Blood pressure and blood group markers: association with the MN locus.

The relationship of blood pressure levels to 12 blood, salivary and serum protein polymorphisms is reported for a sample of 4000+ adult Caucasians from Tecumseh, Michigan. Males with the MN phenotype had significantly higher unadjusted systolic and diastolic blood pressures than those who were homozygous MM or NN. When blood pressure was adjusted for age and weight, males who were Duffy (a-) had higher diastolic pressures than those who were Duffy (a+), and females who were Kidd (b-) had higher diastolic pressures than females who were Kidd (b+). A review of studies reporting on MN- blood pressure associations indicates that six of the eight presented significant findings. These findings, and others from the literature, present evidence that the MN locus (and possibly the Jk locus) actively participates in controlling the response to environmental/dietary stimuli affecting differences in blood pressure. We suggest that the MN blood group be investigated further, particularly vis-à-vis physiological parameters known to be related to blood pressure.

Psychosocial factors, alcohol use, and hangover signs among social drinkers: a reappraisal.

To reappraise a prior study of hangover signs and psychosocial factors among a sample of current drinkers, we excluded a subgroup termed Sobers, who report "never" being "tipsy, high or drunk." The non-sober current drinkers then formed the sample for this report (N = 1104). About 23% of this group reported no hangover signs regardless of their intake level or gender, and the rest showed no sex differences for any of 8 hangover signs reported. Using multiple regression, including ethanol, age and weight, it was found that psychosocial variables contributed independently in predicting to hangover for both men and women in this order: (1) guilt about drinking; (2) neuroticism; (3) angry or (4) depressed when high/drunk and (5) negative life events. For men only, ethanol intake was also significant; for women only, being younger and reporting first being high/drunk at a relatively earlier age were also predictors of the Hangover Sign Index (HSI). These multiple predictors accounted for 5-10 times more of the hangover variance than alcohol use alone: for men, R = 0.43, R2 = 19%; and for women, R = 0.46, R2 = 21%. The findings suggest that hangover signs are a function of age, sex, ethanol level and psychosocial factors.

Glutathione and morbidity in a community-based sample of elderly.

This study examined the association of blood glutathione level, a potential marker of physiological/functional aging, with a number of biomedical/psychological traits in a subgroup (N = 33) of a representative sample of community-based elderly. Higher glutathione levels were associated with fewer number of illnesses (p < 0.05), higher levels of self-rated health (p < 0.01), lower cholesterol (p < 0.05), lower body mass index, and lower blood pressures. Subjects with diagnoses of arthritis, diabetes, or heart disease (as assessed by physicians) had at least marginally significant lower glutathione levels than those who were disease free. Glutathione, together with age and a measure of suppressed anger, accounted for 39% of the variance of an index of morbidity. Glutathione, by itself, accounted for 24% of the variance. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of an association of higher glutathione levels with higher levels of physical health in a sample of community-based elderly. Further studies in large samples are needed to investigate glutathione as a potential overall health risk factor for morbidity among the elderly.

Familial transmission of alcohol use: IV. A seventeen-year follow-up on the relationships between parent and adult offspring alcohol use; Tecumseh, Michigan.

The sample for this study comprised 190 three member sets of father, mother, and adult son or daughter who were first interviewed in 1960 as part of Cardiovascular Examination I of the Tecumseh Community Health Study. At that time, alcohol data were collected from self-reports for both parents and offspring. In 1977 alcohol data were again collected for the adult offspring only, from self-reports. In 1960 offspring's drinking was significantly related to both fathers' and mothers' drinking and remained so in 1977 despite shifts over time in the proportions of offspring across five alcohol use categories. The majority of offspring did not fall into their parents' category, but the mode by and large reflected the parent category. The majority of offspring of non-drinkers did drink, but at low and not high volume; the majority of offspring of high volume drinkers drank at lower levels than their parents, and were not likely to be life-long abstainers, although they may have become past drinkers. Two non-drinking parents reinforced non-drinking in their adult offspring and two drinking parents reinforced the early onset and persistence of high volume drinking. Among offspring who changed their drinking level between 1960 and 1977, those who had drunk less than their parents were the most likely to have increased their drinking, and those who had drunk more than their parents were the most likely to have decreased their drinking. Patterns observed in this study may be viewed as intrafamilial sources of drinking stability transmitted across generations in a single community.

