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Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
 124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 72-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of a tumor-like shadow on a chest X-ray film. At the initial examination, he had clinical signs of Cushing's syndrome: moon face, central obesity, and hypertension. A computed tomographic scan of chest showed an abnormal shadow in the lung (5 x 6 cm) with involvement of the right paratracheal and anterior tracheal lymph nodes, and a right-sided pleural effusion. Small cell lung cancer (extended disease; T2N2M6 stage IV) was diagnosed after a transbronchial biopsy. The concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone, cortisol, and parathyroid hormone in plasma were markedly elevated, and there was no circadian rhythm (336 pg/ml. more than 60.1 micrograms ml. and 805 pg/ml, respectively). Fluid obtained by thoracentasis had malignant cells, and the levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone and parathyroid hormone in the effusion (1120 pg/ml and 1810 pg/ml, respectively) were higher than those in serum, which indicates that these hormones were produced by the tumor cells. The patient received chemotherapy and responded well, but he died of respiratory failure 26 months later. The response rate to chemotherapy in elderly patients with lung cancer is said to be comparable to that in younger patients, but treatment may be difficult because of poor performance status and diminished physical capacity. Although patients with lung cancer complicated by Cushing's syndrome have a poor prognosis, this patient survived for more than 2 years after the disease was diagnosed.
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PMID:[Cushing's syndrome due to small cell lung cancer with ectopic production of adrenocorticotropic and parathyroid hormone]. 915 97

From epidemiologic studies in several countries, passive smoking has been associated with increased risk for lung cancer, respiratory diseases, and coronary heart disease. Since the relative risks derived from those studies are weak, i.e. relative risk less than two, we investigated whether poorer diets and less healthy lifestyles might act as confounders and be correlated with having a smoking husband on a cross-cultural basis. Characteristics of never-smoked wives with or without smoking husbands were compared between 530 women from Hong Kong, 13,047 from Japan, 87 from Sweden, and 144 from the U.S. In all four sites, wives with smoking husbands generally ate less healthy diets. They had a tendency to eat more fried food but less fruit than wives with nonsmoking husbands. Other healthy traits, e.g. avoiding obesity, dietary cholesterol and alcohol, or taking vitamins and participating in preventive screening were also less prevalent among wives with smoking husbands. These patterns suggest that never-smoked wives with smoking husbands tend to share the same less healthy dietary traits characteristic of smokers, and to have dietary habits associated with increased risk for lung cancer and heart disease in their societies. These results emphasize the need to take into account the potential confounding effects of diet and lifestyle in studies evaluating the health effects of passive smoking, especially since it is known that the current prevalence rates of smoking among men is indirectly associated with social class and education in affluent urban societies.
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PMID:Dietary and lifestyle correlates of passive smoking in Hong Kong, Japan, Sweden, and the U.S.A. 920 80

The complex process of carcinogenesis is mainly due to environmental factors and therefore preventable. Diet may account for about 35% of cancer cases; risk factors and protective factors are discussed. Accordingly, obesity is associated with an increased risk of endometrial and postmenopausal breast cancers. Less clear is the relationship with colorectal and prostate cancer. The observed inverse association of body weight with lung cancer risk is most probably confounded by smoking habits and/or the effect of preclinical cancer. The risk factor fat has been studied mainly in relation to colorectal, breast and prostate cancer; the results are controversial. More consistent are the associations between (red) meat consumption and risk of colorectal and prostate cancer. Alcohol is a risk factor for tumors of the upper gastrointestinal tract, the hepatocellular carcinoma and the (distal) colorectal cancer. Even small amounts of alcohol seem to increase the risk of breast cancer. Residues, contaminants, mycotoxins and additives like benzopyrene, nitrosamine(s), and aflatoxine are associated with a smaller risk of cancer than "overnutrition". High intake of fruit and vegetables is related to a reduced risk of lung cancer and cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract. What the specific chemicals in fruits and vegetables are that are responsible for this association are still unclear. Despite only weak associations between dietary factors and cancer risk, for potential protective effects it is recommendable to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables, to avoid obesity, to reduce the intake of fat, meat and alcohol and to avoid cured, pickled, smoked, and mouldy food.
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PMID:[The significance of nutrition in primary prevention of cancer]. 938 16

