Decline in the risk of myocardial infarction among women who stop smoking
Article Abstract:
It is well known that smoking increases the risk of myocardial infarction, the deterioration of heart tissue due to cessation of blood supply. The cessation of smoking is followed by a decline in risk; in men, the smoking-increased risk of myocardial infarction disappears within five years after quitting. However, this pattern of decline has not yet been demonstrated in women. The prevalence of smoking in the United States has declined more in men than in women. The relation between cessation of smoking and the risk of myocardial infarction was examined by comparing the smoking habits of 910 women who had a myocardial infarction and 2,375 women who did not. Current smokers had a greater risk of myocardial infarction than nonsmokers and ex-smokers. Among ex-smokers, women who stopped smoking less than two years earlier had a greater risk than women who quit more than two years earlier. The increase in risk of myocardial infarction due to smoking had disappeared in women who quit two to three years earlier and their risk was similar to that in women who never smoked. The same pattern of decline in risk was apparent irregardless of duration of smoking, age, amount smoked, or the presence of other factors predisposing to myocardial infarction. The results show that in women, the risk of myocardial infarction due to smoking disappears within two to three years after quitting smoking. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1990
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A case-control study of baldness in relation to myocardial infarction in men
Article Abstract:
Male pattern baldness (MPB) involving the vertex scalp, or the crown of the head, may increase the risk of developing coronary artery disease in men younger than 55. A study compared 665 men under 55 years old admitted to the hospital after suffering a first heart attack to 772 men in the same age group admitted to the hospital for a non-cardiac disorder. Thirty-two percent of the men admitted for a heart attack displayed from MPB involving the vertex scalp, compared with 23% of those admitted for a problem unrelated to the heart. The risk of a heart attack was significantly higher in men with severe vertex baldness than in those with mild to moderate vertex baldness. Men with MPB have increased blood levels of androgen hormone dihydrotestosterone, which may affect the metabolism of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1993
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Calcium channel blockers and the risk of cancer
Article Abstract:
There appears to be no link between calcium channel blockers and most types of cancer. Researchers evaluated calcium channel blocker use in 9,513 cancer patients and 6,492 patients with other diseases. Calcium channel blocker use was not associated with higher rates of cancer overall, but those who used the drugs had almost twice the risk of kidney cancer. Beta blockers and ACE inhibitors also raised the risk of kidney cancer but had no effect on the rates of other types of cancer.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1998
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