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Background: Current evidence on tea consumption and hypertension is inconclusive, and prospective studies among habitual tea drinkers remain limited.Objective: We investigated the associations of habitual tea consumption with hypertension risk and longitudinal blood pressure changes in 2 large cohorts.Methods: This study included participants aged 40-75 y from the Shanghai Women's Health Study (n = 31,351) and the Shanghai Men's Health Study (n = 28,342), without hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at baseline. Information on tea consumption was assessed during in-person interviews at enrollment and follow-up visits. Incident hypertension was identified by self-reported diagnosis, medication use, or blood pressure measurements.Results: Current tea drinkers had a 7% higher risk than the non-current tea drinker group [HRs (95% CIs): women, 1.07 (1.01, 1.14); men, 1.07 (1.02, 1.12)]. The amount of tea drinking showed significant dose-response associations with hypertension: compared with the non-current group, HRs (95% CIs) for women and men were 1.01 (0.90, 1.14) and 1.02 (0.96, 1.08) for low (women/men: <100/200 g/mo), 1.07 (1.01, 1.15) and 1.05 (0.99, 1.12) for medium (women/men: 100-250/200-250 g/mo), and 1.18 (1.01, 1.39) and 1.10 (1.03, 1.17) for the high-amount group (women/men: >250 g/mo). Among participants without hypertension, compared with non-current tea drinkers, least-squares means of 3-y changes in blood pressure were 0.3-0.4 mm Hg higher for women and men as current drinkers and 0.7-0.9 mm Hg higher for men in the high-consumption group. Compared with those who never drank tea, women who drank tea consistently had 0.5 (0.2, 0.7) mm Hg higher diastolic blood pressure (DBP), whereas men had 0.5 (0.04, 0.9) mm Hg higher systolic blood pressure and 0.3 (0.04, 0.6) mm Hg higher DBP, respectively.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that habitual tea drinking is associated with a slightly higher risk of hypertension and a minor increase in blood pressure among middle-aged and older Chinese adults, which warrants confirmation by long-term intervention studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies of occupational lead exposure have suggested increased risks of cancers of the stomach, lung, kidney, brain, and meninges; however, the totality of the evidence is inconsistent. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the relationship between occupational lead exposure and cancer incidence at the five abovementioned sites in two prospective cohorts in Shanghai, China. METHODS: Annual job/industry-specific estimates of lead fume and lead dust exposure, derived from a statistical model combining expert lead intensity ratings with inspection measurements, were applied to the lifetime work histories of participants from the Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS; n = 73,363) and the Shanghai Men's Health Study (SMHS; n = 61,379) to estimate cumulative exposure to lead fume and lead dust. These metrics were then combined into an overall occupational lead exposure variable. Cohort-specific relative hazard rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing exposed and unexposed participants were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression and combined by meta-analysis. RESULTS: The proportions of SWHS and SMHS participants with estimated occupational lead exposure were 8.9% and 6.9%, respectively. Lead exposure was positively associated with menin-gioma risk in women only (n = 38 unexposed and 9 exposed cases; RR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.1, 5.0), particularly with above-median cumulative exposure (RR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.3, 7.4). However, all 12 meningioma cases among men were classified as unexposed to lead. We also observed nonsignificant associations with lead exposure for cancers of the kidney (n = 157 unexposed and 17 ever exposed cases; RR = 1.4; 95% CI: 0.9, 2.3) and brain (n = 67 unexposed and 10 ever exposed cases; RR = 1.8; 95% CI: 0.7, 4.8) overall. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, though limited by small numbers of cases, suggest that lead is associated with the risk of several cancers in women and men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors prospectively evaluated the association of soy food intake with lung cancer risk, overall and by tumor aggressiveness, and performed a meta-analysis of published data. Included in the analysis were 71,550 women recruited into the Shanghai Women's Health Study (Shanghai, China) in 1997–2000. Usual soy food intake was assessed at baseline and reassessed during follow-up through in-person interviews. During a mean follow-up period of 9.1 years, 370 incident lung cancer cases were identified; 340 patients were lifetime never smokers. After adjustment for potential confounders, soy food intake was inversely associated with subsequent risk of lung cancer (Ptrend = 0.004); the hazard ratio for the highest quintile of intake compared with the lowest was 0.63 (95% confidence interval: 0.44, 0.90). This inverse association appeared predominately among women with later age at menopause (Pinteraction = 0.01) and for aggressive lung cancer as defined by length of survival (<12 months vs. ≥12 months; Pheterogeneity = 0.057). Meta-analysis of 7 studies conducted among nonsmokers found a summary relative risk of 0.59 (95% confidence interval: 0.49, 0.71) for the highest categories of soy or isoflavone intake versus the lowest. This study suggests that soy food consumption may reduce lung cancer risk in nonsmoking women, particularly for aggressive tumors, and its effect may be modified by endogenous estrogens. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Little is known about the association of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and blood pressure (BP) parameters, including systolic and diastolic BP, pulse pressure (PP), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and hypertension in non-Western populations that have not yet been exposed to foods fortified with vitamins and seldom use vitamin D supplements. A cross-sectional analysis of plasma 25(OH)D levels in association with BP measures was performed for 1460 participants (1055 women and 405 men, aged 40–74 years) of two large cohort studies in Shanghai. Multivariable linear and logistic regressions were conducted. Overall, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 55·8 % using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, USA criteria and 29·9 % using WHO criteria. The median plasma 25(OH)D level in the population was 38·0 nmol/l for men and 33·6 nmol/l for women (P < 0·01) among participants who were not on antihypertensive drugs. Among men, BP parameters (systolic BP, diastolic BP and MAP) were significantly and inversely associated with higher quintiles of 25(OH)D compared with the lowest quintile (Ptrend < 0·05 for all). Vitamin D non-deficient status (WHO criteria) was inversely associated with hypertension (ORadjusted = 0·29; 95 % CI 0·10, 0·82). An inverse association was also found between hypertension and the highest quintile of 25(OH)D (ORadjusted = 0·16; 95 % CI 0·04, 0·65 for ≥ 50·6 nmol/l; Ptrend = 0·02). Among women, no significant associations were found for BP parameters and hypertension. The present study shows that vitamin D deficiency is common among adults in urban China. Circulating 25(OH)D levels were inversely related to the levels of individual BP parameters and hypertension among middle-aged and elderly men but not among women. More research is needed to investigate the potential sex differential associations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Although several studies have evaluated the relationship between adult height and mortality, their results have not been entirely consistent. Little is known about components of adult height in relation to mortality, particularly in developing countries.Methods We examined the association of adult height and its components (leg and trunk length) with mortality using data from 74 869 Chinese women and 61 333 men in the Shanghai Women's (1996–2008) and Men's (2002–2008) Health Studies. Anthropometric measurements, including standing and sitting height and weight, were taken at baseline by trained interviewers according to a standard protocol. Deaths were ascertained by biennial home visits and linkage with the vital statistics registry. Cox regression models were used to evaluate the associations.Results Neither height nor its components were associated with all-cause mortality. Height and, less consistently, its components were positively associated with cancer mortality, but inversely associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Hazard ratios (HRs) [95% confidence intervals (CIs)] for cancer mortality per 1-SD increment in height, trunk and leg length were 1.06 (1.01–1.12), 1.07 (1.01–1.12) and 1.03 (0.98–1.08), respectively, in women, and 1.13 (1.05–1.22), 1.09 (1.00–1.19) and 1.10 (1.03–1.16), respectively, in men. The corresponding HRs for CVD mortality were 0.89 (0.84–0.95), 0.93 (0.87–0.99) and 0.91 (0.86–0.98) in women, and 0.93 (0.86–1.02), 0.89 (0.81–0.98) and 0.99 (0.92–1.06) in men.Conclusions Our results suggest that different mechanisms may be involved in linking height and its components with cancer and CVD mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Obesity is a well-established risk factor for endometrial cancer, the most common gynecologic malignancy. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified multiple genetic markers for obesity. The authors evaluated the association of obesity-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with endometrial cancer using GWAS data from their recently completed study, the Shanghai Endometrial Cancer Genetics Study, which comprised 832 endometrial cancer cases and 2,049 controls (1996–2005). Thirty-five SNPs previously associated with obesity or body mass index (BMI; weight (kg)/height (m)2) at a minimum significance level of ≤5 × 10−7 in the US National Human Genome Research Institute's GWAS catalog (http://genome.gov/gwastudies) and representing 26 unique loci were evaluated by either direct genotyping or imputation. The authors found that for 22 of the 26 unique loci tested (84.6%), the BMI-associated risk variants were present at a higher frequency in cases than in population controls (P = 0.0003). Multiple regression analysis showed that 9 of 35 BMI-associated variants, representing 7 loci, were significantly associated (P ≤ 0.05) with the risk of endometrial cancer; for all but 1 SNP, the direction of association was consistent with that found for BMI. For consistent SNPs, the allelic odds ratios ranged from 1.15 to 1.29. These 7 loci are in the SEC16B/RASAL, TMEM18, MSRA, SOX6, MTCH2, FTO, and MC4R genes. The associations persisted after adjustment for BMI, suggesting that genetic markers of obesity provide value in addition to BMI in predicting endometrial cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Etiologic differences between subtypes of breast cancer defined by estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status are not well understood. The authors evaluated associations of hormone-related factors with breast cancer subtypes in a population-based case-control study involving 1,409 ER-positive (ER+)/PR-positive (PR+) cases, 712 ER-negative (ER−)/PR-negative (PR−) cases, 301 ER+/PR− cases, 254 ER−/PR+ cases, and 3,474 controls aged 20–70 years in Shanghai, China (phase I, 1996–1998; phase II, 2002–2005). Polytomous logistic regression and Wald tests for heterogeneity across subtypes were conducted. Breast cancer risks associated with age at menarche, age at menopause, breastfeeding, age at first livebirth, waist-to-hip ratio, and oral contraceptive