As in many other countries, the New Zealand Cancer Society produces guidelines for cancer prevention. These recommend avoiding asbestos, smoking, sunlight, alcohol, fatty food and obesity. Women are advised to have a regular cervical smear test. Additional 'probably helpful' suggestions include eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and dietary fibre. However, considerable data from animal studies and more slowly accumulating data from human intervention studies suggest additional and more specific advice may be appropriate. Fruit and vegetable servings should total a minimum of five each day. Some specific fruits and vegetables (e.g., tomato, broccoli, onions) may have particular benefits against individual cancer types. Positive human evidence on potential benefits of increasing dietary fibre comes from studies where wheat bran was added to the diet. This is not a dietary fibre per se, but merely a good fibre source. Indeed, our own studies suggest that it could be various phytochemicals in the bran, rather than dietary fibre, which is beneficial. An increase either in whole wheat or wheat bran, rather than fibre, would be a sounder recommendation. Although there is some evidence that multivitamin supplementation can protect against cancer, this may be only in the special situation where the population is already significantly vitamin-deficient. For example, a combination of beta-carotene, vitamin E and selenium significantly reduced cancer mortality in a Chinese population, whereas lung cancer risks (in already high risk groups) were increased in Finnish and American trials with high dose beta-carotene. Various other chemopreventive drugs are being actively developed and at various stages in clinical trials. The enhanced cancer incidence in the beta-carotene trial illustrates the potential benefit of utilising surrogate endpoints of malignant disease rather than incident cancer as a trial endpoint.
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PMID:Prospects for cancer prevention. 1051 4

Colorectal cancer is the most common tumor behind lung cancer in men and breast cancer in women. Its prevalence shows a wide geographic variability, which, along with epidemiological and experimental evidence, suggests a considerable participation of environmental factors, mainly dietary in its cause. It is not known which dietary components have an undisputed influence on the risk of colorectal cancer, nor how they condition the different genetic susceptibilities of the individuals. However, we do know of the protective action that consuming vegetables has, and the increased risk associated with saturated fats and red meats, especially when associated with other factors like a hypocaloric diet, obesity, sedentary life, or the use of alcohol. Fiber, however, has not proven the risk reducing properties that were attributed to it by epidemiological studies, possibly because this term encompassed several very different substances. Moreover, it is very difficult to know the effect of an isolated nutrient as these are intimately entwined in the foods. It should be kept in mind that many substances, like plants, as well as the usual nutrients, contain a large number of components with unknown effects and that the manner in which the foods are prepared or eaten, no doubt are of influence. A healthy lifestyle with regard to the risk of colorectal cancer, should no doubt include the consumption of large amounts of vegetables and whole cereals, a limit of the caloric intake with fats not exceeding 30%, to eat fish and chicken rather than red meat, to avoid alcohol, and to regularly partake of physical exercise.
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PMID:[Nutrition and colorectal cancer]. 1074 Apr

Many of the diseases that cause premature illness and death--including some cancers, heart disease, and AIDS--could be prevented if persons made behavior changes to reduce their risk for developing the illnesses. Over the past two decades, there have been great advances in our scientific understanding of how to promote health risk behavior change. This paper briefly reviews elements and examples of effective behavior change interventions, including programs that can be offered in service settings as well as community-level interventions. The prevention of diseases through behavioral public health interventions requires the investment of funds but can reduce burdens on health care systems, reduce the human toll caused by premature deaths, and be highly cost-effective. A remarkable number of diseases could be prevented if individuals were effectively assisted in changing the risk behaviors responsible for those illnesses. The causal association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, other pulmonary diseases, and cardiovascular disease is well-known, and millions of premature deaths could be prevented if people stopped smoking cigarettes. Deaths due to cardiovascular disease could be dramatically reduced if persons made behavioral and lifestyle changes to improve their fitness through exercise, obesity reduction, and maintenance of low blood cholesterol levels. The World Health Organization estimates that over 45 million persons worldwide have already contracted HIV infection, and nearly 1 million of these cases are in the United States. Over 40,000 Americans continue to contract HIV infection each year. Virtually every new case of HIV infection is preventable if individuals at risk made changes in their sexual or drug use practices. While lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and AIDS are three of the clearest examples, persons' behavior plays a direct or a contributing role in the development of many other diseases that cause premature death or that worsen health and life quality. Recognition of the link between behavior and preventable illness--and recognition that enormous health, economic, and quality of life benefits could be realized through healthier behavior patterns--is not new. We have known all of this for a long time. We have also known for a very long time that helping people to successfully change risky behavior habits is often very difficult. Over the past 20 years, a field of scientific study and applied practice has developed with the purpose of better understanding why persons engage in health risk behavior patterns and developing approaches to help people change these patterns. Under the rubric of "behavioral medicine", this field makes use of behavioral science theory and behavior change techniques applied to health and disease prevention.
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PMID:Behavior changes & disease prevention: MCW research shows effectiveness of HIV/AIDS risk reduction interventions. Medical College of Wisconsin. 1075 83

