Blood pressure and vascular calcification.

The aim of this study was to determine the associations between the presence and extent of calcified atherosclerosis in multiple vascular beds and systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, mean arterial pressure, isolated systolic hypertension, and hypertension. A total of 9510 patients (42.5% women) underwent electron beam computed tomography scanning as part of a routine health maintenance screening. At the same visit, blood pressure was measured with the participant in the seated position using a mercury sphygmomanometer. Mean age was 58+/-11.4 years, and body mass index was 27.1+/-4.5. The prevalences of any calcification in the carotids, coronaries, subclavians, thoracic aorta, abdominal aorta, and iliacs were 31.9%, 57.2%, 31.7%, 37.0%, 54.3%, and 48.8%, respectively. In separate multivariable logistic models containing traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors, pulse pressure and systolic blood pressure were significantly associated with the presence of calcification in all of the vascular beds except the iliacs and subclavians, respectively, with pulse pressure having stronger magnitudes of the associations for most of the vascular beds. Age-stratified analyses indicated that these associations were stronger in those >60 years of age compared with subjects <60 years of age, and sex-stratified analyses demonstrated that men had a greater association compared with women. Also, the magnitudes of the associations for isolated systolic hypertension were, in general, larger than those for hypertension. Pulse pressure and isolated systolic hypertension are robust and important correlates for calcified atherosclerosis in different vascular beds. Isolated systolic hypertension may be clinically relevant in diagnosing or preventing calcified atherosclerosis.

Epidemic of gynecomastia among haitian refugees: exposure to an environmental antiandrogen.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate an observed epidemic of gynecomastia among Haitian refugees in US detention centers in 1981 and 1982. METHODS: All identifiable environmental exposures were investigated for estrogenic and antiandrogenic activity. RESULTS: A high incidence of gynecomastia was observed among Haitian refugees in five detention centers in the United States. Of 284 men screened, 20 (from 18 to 53 years old) demonstrated new-onset gynecomastia (Tanner stages 2 to 5) in June 1982. The mean onset of gynecomastia was 130 +/- 12 days after arrival in the United States. Other symptoms included loss of libido (in all 20 patients) and decreased beard growth (in 10). Plasma concentrations of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin, testosterone, and estradiol were not significantly different from those in 20 age-matched control subjects. Environmental substances, including tap water and the delousing agents Kwell shampoo and R&C Spray (applied to bedding and clothing), were tested for estrogenicity and androgenicity. None of these substances bound to cytosol estrogen receptors. The delousing agents were assayed for androgen binding by using genital skin fibroblasts. R&C Spray competed equally with testosterone for androgen-binding sites. Phenothrin, the "multi-cide" component of R&C Spray, reproduced this competitive binding result. When tested for antiandrogenic effects on prostate growth by using immature male rats treated with testosterone-filled Silastic capsules, phenothrin antagonized androgen action, as demonstrated by decreased prostate weights. CONCLUSION: The antiandrogenic activity of phenothrin may explain this unusual epidemic of gynecomastia.