JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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The effects of smokeless tobacco (ST) use were studied in 1109 members of major and minor league professional baseball teams during spring training in 1988. The prevalence of current ST use was 39%. The median age at initiation among users was 18 years, and the median duration of use was 5 years. ⋯ Users of ST did not differ from nonusers in blood pressure, pulse, total or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, or white blood cell count, but among users high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were inversely associated with serum cotinine levels. The major health effects of ST use among professional baseball players are oral leukoplakia and localized periodontal disease. The study population was young, physically fit, and characterized by relatively moderate short-term ST use.
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To assess the effect of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on mortality in US women 15 to 44 years of age and to identify associated causes of death, we examined final (1980 through 1987) and provisional (1988) national mortality statistics. Between 1985 and 1988, the death rate for HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) quadrupled (0.6 per 100,000 to 2.5 per 100,000), and by 1987, HIV/AIDS had become one of the 10 leading causes of death. In 1988, the death rate for black women (10.3 per 100,000) was nine times the rate for white women (1.2 per 100,000). ⋯ Among 1157 death certificates that included any mention of HIV/AIDS in 1987, other leading diagnoses included drug abuse (27%), Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (20%), other pneumonias (14%), septicemia (10%), other infections not in the AIDS surveillance definition (7%), nephritis (6%), liver diseases (4%), and anemias (4%). If current mortality trends continue, HIV/AIDS can be expected to become one of the five leading causes of death by 1991 in women of reproductive age. Because women infected with HIV are the major source of infection for infants, these trends in AIDS mortality in women forecast the impact of HIV on mortality in children as well.
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The experimental immunosuppressive drug FK 506 was given to 36 renal transplant recipients, many of whom were highly sensitized. Ten were undergoing kidney retransplantation, 10 also underwent liver transplantation at an earlier time (6 patients) or concomitantly (4 patients), and 2 patients received a third organ (heart or pancreas) in addition to a liver and kidney. With follow-ups of 4 to 13 months, all but 2 of the 36 patients are alive, 29 (81%) are dialysis free, and most have good renal function. ⋯ The side effects of FK 506 therapy include nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and potential induction of a diabetic state. These are similar to the side effects of cyclosporine use, but probably less severe. The seeming safety, efficacy, and relative freedom from side effects of FK 506 encourage further trials in kidney transplantation.