The complex process of carcinogenesis is mainly due to environmental factors and therefore preventable. Diet may account for about 35% of cancer. This review presents the nutritional evidence for the development of the four most common cancers in Switzerland. The clearest risk factors for breast cancer are those associated with hormonal and reproductive factors. In relation to dietary factors, high alcohol intake, weight gain and adipositas (postmenopausal breast cancer) probably increase the risk of breast cancer. The evidence is less clear for the consumption of (animal) fat, meat, fruit and vegetables (inverse association). Hormones may also play an important role in the development of prostate cancer. There is no convincing evidence that any dietary factors modify the risk of prostate cancer. Diets high in vegetables are possibly protective, regular consumption of fat and meat possibly increase the risk. Intervention trials revealed protective effects of supplementation with selen or alpha-tocopherol. The main cause of lung cancer is cigarette smoking, and smokers whose diet is protective nevertheless remain at high risk. The evidence that diets high in vegetables and fruit protect against lung cancer is convincing, but it is not clear what constitutents are responsible for this effect. Intervention trials revealed no protective effect of beta-carotene, and in high risk groups, lung cancer risk was even increased. There is convincing evidence that diets high in vegetables decrease the risk of colorectal cancer. The same is true for regular physical activity. Alcohol and consumption of diets high in (red) meat, probably increase the risk of colorectal cancer. For cancer prevention it is recommended to choose a predominantly plant-based diet, to avoid obesity, to reduce the intake of fat, (red) meat, alcohol and salt, not to smoke and to be physically active. The main aim of nutritional therapy of cancer patients is to improve quality of life, whereas the effect on life expectancy is very limited.
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PMID:[Nutrition and cancer]. 1075 94

Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, lung cancer, and all-cause mortality. One possible explanation for this association is that FEV(1) is a marker of other determinants of mortality risk, such as obesity and physical inactivity. In a population-based cohort study of 12,283 men and women aged 45-74 years from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk Study recruited in 1993-1997, the cross-sectional association between physical activity and FEV(1) and that between physical activity and change in FEV(1) were analyzed. Indices of physical activity, including participation in vigorous recreational activity, stair climbing, and television viewing, were assessed with a validated questionnaire designed to assess activity in the previous year. Television viewing was negatively associated with FEV(1) in men and women (p < 0.001), whereas stair climbing and participation in vigorous leisure time activities were positively associated with FEV(1) in men and women (p < 0.001). The associations remained after adjustment for known confounders, including age, height, vitamin C, and smoking. Climbing more stairs and participating in vigorous leisure-time activity predicted a slower rate in annual percent decline in FEV(1) (p < 0.004 and p < 0.002, respectively). In conclusion, physical activity is associated with higher levels of FEV(1), whereas television viewing is associated with lower levels.
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PMID:Physical inactivity is associated with lower forced expiratory volume in 1 second : European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk Prospective Population Study. 1211 5

Prevention of cancer through interventions based on sound scientific research remains an important strategy of oncology research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Reducing the burden of cancer in the United States is focused on clinical investigations in medical settings and public health intervention research on cancer risk factors regarding lifestyle and diet. Chemoprevention research at the NCI has progressed systematically to identify potential agents that reduce cancer risk and to develop public health strategies that take advantage of basic research results. In addition, advances in our understanding of molecular targets and pathways and our use of new and emerging technologies have become important tools for oncology research. Priority areas for chemoprevention research, identified from experimental and clinical research, are investigated in clinical trials to determine their ability to reduce cancer risk in selected populations or in the general population. Priority areas discussed in this review are the relationship of the arachidonic acid pathway to carcinogenesis, lung cancer prevention in former smokers, breast cancer prevention, and prostate cancer prevention. In addition, two lifestyle factors that have potential to influence cancer risk-obesity and functionally enhanced foods-are discussed in the context of their link between clinical and public health-related research.
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PMID:Cancer prevention clinical trials. 1472 55

Colorectal tumors are among the most frequently encountered forms of cancer worldwide. With approximately 57,000 new cases every year, they represent the most frequent type of cancer in Germany, ranking before breast cancer (approximately 46,000) and lung cancer (approximately 37,000). Although global incidence is on the rise, in Germany it is only increasing among men, but not among women. The mortality rate (approximately 26,500 deaths annually) in Germany has declined among men for about the past 10 years and among women for about the past 20 years. The most important risk factors are familial history of colorectal and other tumors as well as lifestyle factors such as nutrition, obesity, inactivity,and smoking.Lifestyle-related risks offer a broad area for implementing primary preventive measures,which have not yet been adequately exhausted. Several proven (fecal occult blood test) and probably effective (endoscopic) methods are available for secondary prevention. Consistent encouragement of these possibilities for prevention could reduce incidence and mortality substantially and render colorectal tumors less frequent.
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PMID:[Epidemiology of colorectal cancer]. 1262 66


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