Several recent cohort studies have found an association between smoking and breast cancer, but the association between lifetime smoking exposure and breast cancer mortality is less well described. We examined whether smoking before breast cancer diagnosis is a predictor of breast cancer mortality in a large cohort with more than 4.1 million years of follow-up, with a special focus on women who ...

Objectives. Patients previously treated with coronary stents may suffer an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) without any evidence of thrombus formation on coronary angiography (CAG). This may be due to partial, nonocclusive stent thrombosis with microembolization. In this paper, we illustrate possible mechanisms both with optical coherence tomography (OCT) and histology. Design. We present two cases ...

Background Beta-lactam resistance in Haemophilus influenzae due to ftsI mutations causing altered penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3) is increasing worldwide. Low-level resistant isolates with the N526K substitution (group II low-rPBP3) predominate in most geographical regions, while high-level resistant isolates with the additional S385T substitution (group III high-rPBP3) are common in Japan ...

In recent years the number of people using cigarettes in Norway has significantly declined, with intake of nicotine being replaced by smokeless tobacco (ST) products such as snus placed in the oral cavity. While health risks from smoking cigarettes are well known little is known about health risks of using ST. The main aim of this thesis was to compare the effects of oral use of snus with nicotine ...

Neuroblastoma is an embryonal cancer of the post-sympathetic nervous system and is the most frequent extra-cranial solid tumor in childhood. Two important microRNAs, the tumor suppressor mir-34a and the oncogenic mir-21, have been found to increase during MYCN-knockdown induced differentiation. However their distinct roles are not clear. This thesis employs a method to identify the mRNA targets of ...

Background: Although proven to be associated with bronchial obstruction, chest signs are not listed among cues that should prompt spirometry in the early diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in established guidelines. Aims: We aimed to explore how chest findings add to respiratory symptoms and a history of smoking in the diagnosis of COPD. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, ...

Objectives: As little is known about the possible relationship between the intake of phytoestrogens and female fertility, we investigated the relationship between soy isoflavone intake and the risk of nulliparity and nulligravidity. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 11,688 North American Adventist women aged 30–50 years old with data regarding childbearing. These women were, as a group, characterized ...

Background: Soft-tissue sarcomas are rare malignant tumors of mesenchymal lineage that can arise in any part of the body. Prognosis, and hence also treatment may vary according to histologic subtype and localization. Angiogenesis is the process of forming new blood vessels from pre-existing ones. The deregulation of this process is thought to be an important step in malignant transformation. This ...

Introduction: The safety of health care is increasingly prominent concern of the public, applying to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as well as conventional treatment. In 2009, a group of academic and clinical CAM researchers held a workshop to discuss the constraints and priorities of research into CAM safety. This group here report their discussions, and offer collaboration with ...

Background: Despite Malawi government’s policy to support women to deliver in health facilities with the assistance of skilled attendants, some women do not access this care. Objective: The study explores the reasons why women delivered at home without skilled attendance despite receiving antenatal care at a health centre and their perceptions of perinatal care. Methods: A descriptive study ...