Scanty and inconsistent studies are available on the relation between dietary fiber intake and pancreatic cancer. A case–control study was carried out in northern Italy to further investigate the ...role of various types of dietary fibers in the etiology of pancreatic cancer.
Cases were 326 patients with incident pancreatic cancer, excluding neuroendocrine tumors, admitted to major teaching and general hospitals during 1991–2008. Controls were 652 patients admitted for acute, nonneoplastic conditions to the same hospital network of cases. Information was elicited using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for intake quintiles of different types of fiber after allowance for total energy intake and other potential confounding factors.
Total fiber intake was inversely related to risk of pancreatic cancer (OR = 0.4 for highest versus lowest quintile of intake; 95% CI 0.2–0.7). An inverse association emerged between pancreatic cancer and both soluble (OR = 0.4; 95% CI 0.2–0.7) and total insoluble fiber (OR = 0.5; 95% CI 0.3–0.8), particularly cellulose (OR = 0.4; 95% CI 0.3–0.7) and lignin (OR = 0.5; 95% CI 0.3–0.9). Fruit fiber intake was inversely associated with pancreatic cancer (OR = 0.5; 95% CI 0.3–0.8), whereas grain fiber was not (OR = 1.2; 95% CI 0.7–2.0).
This study suggests that selected types of fiber and total fiber are inversely related to pancreatic cancer.
The number of male deaths from pleural cancer in France, Germany and Italy increased from about 8750 in 1990-1994 to 9550 in 1995-1999, suggesting that mesothelioma deaths in males may be levelling ...off in most of Western Europe.
Objective
Recent observations showed that long chain omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFA) could represent a potential treatment for elderly depression. To determine if a n-3 LCPUFA ...containing supplement improves depressive symptoms, changes phospholipids acids profile and ameliorates Health related quality of life (HRQoL) in depressed elderly patients.
Design
Two-months, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Setting
Nursing home in Pavia, Italy.
Subjects
Forty-six depressed females, aged 66–95 years.
Intervention
22 depressed females were included in the intervention group (n-3 group, that received 2.5 g/day of n-3 LCPUFA, with 1.67 grams of EPA and 0.83 grams of DHA), and 24 patients in the placebo group. The primary endpoint was the improvement of depressive symptoms as evaluated by Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Secondary endpoints were the evaluation of modifications of erythrocyte membrane phospholipids fatty acid profile and of of HRQoL, by using the Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36). All parameters were assessed before and after the treatment period of 8 weeks.
Results
The mean GDS at 2 months was significantly lowered only for the n-3 group. SF-36 physical and mental components were significantly increased in the intervention group. Compliance was good, as confirmed by erythrocyte membrane phospholipid FA concentrations, with significant increase of EPA and DHA in the intervention group.
Conclusion
The supplementation of n-3 LCPUFA in elderly female patients reduces the occurrence of depressive symptoms, improves phospholipids fatty acids profile and healthrelated quality of life.
Background
The number of original articles investigating the efficacy of cosmetic products in cellulite reduction increased rapidly in the last decade; however, to our knowledge, no systematic review ...and meta‐analysis has been performed so far.
Objective
We conducted a systematic review of in vivo studies on humans adopting the PRISMA guidelines. Moreover, we used a meta‐analytic approach to estimate the overall effect of cosmetic creams in cellulite treatment from controlled trials with more than 10 patients per arm, using thigh circumference reduction as the outcome measure.
Methods
Medline and Embase were searched up to August 2012 to identify eligible studies.
Results
Twenty‐one original studies were included in the present systematic review. All studies were clinical trials, most of them recruited women only and 67% had an intra‐patient study design. About half of the active cosmetic creams tested only contained one active ingredient among xanthenes, herbals or retinoids. The other studies tested cosmetic creams with more complex formulations and most of them included xanthenes. A total of seven controlled trials satisfied the inclusion criteria for the meta‐analysis. The pooled mean difference of thigh circumference reduction between the treated and the controlled group was −0.46 cm (95% confidence intervals, CI: −0.85, −0.08), with significant heterogeneity between studies (P < 0.001).
Conclusion
This article provides a systematic evaluation of the scientific evidence of the efficacy of cosmetic products in cellulite reduction and supports a moderate efficacy in thigh circumference reduction.
Information on the relation between acrylamide exposure and risk of pancreatic cancer is scanty and inconsistent.
We investigated the issue in a case–control study conducted from 1991 to 2008 in ...Northern Italy. Cases were 326 patients with incident pancreatic cancer, admitted to major teaching and general hospitals. Controls were 652 subjects admitted to the same hospitals with acute non-neoplastic conditions. Acrylamide mean content of various food items was derived from international databases and Italian sources. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of pancreatic cancer were derived using conditional logistic regression adjusted for several covariates, including energy intake.
The ORs of pancreatic cancer for subsequent quintiles of acrylamide intake, as compared with the lowest one, were 1.48 (95% CI 0.88–2.50), 1.57 (95% CI 0.91–2.69), 1.70 (95% CI 0.98–2.96) and 1.49 (95% CI 0.83–2.70), with no trend in risk (P value 0.21). The OR for an increase in acrylamide intake of 10 μg/day was 1.01 (95% CI 0.92–1.10). No meaningful difference between ORs was found in strata of smoking habit, alcohol drinking, body mass index and other selected covariates.
