.26–1.91). After adjustment for body mass index, the rate ratio was 1.16 (95% CI, 0.94–1.42). Short stature predicted adult-onset asthma in a large cohort of women, but this association was not independent of obesity.