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Consumption of dietary fat does not appear to be related to the risk of breast cancer. Studies on the relationship between fat intake and breast cancer have produced contradictory results. Researchers reanalyzed data from seven such studies including information on 4,980 women. The risk of developing breast cancer was similar in the women who consumed the most fat and those who consumed the least fat. The risk of breast cancer also among the highest and lowest consumers of cholesterol and saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. The risk was also unrelated to the percentage of energy intake that came from fat. These results did not change with an adjustment for errors in measuring nutrient consumption.

Background: Restrictive interatrial communication (IAC) is a significant source of morbidity and mortality in infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). We have sought to identify echocardiographic predictors of restrictive IAC requiring balloon atrial septostomy (BAS). Methods: Serial echocardiograms of 44 infants presenting with HLHS were reviewed retrospectively. Infants were studied from time of admission to final end point of transplantation, Norwood or death. BAS was performed in 17 infants for clinical indications of desaturation, increasing oxygen requirements and/or respiratory distress. Data collected included age at echo-cardiographic studies, age at BAS, age at end point, maximum velocity (Vmax), mean velocity and IAC area based on the width of the color flow jet across the IAC. Results: Of 17 BAS infants, 11 (65%) were transplanted, one (6%) had Norwood and 5 (29%) died. Of 27 non-BAS infants, 17 (63%) were transplanted, 4 (15%) had Norwood and 6 (22%) died. Median age at end point was greater for BAS infants at 50 (22-186) days vs. 15 (3-102) days for non-BAS (p = 0.0001). Median age at BAS was 22, range 2-67 days, only three infants required BAS at age [is less than or equal to] 16 days. Initial study variables at mean age 7 [+ or -] 5 days were compared for the two groups. Initial Vmax was greater for BAS infants 1.86 [+ or -] 0.34 vs. 1.54 [+ or -] 0.34 m/s (p=0.017). The graph shows the relationship of age to Vmax for both groups. Vmax increased with age for both groups, but at a greater rate for BAS infants. Regression analysis for initial Vmax and age at end point yields p=0.05 and 0.007, respectively. Conclusion: Initial maximum velocity through interatrial communication and longer interval to surgery or death are independent predictors of need for BAS.

Background: Experiments in animals, international correlation comparisons, and case–control studies support an association between dietary fat intake and the incidence of breast cancer. Most cohort studies do not corroborate the association, but they have been criticized for involving small numbers of cases, homogeneous fat intake, and measurement errors in estimates of fat intake. Methods: We identified seven prospective studies in four countries that met specific criteria and analyzed the primary data in a standardized manner. Pooled estimates of the relation of fat intake to the risk of breast cancer were calculated, and data from study-specific validation studies were used to adjust the results for measurement error. Results: Information about 4980 cases from studies including 337,819 women was available. When women in the highest quintile of energy-adjusted total fat intake were compared with women in the lowest quintile, the multivariate pooled relative risk of breast cancer was 1.05 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.94 to 1.16). Relative risks for saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fat and for cholesterol, considered individually, were also close to unity. there was little overall association between the percentage of energy intake from fat and the risk of breast cancer, even among women whose energy intake from fat was less than 20 percent. correcting for error in the measurement of nutrient intake did not materially alter these findings. Conclusions: We found no evidence of a positive association between total dietary fat intake and the risk of breast cancer. There was no reduction in risk even among women whose energy intake from fat was less than 20 percent of total energy intake. In the context of the Western lifestyle, lowering the total intake of fat in midlife is unlikely to reduce the risk of breast cancer substantially. (N Engl J Med 1996;334:356-61.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well established that diabetic patients with poor glycemic control have increased susceptibility to infections, but glucose levels have not been directly associated with this increase. The assessment of the effects of glycosylated hemoglobin (A 1 c) on the body's ability to fight infections may be useful directly in establishing a link between elevated blood sugar and the risk of infections. A total of 127 subjects in Heart Pilot Study (HPS), sub-study of the Adventist Health Study 2 (AHS-2) completed a lifestyle, medical and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) at baseline between 2013 and 2014. The A 1 c and phagocytic index (PI) were measured in the same blood sample and their associations were assessed using linear regression. Mean blood glucose (MBG) was estimated based on A 1 c levels using a standard formula. Three levels of MBG were used to compare prediabetic and diabetic ranges to the normal range. The PI is the average number of bacteria in the cytoplasm of 50 neutrophils, manually counted under a light microscope after the whole blood was briefly exposed to a standard dose of bacteria and stained. In multivariable analysis, we found that MBG in the prediabetic (117 to137 mg/dL) and diabetic (>137 mg/dL) ranges were associated with 12.9% (β= -0.129, 95% Cl: -0.30, 0.05) and 20.4% decrease in PI (β= -0.204, 95% Cl: -0.592, 0.184) compared to that, observed among those with normal MBG ( p for trend=0.119). Elevated MBG levels contribute a decrease in the PI among those in the prediabetic and diabetic range compared to the normal range. Although our findings were not quite statistically significant due to low power which are clinically relevant in line with observations of an increased infections among diabetics. Further research on larger populations is needed., Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTERESTS The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.