We studied correlates of wine, hard liquor or beer preference among 53,172 white men and women in a Northern California prepaid health plan. Preference for a beverage type was reported by 51% of drinkers; 22% of persons with a preference reported exclusive use of the preferred beverage. Persons who prefer wine are likely to be women, temperate, young or middle-aged, non-smokers, better educated and free of symptoms or risk of illness. Persons who prefer liquor are likely to be men, heavier drinkers, middle-aged or older, less educated and afflicted with symptoms or risk factors for major illnesses. Persons who prefer beer are likely to be young men who are intermediate between wine and liquor preferrers for most traits. The traits of persons reporting exclusive use of a beverage type were similar. These data identify correlates of beverage choice which need to be controlled for in alcohol-health studies.
Information from examinations of 62,541 adults enrolled in a study of smoking from 1979 through 1982 in Oakland, California, was used to explore the associations of various measures of intensity of smoking with the leukocyte count and to try to determine whether there was a persistent effect of smoking cigarettes on the leukocyte count. In current, regular cigarette smokers, leukocyte counts were higher in smokers of a large number of cigarettes and were associated with smoking cigarettes with a high tar and nicotine yield, deep inhalation of the cigarette smoke, and a longer duration of smoking. There was an association of past smoking with a high leukocyte count independent of age, sex, and race. In past smokers of cigarettes who used no other form of tobacco, the leukocyte count was related to time since quitting, smokers who had quit more recently having higher leukocyte counts. The study shows that a high leukocyte count is associated consistently with various measures of intensity of cigarette smoking. Moreover, it appears that smoking has an effect on the leukocyte count that persists after quitting. Delineation of the physiologic basis for the acute and chronic effects of cigarette smoking on the leukocyte count might lead eventually to a better understanding of the mechanisms for regulation of granulopoiesis and the release and destruction of leukocytes.
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 hemorrhage (SAH) and 69% for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Ethnic predictors of HS were studied by Cox proportional hazard models with 7 covariates. With whites as reference, the adjusted relative risk (95% CI) of all Asians for HS was 1.6 (1.1–2.3, p = 0.01), due substantially to increased risks of SAH in Japanese people and ICH in Filipinos. These data mandate emphasis upon preventive measures in these groups.
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