This study found no association between dietary acrylamide and pancreatic cancer in an Italian population.
We analysed data from a cohort of 1966 subjects (889 men and 1,077 women) employed by an Italian asbestos (mainly textile) company in the period 1946-1984, who were followed-up to 2004. A total of ...62,025 person-years of observation were recorded. We computed standardised mortality ratios (SMR) for all causes and selected cancer sites using national death rates for each 5-year calendar period and age group. There were 68 deaths from mesothelioma (25 men and 43 women, 39 pleural and 29 peritoneal) vs 1.6 expected (SMR=4,159), and 109 from lung cancer vs 35.1 expected (SMR=310). The SMRs of pleural/peritoneal cancer were 6661 for subjects exposed only before 30 years of age, 8,019 for those first exposed before 30 and still employed at 30-39 years of age and 5,786 for those first exposed before 30 and still employed at 40 or more years of age. The corresponding SMRs for lung cancer were 227, 446 and 562. The SMR of mesothelioma was strongly related to time since first exposure. The SMR of lung cancer, but not of mesothelioma, appeared to be related to subsequent exposures.
Background: Diet has been recognised as having a role in the aetiology of oral and pharyngeal cancer, and dietary factors may account for 10–15% of cases in Europe. Folate deficiency has been linked ...to risk of several cancers, but has not been studied adequately with respect to oral cancer. Patients and methods: This case–control study, conducted in Italy and French-speaking Switzerland, included 749 patients with incident cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, and 1772 hospital controls with acute, non-neoplastic conditions. The interviews used a validated food frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using multiple logistic regression. Results: The ORs were 0.68 (95% CI 0.52–0.88) for the intermediate tertile and 0.53 (95% CI 0.40–0.69) for the highest tertile of dietary folate intake, compared with the lowest tertile. No heterogeneity was found in strata of gender, age, methionine intake or alcohol consumption. The combined OR for low-folate and high-alcohol intake versus high-folate and low-alcohol intake was 22.3 (95% CI 13.1–38). Conclusions: Our study supports a protective role of folate against oral and pharyngeal carcinogenesis. Compared with low folate intake, a consistent reduction in risk was already observed from intermediate levels of intake, suggesting that cancer risk may be related to relative folate deficiency.
ABSTRACT
In order to evaluate the infectious agents associated with the first episode of severe acute wheezing in otherwise healthy infants and to define the role of each of them in recurrences, 85 ...patients in Italy, aged <12 months, hospitalized because of a first acute episode of wheezing, were prospectively enrolled between 1 October 2005 and 31 March 2006. Upon enrolment, nasopharyngeal swabs were collected for the real-time PCR detection of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) types A and B, influenza virus types A and B, adenovirus, parainfluenza viruses types 1, 2, 3 and 4, rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus, human coronavirus types 229E, OC43, NL63, and HKU1, bocavirus, enterovirus, and paraechovirus; nasopharyngeal aspirates were also obtained to detect atypical bacteria. At least one infectious agent was identified in 76 children (89.4%). RSV was the most frequently detected pathogen and its prevalence was significantly higher than that of the other pathogens in both age groups, and significantly higher in the children aged 3–12 months than in those aged <3 months. Only the children with RSV infection experienced recurrent wheezing. Viral load was significantly higher in children with than in those without recurrent wheezing. This study shows that RSV is the main reason for hospitalization during the first wheezing episode in infants, and that it appears to be the only pathogen associated with a high frequency of recurrences. A high viral load seems to be strictly related to the likelihood of recurrence.
This study was conducted to evaluate the association between pneumococcal DNA load and parapneumonic pleural effusion (PPE) in children with community-acquired pneumonia. Bacterial load was ...quantified and related to the presence of PPE with or without empyema in 72 otherwise healthy children aged ≤5 years who were hospitalised because of radiographically confirmed CAP and showed a real-time polymerase chain reaction that was positive for
Streptococcus pneumoniae
. The proportion of children with a high bacterial load (i.e. ≥265 DNA copies/mL) was larger among the subjects with PPE than those without it. Multivariate analysis showed that a high bacterial load was significantly associated with PPE (OR 8.65; 95 % CI 1.10–67.8 vs a bacterial load of <125 copies/mL). Children with infection due to pneumococcal serotype 19A were at highest risk of developing PPE (OR 7.44; 95 % CI 1.10–50.4 vs all other typeable serotypes). The patients with CAP due to pneumococcal serotypes that are not included in the 13-valent conjugate vaccine (PCV13) were more frequently affected by PPE than those with infections associated with serotypes included in the vaccine, except for serotype 19A. Bacterial loads of ≥265 DNA copies/mL are significantly associated with PPE, and serotype 19A is significantly associated with a high bacterial load and the development of PPE. The mean bacterial load of the patients with empyema was higher than that of patients with simple PPE. Although further studies are required, it seems that serotypes not included in PCV13 can play a major role in causing a higher bacterial load and PPE.
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