Tobacco use, alcohol consumption and infertility.

An epidemiological study of the association between alcohol consumption, tobacco use and subfecundity is presented. Study subjects were recruited for a case-control study whose primary objective was to examine the association between occupational exposures and subfecundity. All 1069 women treated for infertility at Odense University Hospital during the period 1977-1980 were eligible for participation as cases. A control group was chosen consisting of 4305 women who had each delivered a healthy child with a gestational age over 258 days at the same hospital in the period 1977-1979. Data regarding occupational exposures and smoking and drinking habits were collected by mailed questionnaires. A response rate of 87% was obtained for both case and control groups. Use of tobacco and alcohol was significantly higher in cases compared to controls. A within-group comparison of alcohol consumption among controls with delayed conception of more than one year with controls who conceived their children within one year failed to demonstrate a statistical association. However, a statistically significant association was observed between smoking and delayed conception among controls. On the basis of this finding, along with further analyses, the authors suggest that the statistical association between smoking and subfecundity may be real and ought to be studied further. Moderate alcohol consumption does not seem to play a role in the development of subfecundity. The paper provides a systematic review of possible sources of bias in the study.

PIP: An epidemiological study of the association between alcohol consumption, tobacco use, and subfecundity is presented. Study subjects were recruited for a case-control study whose primary objective was to examine the association between occupational exposures and subfecundity. All 1069 women treated for infertility at Odense University Hospital during 1977-80 were eligible for participation as cases. A control group was chosen consisting of 4305 women who had each delivered a healthy child with a gestational age over 258 days at the same hospital in the 1977-79 period. Data regarding occupational exposure and smoking and drinking habits were collected by mailed questionnaires. A response rate of 87% was obtained for both case and control groups. Use of tobacco and alcohol was significantly higher in cases compared to controls. A within-group comparison of alcohol consumption among controls with delayed conception of more than 1 year with controls who conceived their children within 1 year failed to demonstrate a statistical association. However, a statistically significant association was observed between smoking and delayed conception among controls. On the basis of this finding, along with further analyses, the authors suggest that the statistical association between smoking and subfecundity may be genuine and ought to be further examined. Moderate alcohol consumption does not seem to play a role in the development of subfecundity. The paper provides a systematic review of possible bias sources in the study.

Alcohol use, conception time, and birth weight.

Predictors of birth weight and birth length were studied using sociodemographic data collected from 2259 women who resided in Funen County, Denmark, and delivered a healthy child during the period 1978-9 at Odense University Hospital. Low birth weight was significantly related to tobacco use in the year of delivery (p less than 0.01), alcohol use during the same period (p less than 0.05), and a delay in conception of over six months (p less than 0.01). Smoking history and a delay in conception were also significantly associated with short birth length (p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.01, respectively).

Neurologic complications after irradiation of malignant tumors of the testis.

Of 156 consecutive patients with malignant tumor of the testis 99 were alive two years after treatment. Of these, 12 had radiation-induced neurologic complications which, in 5 instances, consisted of persisting, wholly or partially disabling paresis in the lower limbs. Five had mild, transient symptoms and had persisting symptoms which were not incapacitating. In all those with disabling symptoms the irradiation dose had been higher than 1 600 reu, corresponding to 54.5 Gy over 6 weeks with daily fractions 5 days a week.

Radiation myelopathy of the lumbo-sacral spinal cord.

The clinical findings in four cases of radiation injury to the lumbosacral spinal cord and cauda equina, occuring after radiotherapy of malignant testicular tumours with radiation doses of 1597-1670 ret, are reported. The main feature in each case was a flaccid paraparesis, without sensory loss in three cases, while one patient presented a doubtful sensory deficit. Symptoms of sphincter dysfunction were absent. In all cases the symptoms caused a marked and persistent incapacity. It is suggested that the principal site of radiation injury is the proximal parts of the lower motor neuron.