For several decades we have studied health outcomes in identified Asian American (ASAM) ethnic groups, comparing ASAM subgroups to whites and to each other. The most striking disparities we found involved South Asians (SAs). The SA individuals had higher coronary…
Lower risk of venous thromboembolism in Asians compared to Whites has been suggested. Despite the biological and cultural diversity of Asian Americans, data are sparse for specific ethnic groups. In our prior study of lower Asian American risk, the small…
South Asians (ancestry in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka) may have lower cancer risk than other racial-ethnic groups. To supplement published cohort data suggesting low cancer risk in South Asians. Logistic regression models with 7 covariates to study cancer…
Controversy persists about optimal body weight. Many experts define "normal" (healthy) body mass index (BMI) as 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2, 25 to 29.9 kg/m2 as overweight, and 30 kg/m2 or greater as obese. Obesity is subdivided into 30 to 34.9…
Study of the relationships of alcohol drinking and risk of stroke can readily become mired in the labyrinthine interactions of drinking categorizations, non-linear associations, disparate cardiovascular conditions, and the heterogeneous types of stroke. This Commentary discusses the recent article by…
To supplement published cohort data about incident cancer in Asian Americans (Asians) including risk of specific Asian ethnic groups. A cohort study in 124,193 persons (13,344 Asians) with baseline examination data in 1978-1985 used Cox proportional hazards models with seven…
For centuries, multiple medical risks of heavy alcohol drinking have been evident with simultaneous awareness of a less harmful or sensible drinking limit. The increased risks of heavy drinking, defined as three or more standard-sized drinks per day, are both…
The authors studied incident cancer risk from 1978 to 1985 and through follow-up in 2012 relative to light-to-moderate and heavy drinking and to the choice of alcoholic beverage in a cohort of 124,193 persons. With lifelong abstainers as referent, heavy…
Short QT syndrome (QTc ? 300 ms) is a novel hereditary channelopathy linked to syncope, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and sudden cardiac death. However, its epidemiological features remain unsettled. (1) To assess the prevalence of short QT in a large population-based…
There is compelling evidence that heavy alcohol drinking is related to increased risk of several cancer types, but the relationship of light-moderate drinking is less clear. We explored the role of inferred underreporting among light-moderate drinkers on the association between…
To study risk factors for cell types of lung cancer. Cohort study of 126,293 persons with 1852 subjects with incident cancer. We performed Cox proportional hazards models (8 covariates) to estimate risk of the 4 most numerous specific cell types:…
OBJECTIVE: To study the association of postacute care (PAC) settings and mortality outcome of patients who sustained an ischemic stroke. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: An integrated health care system in northern California. PARTICIPANTS: Patients who sustained an acute…
PURPOSE: To identify ethnic differences for risk of hospitalization for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: We undertook a cohort study with 126,019 participants: 55% whites, 27% blacks, 11% Asians, and 4% Hispanics. To estimate asthma and COPD…
Context: Population study data about relations of coffee drinking to arrhythmia are sparse.Objective: To study relations of coffee drinking to risk of cardiac arrhythmia in 130,054 persons with previous data about coffee habits.Design and Outcome Measure: We used Cox proportional…
The substantial medical risks of heavy alcohol drinking as well as the probable existence of a less harmful or safe drinking limit have been evident for centuries. Modern epidemiology studies suggest lowered risk of morbidity and mortality among lighter drinkers.…
BACKGROUND: Limited data suggest that moderate alcohol drinkers may have better lung airways function than abstainers. Because few studies have fully accounted for confounders (including smoking and coronary disease), and some might have been biased by the inclusion with nondrinkers…
PURPOSE: Limited data suggest that alcohol drinking may have an inverse relation to risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Prospective data about alcohol, NHL, and other hematologic malignancies (HM) are sparse. METHODS: We carried out a cohort study in a multiethnic…
With respect to cardiovascular disorders, epidemiologic studies support the hypothesis of increased risks among heavy alcohol drinkers and indicate a lower risk among lighter drinkers. Increased cardiovascular risks of heavy drinking include cardiomyopathy, systemic hypertension, supraventricular arrhythmias, hemorrhagic stroke and…
