We evaluated whether or not a patient's area of primary residence is an independent risk factor for overall survival (OS) after HLA-identical sibling or autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This retrospective cohort study included patients who underwent autologous (n = 1739) or HLA-identical sibling (n = 267) HSCT to treat a hematologic malignancy between 1983 and 2004 at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Primary area of residence, using the patient's zip code, was categorized as either urban or rural (including isolated, small rural, or large rural) according to the Rural Urban Commuting Area Codes (RUCA) classification system. An association between area of primary residence and survival was examined using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis while adjusting for patient-, disease-, and treatment-related variables. Patients from rural areas who received autologous HSCT had a higher relative risk of death (relative risk = 1.18; P = .016) than urban patients who underwent the same procedure. Survival rates in patients from rural and urban locations are as follows: 1 year, 73% vs 78% (P = .04); 5 year, 48% vs 54% (P = .012). We failed to detect a significant difference in the risk of death according to primary area of residence in the HLA-identical sibling HSCT cohort, although this may be from lack of statistical power. Our findings suggest that the primary location of a patient's residence may be an independent risk factor for survival after HSCT.

Summary Associations of infant feeding patterns and milk consumption with cow's milk protein antibody titres were studied in 697 newly-diagnosed diabetic children, 415 sibling-control children and 86 birth-dateand sex-matched population-based control children in the nationwide "Childhood Diabetes in Finland" study. IgA and IgG antibody titres to the proteins of cow's milk formula, BLG and BSA, and IgM antibody titres to cow's milk formula proteins were measured by ELISA. Several inverse correlations were observed between the duration of breast-feeding or age at introduction of dairy products and antibody titres, and positive correlations were observed between milk consumption and antibody titres in all three populations studied. Multivariate analyses which included the infant feeding variables, milk consumption and current age simultaneously showed that the earlier the introduction of dairy products and the greater the consumption of milk was, the higher several antibody titres were. High IgA antibody titres to cow's milk formula were associated with a greater risk of IDDM both among diabeticpopulation-control and diabetic-sibling-control pairs when adjusted for other cow's milk antibody titres, dietary variables and in diabetic-sibling-control pairs also for ICA. The results suggest that young age at introduction of dairy products and high milk consumption during childhood increase the levels of cow's milk antibodies and that high IgA antibodies to cow's milk formula are independently associated with increased risk of IDDM. [Diabetologia (1994) 37: 381-387]

Background and purpose A wide variety of metabolic changes, including an increased incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and dyslipidaemia, has been described in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of statin use and history of DM with onset of disease and survival in patients with ALS. Methods In all, 501 patients (mean age 65.2 ± 10.9 years; 58.5% male) from the ALS Registry Swabia recruited between October 2010 and April 2016 were included in this prospective cohort study. Data were collected using a standardized questionnaire. Results Statin use (n = 65) was not associated with overall survival (P = 0.62). Age of ALS onset in patients with DM was 4.2 years later (95% confidence interval 1.3–7.2 years) than in patients without DM (P < 0.01). The overall survival of patients with high body mass index at study entry (>27.0 kg/m2, upper quartile, n = 127) was prolonged by more than 5 months compared to patients with low body mass index (<22.0 kg/m2, lower quartile, n = 123; P = 0.04). Conclusions This study supports the view that statin use is not associated with overall survival of ALS patients, suggesting that statins are not harmful and should not be discontinued in ALS. Furthermore, the delayed onset of ALS in patients with DM may mirror the potentially protective metabolic profile associated with type 2 DM. Consistently, this study provides further evidence that high body mass index is a positive prognostic factor in ALS.

To learn more about the preclinical phase of IDDM we observed for a median period of 46.5 months (range 0.5-69 months) a group of 57 siblings positive for ICA and/or IAA when first screened within 6 months of the diagnosis of the proband. Sequential blood samples and IVGTTs were obtained at intervals of 6-12 months. Seventeen siblings (29.8%) presented with IDDM during the observation period. The duration of the known preclinical period ranged from 0.5 to 51 months (median 29 months). The converters were younger than the other siblings (P < 0.05) and had higher initial ICA levels (P < 0.01). In addition they had a lower FPIR in the first IVGTT (P < 0.001). On all subsequent tests the converters had higher ICA levels and a lower FPIR (P < 0.05 or less), a lower glucose elimination rate from the third test onwards (P < 0.01 or less) and higher IAA levels at 3 years (P < 0.05). Some variation could be observed in the FPIR in the converters with an initial increase and subsequent decrease (P < 0.05 for both). Their levels of complement-fixing ICA increased up to 18 months (P < 0.05) and IAA levels up to 3 years (P < 0.01). Those high risk siblings who progress to clinical IDDM are characterized by young age, strong and increasing signs of islet-cell specific autoimmunity, reduced insulin secreting capacity and emerging glucose intolerance. The present observations seem to be incompatible with the hypothesis of beta-cell destruction occurring at a constant, predictable rate.