Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0018799 (heart disease)
 34,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This study assessed the survival of a nationally representative sample of older Canadian men, taking into account common comorbid conditions. Mortality follow-up between 1978 and 1989 was conducted for male participants of the Canada Health Survey who were at least 60 years of age at baseline. The proportional hazards model and life table methods were used to examine survival by comorbidity status. Comorbid conditions examined included history of stroke and/or heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic bronchitis or emphysema, diabetes and smoking status, but excluded cancer because of small numbers. For those subjects aged 80 and older, comorbidity was not a significant predictor of survival. A large portion of men between the ages of 60 and 79, even those with pre-existing comorbid conditions, survived at least 10 years after interview. In a clinical setting, more detailed information on comorbid conditions can be obtained to better estimate long-term survival. Notwithstanding, our findings may have implications for the administration of population-based health interventions (e.g. the use of prostate-specific antigen [PSA] blood tests for the early detection of prostate cancer). In particular, our results suggest that there may be little benefit in restricting access to PSA screening based on survival probability in men under age 80.
 ...
PMID:Comorbid survival among elderly male participants of the Canada health survey: relevance to prostate cancer screening and treatment. 982 Aug 31

We defined risk factors for a clinical diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) among subjects of the population-based Massachusetts Male Aging Study. In 1987-89 1709 men aged 40-70 provided baseline risk factor data and were followed for a mean of 9 years; 1019 men without prostate cancer provided follow-up data. We classified men with clinical BPH at follow-up if they reported (1) frequent or difficulty urinating and were told by a health professional that they had an enlarged or swollen prostate or (2) if they reported having surgery for BPH. At follow-up the prevalence of clinical BPH was 19.4%, increasing from 8.4% of men aged 38-49 years to 33.5% of men aged 60-70 years (P < 0.001 for trend). Elevated free PSA levels (age- and total PSA-adjusted OR, top vs. bottom quartile ng/mL 4.4, 95% CI 1.9-10.5), heart disease (age-adjusted OR 2.1, CI 1.3-3.3), and use of beta-blocker medications (OR 1.8, CI 1.1-3.0) increased odds for BPH, while current cigarette smoking (OR 0.5, CI 0.3-0.8) and high levels of physical activity (top vs. bottom quartile kcals/day OR 0.5, CI 0.3-0.9) decreased odds of BPH. All but the medication effects persisted in fully adjusted multivariable models. Total or fat calorie intake, sexual activity level, alcohol intake, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, diastolic blood pressure, a history of diabetes, hypertension, vasectomy, or serum levels of androgens or estrogens did not individually predict clinical BPH. We conclude that physical exercise and cigarette smoking appear to protect against development of clinical BPH. Elevated free PSA levels predict clinical BPH independent of total PSA levels. Risk associated with heart disease does not appear to be due solely to detection bias or to effects of heart disease medications. A wide variety of other characteristics appear to have no influence on risk for clinical BPH.
 ...
PMID:Risk factors for clinical benign prostatic hyperplasia in a community-based population of healthy aging men. 1152 Jun 54

The Conference on Asian Trends in Prostate Cancer Hormone Therapy is an annual forum for Asian urologists now in its 5th year. The 2006 conference, held in Bali, Indonesia, was attended by 27 leading urologic oncologists from China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan and featured a packed program of presentations and discussions on a wide range of topics such as relationships among clinicians and the newly opened Asia Regional Office for Cancer Control of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), detection rates of prostate cancer by biopsy in each of the 6 Asian countries, and favored treatment modalities for hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) in each country. The first session of the conference kicked off with a keynote lecture entitled "Activities of the UICC ARO". UICC's new office will be the nerve center for its activities in the Asia region. Along with the Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention (APOCP), UICC aims to shift the focus of attention to cancer control. As such APOCP's long-running publication the APJCP is to be re-launched as the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Control. Although UICC is primarily concerned with cancer, several risk factors for cancer are common also to other non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and an important strategy is to implement measures to control these various pathologic conditions as a whole. Apart from contributing to an Asian prostate cancer registry the UICC-ARO will provide training courses, working groups, and assistance in collecting and processing data. The keynote lecture was followed by a roundtable discussion on possible ways in which clinicians from each Asian country can work with UICC. A number of suggestions were put forth including better registration, epidemiology research, possible implementation of UICC prostate cancer guidelines, early detection and screening, and roles of diet and phytotherapy. The underlying reasons for the large but dwindling difference in incidence rates of prostate cancer in various regions of Asia should be studied while the opportunity lasts. Session 2 was devoted to 6 presentations on detection rates by biopsy in each country. Although biopsy is the gold standard for detecting prostate cancer in most areas, indications for conducting biopsy are different in each country. For example, in Indonesia doctors may use PSAD 0.15 as the cutoff level. TRUS-guided biopsy is most widely used in Asian countries. Traditional sextant biopsy is often performed, although multiple-core biopsy is commonly available and associated with better detection rates, especially in men with large prostate volume. Positive DRE, high PSA, and older age were identified as factors associated with high biopsy detection rate, although elevated PSA has limited specificity. First biopsy in men with elevated PSA had a positive detection rate of approximately 30% in all countries. Community-based screening in some countries has an overall detection rate of approximately 1%. The favorable treatment modality for HRPC was the subject of the final session. First priority for doctors in all 6 countries is to maintain serum testosterone at castration level. Many therapeutic options are available, from cytotoxic drugs to traditional herbal medicines Chemotherapeutic agents such as estramustine, docetaxel, cyclophosphamide, and mitoxantrone are often given to patients with HRPC although not all are available in every country. Prednisone and dexamethasone are used for secondary hormonal therapy. External beam radiotherapy, radioisotopic drugs such as strontium 89, and bisphosphonates are common choices to control bone pain.
 ...
PMID:The 5th Conference on Asian Trends in Prostate Cancer Hormone Therapy. 1747 64

Epidemiology of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is incompletely understood. The following study was done to estimate the prevalence of BPH according to obstructive and irritative symptoms of prostate obstruction determined by uroflowmetry and prostate size. In a cross-sectional study a total of 8,466 men aged 40 or older were interviewed by 74 general practitioners and answered the International Prostate Symptom Score (I-PSS) questionnaire. The subjects were randomly identified from 30 counties of Iran. They were invited to have a digital rectal examination (DRE), serum total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) assay, abdominal ultrasonography to measure prostate size and measurement of maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax). Data on medical history, toxic habits, and current use of medications were obtained. Of the men interviewed, the prevalence of BPH, defined as I-PSS greater than 7, maximum flow less than 15 ml/s and prostate size greater than 30 gm, was 23.8%. The prevalence increased with age, from 1.2% in men 40-49 to 36% in those >70 years (tested for trend, P = 0.001). A positive association was found between BPH and body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.04), height (P = 0.03), diabetes mellitus (P = 0.04), increased total energy intake (P = 0.02), age-adjusted levels of total PSA (P = 0.02), heart disease (P = 0.03), and marital status (P = 0.01). The prevalence of BPH is relatively high in Iran. The provided bothersome due to BPH did not correlate to symptom severity and should be considered independently in clinical decision-making.
 ...
PMID:Prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia in a population-based study in Iranian men 40 years old or older. 1824 38