Population studies show a relation of alcohol drinking to an increased risk of breast cancer (BrCa). Aiming to investigate uncertainties about a risk threshold, the role of beverage type and interactions with other BrCa predictors, we performed a cohort study…
A paper showing that about one half of persons stating lifelong alcohol abstinence had previously reported drinking (Am J Epidemiol 2008;168(8):866-871) reopens debate about the validity of this frequently used referent group in alcohol-health studies. Misclassification of lifelong abstainers could…
In recent decades alcohol use has joined other correlates of hypertension (HTN), such as obesity and salt intake, as a major research focus about HTN risk factors. In cross-sectional and prospective epidemiologic studies, higher blood pressure (BP) has consistently been…
After decades of conflicting studies, the relation of coffee drinking to coronary artery disease (CAD) risk remains unresolved. Using Cox proportional-hazards models with 5 covariates, 127,212 subjects who supplied baseline data at voluntary health examinations from 1978 to 1985 were…
Purpose: We studied the hypothesis that possibly via shared inflammatory mechanisms, psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is associated with increased prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) conditions.Methods: Among a multiethnic population of 76,465 men and women with known demographics, we studied all persons (n…
The heart failure syndrome (HF) has diverse etiologies. In a 22-year study of predictors of HF in 126,235 persons, we attempted to identify etiologic factors independent of associated coronary heart disease (CAD) in 2594 persons hospitalized for the condition. For…
Disparities in associations of alcohol consumption to various cardiovascular conditions lead to separate consideration of several. These include (1) Alcoholic cardiomyopathy from chronic heavy drinking in susceptible persons. (2) Higher blood pressure (hypertension) in some heavier drinkers. (3) A relation…
To evaluate further the relation between alcohol consumption and total mortality, we have carried out new Cox proportional hazards model analyses of 21,535 deaths through 2002 in the Kaiser Permanente study. This follow-up includes 2,618,523 person-years of observation, with a…
A link exists between alcohol intake and increased blood pressure (BP), with many studies showing increased hypertension prevalence in heavy drinkers. The harmful and beneficial effects of alcohol can confound the study of the long-term risks of alcohol-related hypertension. We…
BACKGROUND: A minority of persons at risk develop liver cirrhosis, but knowledge of risk modulators is sparse. Several reports suggest that coffee drinking is associated with lower cirrhosis risk. METHODS: We studied 125,580 multiethnic members of a comprehensive prepaid health…
OBJECTIVE: Heavy alcohol drinking is associated with increased prevalence of systemic hypertension (HTN), but the relationship between moderate drinking and HTN remains unclear. We explored the possible role of underreporting among moderate drinkers. METHOD: In a cross-sectional analysis of 105,378…
Myocardial damage from heavy alcohol intake can cause the heart failure (HF) syndrome, but the relation of lighter alcohol intake to HF has rarely been studied. We examined the risk of HF hospitalization among 126,236 subjects who supplied data about…
OBJECTIVES: To study health status and hospitalization risk among Asian Americans. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analyses and cohort study. SETTING: Comprehensive prepaid health care program in Northern California. PATIENTS: Adult Asian Americans (N=13,592), self-classified at health examinations as 6050 (44.5%) Chinese, 1707…
The sparseness of prospective data about hemorrhagic stroke (HS) risk among Asian American ethnic groups led to the investigation of 128,934 persons with self-classified ethnicity at health examinations in 1978-1985. Subsequently, 431 persons were hospitalized for HS; 31% for subarachnoid…
We studied categories of blood pressure (BP)
The substantial medical risks of heavy alcohol drinking as well as the existence of a safe drinking limit have been evident for centuries. Modern epidemiologic studies also show lower risk of both morbidity and mortality among lighter drinkers. Defining 'heavy'…
OBJECTIVES: We studied relationships of cigarette smoking and coffee drinking to risk of pancreatitis. METHODS: This was a cohort study among 129,000 prepaid health plan members who supplied data about demographics and habits in 1978-85. Among 439 persons subsequently hospitalized…
The independent effect of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS; passive smoking) on the risk of stroke is not well established. We performed a cohort study among 27,698 lifelong nonsmokers with no prior history of stroke, 62% women, aged 30-85…
A substantially increased risk for heavy drinkers and a slightly reduced risk for lighter drinkers results in the J-shaped alcohol-mortality curve. Limited data suggest a more favorable mortality experience for drinkers of wine than for drinkers of liquor or beer.…