use did not differ by hormone receptor status. Among postmenopausal women, higher parity (≥2 children vs. 1) was associated with reduced risk (odds ratio (OR) = 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.52, 0.91) and higher body mass index (BMI; weight (kg)/height (m)2) with increased risk (highest quartile: OR = 2.40, 95% CI: 1.65, 3.47) of the ER+/PR+ subtype but was unrelated to the ER−/PR− subtype (for parity, Pheterogeneity = 0.02; for BMI, Pheterogeneity < 0.01). Hormone replacement therapy (OR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.40, 3.62) and alcohol consumption (OR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.51) appeared to be preferentially associated with the ER+/PR− subtype. These findings indicate that BMI, parity, hormone replacement therapy, and alcohol consumption may play different roles in subtypes of breast cancer. More research is needed to better understand the etiology of 2 relatively rare subtypes, ER+/PR− tumors and ER−/PR+ tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although genetic variations in cell-cycle control genes have been previously linked to cancer risk, no study has specifically evaluated the role of these gene variants in endometrial carcinogenesis. Using data from the Shanghai Endometrial Cancer Study, a population-based case-control study with 1,199 cases and 1,212 age-matched controls (1997–2003), the authors carried out a systematic evaluation of the association of cell-cycle control genes with endometrial cancer risk. Sixty-five tagging or potentially functional single nucleotide polymorphisms in the CCNB1, CCND1, CCNE1, CDK2, CDK4, CDK6, CDKN1A, CDKN1B, and CDKN2A genes were genotyped and evaluated. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms in the CDKN1B gene (rs11055027, rs3759216, and rs34330) were related to endometrial cancer risk, although only the association with rs34330 remained statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. The odds ratios for rs34330 were 1.33 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 1.66) and 1.51 (95% CI: 1.16, 1.94) for the CT and TT genotypes, respectively, compared with the CC genotype. In vitro luciferase reporter assays showed that the minor allele (A) in rs3759216, which was associated with decreased endometrial cancer risk (odds ratio = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.56, 0.94) without adjustment for multiple comparisons, significantly increased promoter activity. These findings suggest that polymorphisms of the CDKN1B gene may play a role in endometrial carcinogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Methionine, folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, niacin, and riboflavin intakes may be related to breast carcinogenesis. These associations may vary by breast cancer type. Using the prospective cohort Shanghai Women's Health Study (1997–2008) including 718 Chinese breast cancer cases, the authors evaluated baseline dietary intake of these factors and breast cancer risk and whether the associations varied by menopausal status and estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status. They estimated associations using hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals from Cox proportional hazards regression models and stratified analyses by menopausal status and ER/PR status. Lowest quantile of intake was used as the comparison group. For postmenopausal women, dietary intakes of methionine and B vitamins were not associated with breast cancer risk. For premenopausal women, higher intake of folate was associated with decreased breast cancer risk (hazard ratio = 0.58, 95% confidence interval: 0.34, 0.99 for the highest vs. lowest quintile of intake). Only niacin intake was associated with ER+/PR+ breast cancer risk (hazard ratio = 1.62, 95% confidence interval: 1.07, 2.46; P for trend = 0.04 for the highest vs. lowest quartile of intake). Findings support the hypothesis that high folate intake may reduce breast cancer risk and that the association may vary by menopausal and ER/PR status. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Data linking risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and dietary patterns in Chinese populations are scarce.Methods: A population-based prospective study of 64,191 middle-aged women in urban Shanghai, China, who were free of T2D and other chronic diseases at study recruitment, was conducted. Dietary intake, physical activity and anthropometric measurements were assessed through in-person interviews. Dietary patterns were assessed by using K-means cluster analysis. Cox regression model was used to evaluate the association of dietary patterns with the risk of T2D.Results: We identified three dietary clusters in this population. Cluster 1 (56.3%; N = 36,159) had the highest intake of staples, cluster 2 (40.4%: N = 25,948) had the highest intake of dairy milk, and cluster 3 (2.9%; N = 1843) had the highest energy intake. Participants in cluster 2 had lower prevalence of obesity, central obesity and hypertension at baseline. Using cluster 1 as the reference, participants in cluster 2 had a lower incidence of T2D after 6.9 years of follow-up [relative risk (RR) 0.78; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.71-0.86]. The RR for the incidence of T2D for cluster 3 compared with cluster 1 was 1.05 (95% CI 0.81-1.35). The association was not modified by age category, body mass index category, waist-to-hip ratio category or exercise participation.Conclusions: We identified and characterized dietary patterns in middle-aged Chinese women by using cluster analysis. We identified a dietary pattern low in staple foods and high in dairy milk, which was associated with lower risk of T2D. Study of dietary patterns will help elucidate links between diet and disease, and contribute to the development of healthy eating guidelines for health promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]