Hope for Ostomates: A Carbon and Zeolite Impregnated Polyester Fabric Inhibits Urine Odor in Cancer Patients: A Randomized Experimental Study.

OBJECTIVE: Many individuals with bladder cancer have undergone a surgical urostomy and often complain of being self-conscious of the unpleasant smell of their own urine. The focus of this study was to test the efficacy of a pouch cover made of a carbon and zeolite containing polyester material to inhibit the smell of urine by comparing two trained dogs' response time in detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urine, with and without the fabric covering the samples. METHODS: This study used a randomized, blinded experimental design to evaluate the efficacy of a fabric to interfere with two highly trained dogs' ability to detect specific VOCs present in the urine of prostate cancer patient. Ninety urine samples were analyzed in this study. RESULTS: Prior to the experiment, both dogs accurately detected VOCs in the uncovered test urine samples of men with prostate cancer with a sensitivity and specificity of nearly 100%. Both dogs recognized the "uncovered" urine samples of men with prostate cancer within two seconds. When the test sample was covered with the study fabric, the test urine samples were detected within 30-40 seconds and in some instances the dogs were not able to identify the covered samples, whatsoever. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study demonstrate that the carbon and zeolite containing polyester fabric did significantly interfere with the ability of the dogs to detect VOCs in urine of men with prostate cancer. The fabric may show promise as a pouch cover in controlling offensive urine odor which many ostomates experience.

Airway wall thickening and emphysema show independent familial aggregation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

RATIONALE: It is unclear whether airway wall thickening and emphysema make independent contributions to airflow limitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and whether these phenotypes cluster within families. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether airway wall thickening and emphysema (1) make independent contributions to the severity of COPD and (2) show independent aggregation in families of individuals with COPD. METHODS: Index cases with COPD and their smoking siblings underwent spirometry and were offered high-resolution computed tomography scans of the thorax to assess the severity of airway wall thickening and emphysema. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 3,096 individuals were recruited to the study, of whom 1,159 (519 probands and 640 siblings) had technically adequate high-resolution computed tomography scans without significant non-COPD-related thoracic disease. Airway wall thickness correlated with pack-years smoked (P < or = 0.001) and symptoms of chronic bronchitis (P < 0.001). FEV(1) (expressed as % predicted) was independently associated with airway wall thickness at a lumen perimeter of 10 mm (P = 0.0001) and 20 mm (P = 0.0013) and emphysema at -950 Hounsfield units (P < 0.0001). There was independent familial aggregation of both the emphysema (adjusted odds ratio, 2.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-4.0; P < or = 0.02) and airway disease phenotypes (P < 0.0001) of COPD. CONCLUSIONS: Airway wall thickening and emphysema make independent contributions to airflow obstruction in COPD. These phenotypes show independent aggregation within families of individuals with COPD, suggesting that different genetic factors influence these disease processes.

Female smokers beyond the perimenopausal period are at increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent reports indicate that over the next decade rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in women will exceed those in men in the western world, though in most jurisdictions, women continue to smoke less compared with men. Whether female adult smokers are biologically more susceptible to COPD is unknown. This study reviewed the available evidence to determine whether female adult smokers have a faster decline in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) compared with male adult smokers and whether age modifies the relationship between cigarette smoke and lung function decline. METHODS: A systematic review and a meta-analysis was performed of population-based cohort studies that had a follow-up period of at least 3 years, measured FEV1 on at least two different time points, and presented FEV1 data stratified by gender and smoking status in adults. RESULTS: Of the 646 potentially relevant articles, 11 studies met these criteria and were included in the analyses (N = 55,709 participants). There was heterogeneity in gender-related results across the studies. However, on average current smokers had a faster annual decline rate in FEV1% predicted compared with never and former smokers. Female current smokers had with increasing age a significantly faster annual decline in FEV1% predicted than male current smokers (linear regression analysis, R2 = 0.56; p = 0.008). Age did not materially affect the rate of decline in FEV1% predicted in male and female former and never smokers (p = 0.775 and p = 0.326, respectively). CONCLUSION: As female smokers age, they appear to experience an accelerated decline in FEV1% predicted compared with male smokers. Future research powered specifically on gender-related changes in lung function is needed to confirm these early findings.

Women and occupational lung disease: sex differences and gender influences on research and disease outcomes.

We have attempted to describe the current state of knowledge regarding occupational lung disease in women. A large section of this article was devoted to describing the methodologic challenges that face researchers when evaluating gender differences in occupational lung disease. The findings of the presented studies are likely limited by many of the methodologic problems that were identified earlier. To accurately identify the true risk of occupational lung disease in women workers, these findings must be replicated in future studies with special attention paid to the various aspects of occupational lung disease research that are susceptible to gender-related bias.

Gender differences in respiratory symptoms-does occupation matter?

Little attention has been given to gender differences in respiratory health, particularly in occupational settings. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate gender differences in respiratory morbidity based on surveys of hospitality workers, radiographers, and respiratory therapists. Data were available from mail surveys of 850 hospitality industry workers (participation rate 73.9%; 52.6% female), 586 radiographers (participation rate 63.6%; 85% female), and 275 respiratory therapists (participation rate 64.1%; 58.6% female). Cross-tabulations by gender were evaluated by chi(2) analysis and logistic regression with adjustment for personal and work characteristics. Women consistently had greater respiratory morbidity for symptoms associated with shortness of breath, whereas men usually had a higher prevalence of phlegm. There were few differences in work exposures apart from perception of exposure to ETS among hospitality workers. Gender differences in symptoms were often reduced after adjustment for personal and work characteristics but for respiratory therapists there were even greater gender disparities for asthma attack and breathing trouble. Population health findings of elevated symptoms among women were only partially supported by these occupational respiratory health surveys. The influence of differential exposures and personal factors should be considered when interpreting gender differences in health outcomes.