Smoking strongly predicts disability retirement due to COPD: the Finnish Twin Cohort Study.

No previous studies on the association of smoking behaviour with disability retirement due to register verified chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exist. This 30-yr follow-up study examined how strongly aspects of cigarette smoking predict disability retirement due to COPD. The study population consisted of 24,043 adult Finnish twins (49.7% females) followed from 1975 to 2004. At baseline the participants had responded to a questionnaire. Information on retirement was obtained from the Finnish pension registers. Smoking strongly predicted disability retirement due to COPD. In comparison to never-smokers, age adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for current smokers was 22.0 (95% CI 10.0-48.5) and for smokers with ≥ 12 pack-yrs was 27.3 (95% CI 12.6-59.5). Similar estimates of risk were observed in within-pair analyses of twin pairs discordant for disability retirement due to COPD. Among discordant monozygotic pairs those with disability pension due to COPD were more often current smokers. The effect of early smoking onset (< 18 yrs) on the risk of disability retirement due to COPD remained after adjustment for the amount smoked (HR 1.70, 95% CI 1.08-2.68). Smoking strongly predicts disability retirement due to COPD. Preventive measures against disability retirement and other harmful consequences of tobacco smoking should receive greater emphasis.

Endralazine, a new peripheral vasodilator: absence of effect of acetylator status on antihypertensive effect.

50 patients with confirmed hypertension were treated with endralazine, a new peripheral vasodilator, in addition to the beta-blocker, pindolol, to which they had not responded adequately. The blood pressure was lowered from 173/115 mm Hg to 143/87 mm Hg in the 34 slow acetylators and from 175/111 mm Hg to 140/84 mm Hg in the 16 fast acetylators. The dosages of both pindolol and endralazine were the same in both groups. It is concluded that the acetylator phenotype does not affect the therapeutic efficacy or dosage requirement of endralazine. It is suggested that this is because endralazine is metabolised mainly by hydrazone formation and only to a minor extent by acetylation.

Body burden of cadmium in man at low level of exposure.

Specimens of heart, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas and skeletal muscle were collected at autopsy from 86 traumatic accident victims. The concentration of cadmium in the samples was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Tissue burdens and the body burden of cadmium were calculated using individual weights of different organs as a function of age. Total body burden reached its maximum level of approximately 8 mg, in the 30-39 year age group. The highest value (8.3 mg) was measured in the 40-49 year age group. The highest average value of tissue burdens at 40-49 years of age was in kidney (4.9 mg), the amount of cadmium diminishing in different tissues in the following order: liver (1.8 mg), muscle (0.15 mg), lung (0.09 mg), pancreas (0.06 mg) and heart (less than 0.01 mg). At a low level of exposure, kidneys and liver alone contain on an average 85% of the total body burden of cadmium. This value differs greatly from earlier reported figures of 45-50%.

Biologically active metals in human tissues. I. The effect of age and sex on the concentration of copper in aorta, heart, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas and skeletal muscle.

Autopsy specimens of aorta, heart, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas and skeletal muscle were collected from 86 accident victims. The copper concentration in each tissue was determined with atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The descending order of the tissues in respect to copper concentration was: liver, heart, kidney, pancreas, lung, muscle, and aorta. No significant difference was found in the copper levels of samples from male and female autopsies. When the effect of age on the average copper concentration was studied, liver and kidney showed a decreasing concentration up to maturity, the copper concentration in pancreas and skeletal muscle showed a continuous decline with increasing age, and there was no clear-cut effect of age on the copper concentration of heart, lung and aorta. According to the results the Finnish population does not differ, on the average, from other populations with respect to tissue copper concentrations.

The content of calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, lead and chromium in the blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The blood concentrations of calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, lead and chromium were measured in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in a "normal" control group. The values of hemoglobin and the effect of some drugs on the metals studied were also estimated. In metal analyses the atomic absorption spectrophotometric technique was used. The mean concentration of copper in the blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis was significantly higher than in the control group. This was not true in females taking conteceptive drugs that cause elevated serum copper concentrations. Chromium concentrations were significantly lower in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The mean concentrations of zinc was higher in rheumatoid females than in female controls. The concentrations of calcium, magnesium and lead were not found to be different in patients with rheumatoid arthritis from those in the control group.