PURPOSE: We compared the characteristics and outcomes of patients with 'early repolarization' electrocardiograms (ECGs) with those who had normal ECGs. METHODS: In 1983 to 1985, we collected photocopies of 2234 selected ECGs from 73088 patients undergoing health examinations. Excluding 153…
PURPOSE: Little is known about the traits of decaffeinated coffee drinkers, who are sometimes used to ascertain whether the health effects of coffee intake are due to caffeine or some other coffee ingredient. METHODS: We studied these traits in 12,467…
Observational studies and clinical experiments solidly establish an empiric relationship between heavy drinking (>/= 3 standard drinks/day) and higher blood pressure. A biologic mechanism for this link remains unclear. It has been difficult to study the incidence of usual hypertension…
BACKGROUND: There is a shortage of data addressing the clinical characteristics of patients with arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) who present with intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of members of a large, pre-paid health care program was conducted to…
Studying its history generally provides insights relevant to current understanding of a subject: the health effects of alcohol consumption is no exception to this rule. Perceiving past errors in the hopes of avoiding their repetition is crucial. Because there are…
In view of conflicting prior reports, we prospectively studied associations between alcohol consumption and subsequent hospitalization for hemorrhagic stroke (HS) in 431 persons. Alcohol use was determined at examinations in 1978-1984 among 128,934 members of a prepaid health plan. Cox…
This powerful letter is quite different from most usual clinical articles, and it is frankly painful to read. It should be considered a “case study,” ie, an individual patient report. But this case study is written by a patient, not…
This study assessed utilization of health services among 1,317 adults referred to an outpatient Psychiatry Department alcohol treatment program from July, 1988 through December, 1989. The mean number of visits/year for 1 year before and 4 years after treatment referral…
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and demographic, lifestyle, occupational characteristics and self reported health conditions. DESIGN: Cross sectional study, using data from multiphasic health checkups between 1979 and 1985. SETTING: Large health…
Several reports from Asian countries suggest a low prevalence of pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in Asians, and sparse US data show that a slightly higher prevalence of PE/DVT in 'nonwhites' than in whites is evident in…
Although heavier drinkers are at increased risk for some heart diseases, moderate drinkers are at lower risk for the most common form of heart disease, coronary artery disease (CAD) than are either heavier drinkers or abstainers. This association has been…
OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relation between alcohol use and utilization of health services during a 3-year period in a sample of 4,264 adult respondents to a member health survey in a health maintenance organization. METHODS: Respondents were categorized as…
Evident disparities in relationships make it desirable to consider several disorders separately. (1) Alcoholic cardiomyopathy was perceived 150 years ago, but understanding was clouded by recognition of beriberi and of synergistic toxicity from alcohol with arsenic or cobalt. (2) A…
Body mass index, alcohol and salt consumption, and parental history of hypertension were examined as possible predictors of the development of essential hypertension in 1,031 persons, ages 30-49 years at entry, with documented normotension followed by documented hypertension after a…
Key Points: 1. Several studies have linked alcohol intake and hypertension. 2. Possible underlying causes that have been discarded include obesity, salt, cigarettes, and coffee. Proposed mechanisms include increased corticosteroid levels, a hypermetabolic state, direct effects of alcohol on the…
The ability of a group of 94 psychological questions to discriminate between men in whom cigarette smoking was associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction and men in whom smoking was not so associated remains puzzling. Further analyses, controlling for…
In several studies, persons drinking relatively large amounts of alcohol were found to have higher average blood pressures. The association between alcohol and blood pressure is not explained by adiposity; reported use of salt, coffee, or cigarettes; or by under-reporting…
In many studies of diverse populations it has been found that persons drinking relatively large amounts of alcohol tend to have higher blood pressures. In the Kaiser-Permanente study of about 87,000 persons, this alcohol-blood pressure association was not attributable to…
Division of Research
4480 Hacienda Drive
Pleasanton, CA 94588
Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions
Follow us on these external social media sites that will open in a new browser window.
© 2024 Kaiser Permanente Division of Research