BACKGROUND: Active smoking is the most important risk factor for pulmonary emphysema in subjects with severe alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of environmental risk factors other than active smoking on lung function and on respiratory symptoms in non-smoking PiZZ individuals. METHODS: Lifetime exposure to passive smoking, domiciliary use of a ke

Despite numerous studies documenting the association between cancer and venous thromboembolism (VTE), the reason for the excessive risk in certain cancers remains obscure. No large-scale studies have yet investigated the independent effects of cancer type, site and growth pattern. Between 1970 and 1982, 23,796 standardised autopsies were performed, representing 84% of all in-hospital deaths in an

Background: The androgen receptor A645D mutation has been described in one patient with ambiguous genitalia and one boy with normal phenotype. Objective: Because of this phenotypic variation, we screened a cohort of men from the general population (n = 293) as well as men with the following disorders of the genital tract for the mutation: men with prostate cancer (n = 89), testicular cancer (n = 8

Objectives: The primary aim was to compare the working capacity in patients with continent urinary diversion with a control group. Secondary aims were to assess the changes in electrolyte and acid-base homeostasis and the functional status during strenuous physical activity, and finally, the well-being in the two groups. Methods: Eleven patients who had undergone radical cystectomy and continent c

Background. Male fetal gender is associated with an overall increased risk of pre-eclampsia. However, it was recently shown that the male: female birth ratio was decreased in pre-eclampsia associated with preterm delivery. The reason for this discrepancy is not known. Objective. To investigate whether the fetal and newborn gender is associated with the incidence of antenatal maternal pregnancy com

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has eight genotypes which have distinct geographical distributions. Studies comparing differences in the clinical outcomes of infections caused by strains with genotype-related variations in the HBV genome have largely compared genotypes B and C and genotypes A and D but not all four genotypes. The present study included 196 HBV-infected patients attending an infectious dis

Patients with mild asthma may benefit from increasing their inhaled corticosteroid dose, adding a tong-acting beta(2)-agonist, or both. This study assessed the cost-effectiveness of these options. Patients aged greater than or equal to12 years with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma (n = 1272) were randomised to twice-daily, double-blind treatment with budesonide 100 mug, budesonide 100 mug plus f