Sources of variability in quantitative levels of alcohol use in a total community: sociodemographic and psychosocial correlates.

This article describes the transformation of reported alcohol consumption into a quantitative variable, Standardized Alcohol Intake (SAI), which is used to investigate various sociodemographic and psychosocial factors as correlates of alcohol use in a total community sample (N = 1672), in Tecumseh, Michigan. Statistically significant relations were obtained between alcohol usage and marital status, education, smoking status, and church attendance with the latter accounting for the 15% of the variability in drinking. On measures of personality, SAI was positively and significantly associated with level of activity, sociability, impulsivity, and extraversion. For drinkers, their attitudes toward drinking and changes in mood varied significantly in relation to the amount consumed. These findings are important and necessary for the appropriate control of these correlates in the future study of familial aggregation of SAI in the Tecumseh community.

Familial transmission of alcohol use: II. Imitation of and aversion to parent drinking (1960) by adult offspring (1977)--Tecumseh, Michigan.

The "fall-off" effect, when offspring respond to parental high-volume levels by moderating their own drinking, appears highly predictable across generations and is mediated both by subsequent parent drinking level and offspring's perception of problematic intake by their parents. This fall off by adult offspring appears to follow community norms; it occurs, on the average, at the level of daily drinking by fathers, and when the mother approaches daily-drinking levels. An aversion effect holds more to cross-sex parents with problems; thus, both sons and daughters show a nonimitation and fall off to their cross-sex parents who are high-volume problem drinkers. Conversely, however, daughters often imitate a high-drinking father with no problems. For high-drinking mothers, without problems or with problems (numbers are small), daughters' drinking appears "polarized": most (60%) are abstemious, but a higher number than expected (about 35%) show high volume thus imitating the mother's volume, compared to about 17% of the total sample of daughters who were high-volume drinkers. Maximal offspring imitation is strongest for abstemious parents, especially for abstaining parents, and stronger for fathers abstaining than for mothers.

Familial transmission of alcohol use: I. Parent and adult offspring alcohol use over 17 years--Tecumseh, Michigan.

A sample of 420 three-member sets of father, mother and adult offspring was drawn from a list of respondents from two rounds of a longitudinal health study in Tecumseh, Michigan. Parents' self-reported drinking practices in 1960 were compared with those of their adult offspring 17 years later in 1977. A positive association between the drinking level of parents and their adult offspring was evident; however, this association varied according to: (1) the drinking level of the parent, (2) the gender of the offspring and (3) the gender of the parent. There is a tendency for offspring to drink abstemiously (i.e., abstain or drink low volume) when their parents were life-long abstainers. High-volume drinking by adult offspring was associated with the parents' same drinking pattern, especially among daughters. Throughout the spectrum of drinking, sons' drinking was more similar to fathers' drinking level than to mothers'. The relationship between one parent's drinking and his/her offspring's was dependent upon the drinking status of the other parent. These data support the hypothesis that parents' drinking patterns may influence the drinking patterns of the offspring as adults.

Using the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test to study social drinkers: Tecumseh, Michigan.

The Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST), often given to clinical samples to detect alcoholics, was used in a survey of a randomly selected sample (N = 1,266) in a small midwestern town, with a population of about 10,000. The specific aims were: (1) to test if scores on the SMAST would be related to these normal subject's levels of drinking; (2) to test if the SMAST could identify a drinking group who had never sought treatment for alcohol-related problems, thus defining a potential subset for help; and (3) to appraise the SMAST as a research tool for use in a general population. Results show that the number of SMAST items endorsed is significantly but modestly correlated to drinking levels, with higher volume drinkers having higher scores. This prediction was improved by removing two items reporting "not normal" drinking that had caused SMAST scores to be spuriously high. Factor analysis of test items allowed construction of five rank-ordered groups: those (1) reporting no alcohol-related SMAST problems; (2) described by two items, self-reported "not normal" drinking; (3) with one problem: "can't stop" drinking; (4) reporting problems but had not received treatment for them (the predicted group); and (5) reporting both problems and attempts at help with them (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous). These latter two groups had significantly higher scores on several other measures of alcohol-related behavior, as well as tests measuring emotional adjustment, notably Eysenck's Neuroticism Scale and Buss and Plomin's measure of Impulsivity. The SMAST demonstrates potential usefulness in selecting problem, no-problem and patterns of use in drinkers from a normal drinking population when clusters of items are constructed to be exclusive in a Guttman-like rank order, rather than by sheer number of items endorsed or use of simple factor scores.

Skin color, ancestry, and blood pressure among whites in Erie County, New York.

This study examines (1) the construct validity of a rank-order skin color measure and (2) interrelationships of skin color, ancestry, and blood pressure in a random survey of 763 white non-Hispanic and white Hispanic household residents in Erie County, NY. Skin color was significantly lighter among older respondents (P < .001) and among females (P < .0001). Skin color was lightest among Northern Europeans and darkest among Mediterraneans and white Hispanics (P < .0001). Higher systolic blood pressure was significantly associated with both darker skin color (P < .05) and northern European ancestry (P < .05). Several mechanisms to account for these findings are proposed.

Handedness and drinking-smoking types.

This work showed that more sinestrals both smoke and drink together more and abstain less in both uses than dextrals. This association is stronger for females than men, regardless of age. The sample included whites, 18 to 69 yr. old, who were residents of Tecumseh, Michigan (N = 1,153).

Handedness and smoking.

This article reports the observation that proportionately more left-handed persons smoke than dextrals, and a greater proportion of left-handers than right-handers smoke 10 or more cigarettes daily, regardless of sex, race, stress of residence (or social class), and prior history of smoking. This association is especially strong among males and persons residing in residence areas of high stress (low income, low education), and weak among black females and persons who smoke 30 or more cigarettes daily. The sample was drawn from four census areas in Detroit differing by race, socioeconomic levels, and crime rates. Respondents and their spouses were 25 to 60 yr. old, married, and had relatives in the metropolitan area (N = 1496).

Towards a concept of sensible drinking and an illustration of measure.

The major focus of research on alcohol is not on the majority who drink without problems, but on the small minority who have extreme problems. Difficulty in conceiving, measuring, and analyzing non-problem drinking lies in the exclusively problem-drinking orientation of most drinking measures. Drawing on conventionally used scales (e.g. Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test) and other established concepts in the alcohol literature (e.g. craving, hangover), a set of 24 items was selected to classify all persons in a sample from Tecumseh, Michigan, as to their alcohol-related behaviors (N = 1266). A Sensible-Problem Drinking Classification (SPDC) was developed with five categories: very sensible, sensible, borderline, problem, and impaired. A variety of known alcohol and psychosocial variables were related monotonically across these categories in expected directions. Ethanol ounces per week was only modestly related to SPDC groups: R2 = 0.09 for women, R2 = 0.21 for men. The positive relationship of problem and non-problem SPDC groups to high and low blood pressure was P = 0.07, while ethanol (oz/week) was uncorrelated to blood pressure (mm Hg) in this subsample (N = 453). The development of SPDC requires additional items measuring self and group regulatory alcohol behavior. However, this initial analysis of no-problem subgroups has direct import for public health regulation of alcohol use by providing a model of a sensible view of alcohol use.

Psychosocial and behavioral factors differentiating past drinkers and life-long abstainers.

Studies of the health effects associated with alcohol consumption often use a single non-drinker category as a referent. In this community study (N = 1,672) from Tecumseh, Michigan, past drinkers (N = 191) and life-long abstainers (N = 215) differed substantially for certain behavioral and psychosocial factors. In addition, 65 per cent of the male and 36 per cent of the female non-drinkers were past drinkers. Our findings suggest that a single non-drinking category might lead to ambiguous inferences across studies.